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'Ne Zha 2' sets box office ablaze with dazzling visual effects

CGTN

A sculpture of Ne Zha from the film
A sculpture of Ne Zha from the film "Ne Zha 2" is seen at a mall in Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong Province, January 25, 2025. /VCG

A sculpture of Ne Zha from the film "Ne Zha 2" is seen at a mall in Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong Province, January 25, 2025. /VCG

The production team of "Nezha: Demon Child Conquers the Sea" or "Ne Zha 2," a Chinese animated fantasy and the current box-office revenue leader during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, has gone above and beyond to deliver groundbreaking visual effects that captivate audiences.

The animated feature "Ne Zha 2," the sequel to the 2019 animated blockbuster "Ne Zha," draws inspiration from the tale of a mythological figure of the same name from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel "Fengshen Yanyi," or "The Investiture of the Gods."

Compared to the first film, the visual effects have been notably enhanced, offering an even more immersive experience than before.

"The total number of shots with special visual effects in 'Ne Zha 2' exceeds the entire shot count of the first movie. With a total of 34 major scenes, the movie delivers a small climax as early as the seventh scene," said Chen Changjiang, executive producer of "Ne Zha 2."

This pivotal moment centers on the overwhelming presence of a massive horde of mythical sea creatures. The chains binding all these monsters play a crucial role in this scene. However, if the production team aims to create the effect of all the monsters being connected by chains, it would likely not only disrupt the composition of the shot, but also place enormous pressure on the special effects team, potentially causing production delays.

At one point, the production team and director found themselves at odds.

"Those chains were non-negotiable for me, as they were essential to the plot's core logic. Each monster in the vast army had to be bound by a chain. Our effects team had never faced such a task, so it required a lot of trial and error. It was a research and development process," said Yang Yu, director of "Ne Zha 2," who goes by the nickname Jiaozi.

In response, the entire team worked tirelessly, refining their approach to meet the director's requirements.

"We invested a significant amount of time in developing these complex effects. Our goal was to create something that audiences had never seen before, something that would deliver a strong visual impact and offer a fresh artistic expression. This is the kind of work we believe is truly worth doing," Yang added.

The director said in an interview with China Media Group that they outsourced some important shots to top foreign visual effects production teams, but many of the results were not satisfactory.

"So we took the project back, and the domestic team worked hard to polish it, and finally achieved better results," Yang said.

"Nothing under the sun is new, and all the difficult things can be solved by man," said the director, adding that what they could do back then was sticking to it.

"In the process, we realized the strength of foreign countries and their advanced industrial processes and technologies," he said. "We are still in a learning phase and the gap is definitely closing."

As of Tuesday, China's 2025 total box office, including real-time presales, has surpassed 10 billion yuan (nearly $1.4 billion), ranking first globally – a landmark achievement for the film industry.

Meanwhile, the country's box office revenue for the 2025 Spring Festival holiday has reached 9 billion yuan as of noon on Tuesday, setting a new record for the same period in the country's film industry history, according to data from the China Film Administration.

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