Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 684 Nezha: I will climb to the top step by step.

10.73 billion!
This number can be considered another milestone in the history of Chinese cinema.

The film that set this record was considered by industry insiders to be rather childish and unsuitable for mainstream audiences.

Yes, in the eyes of those in the industry, animation directors don't even qualify as directors, so animated films are naturally considered inferior.

However, this animated film, which they didn't think much of, has now proven them wrong.

The box office on the first day of the Lunar New Year was 5.78 million RMB, the box office on the second day of the Lunar New Year was 9.62 million RMB, and the box office on the third day of the Lunar New Year was 10.73 billion RMB. The total box office of the first three days was 26.13 billion RMB. This figure caused the total box office estimate of "Ne Zha 2" on Taopiaopiao to jump directly from 30 billion RMB to 50 billion RMB.

And this is just the beginning.

As it turns out, the 10 billion yuan box office of "Ne Zha 2" in a single day was not just a flash in the pan.

After proving its strength on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the animated film's screenings during the Spring Festival were adjusted to 52.1% by profit-driven cinemas.

This led to a four-day consecutive decline in the daily box office of "Ne Zha 2: The Demon Child Conquers the Dragon King".

With a total of 18.3 screenings, "Ne Zha 2" still managed to achieve a box office of 10.06 billion yuan on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, bringing its cumulative total box office to 36.19 billion yuan.

Now, not only those in the know in the industry, but even those outside the industry can see that the box office performance of "Ne Zha 2" is extraordinary.

Major media outlets began to focus on and report on this situation, and the story of "Ne Zha 2" began to be discussed by more people both online and offline.

This film has now truly broken out of its niche, transcending the limitations of animated films and no longer being just a children's work with a ceiling, but becoming a cultural work with the potential to become a "blockbuster".

By the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the daily box office of "Ne Zha 2" finally dropped a bit, to only 8.46 million RMB.

However, this number still far exceeds that of its competitors in the same period, and the offline influence of "Ne Zha 2" is further increasing and spreading.

After all, the production company behind "Ne Zha 2" is Galaxy Pictures, which is the only cultural and entertainment company in China with a complete industry chain.

Before the film's release, Galaxy Pictures had already secured the relevant co-branding license, and the accompanying peripheral toys, posters, and other items were also ready.

Now that the movie has gone viral and is poised to become a massive hit, the companies that partnered with it certainly won't miss this opportunity. They've immediately increased their promotional efforts, all vying for this grand momentum and wave.

Putting aside everything else, it's said that McDonald's "Magic Pill" and "Spirit Pill" combos alone have sold out in many places.

The "Born Bond" blind box series, a collaboration between "Ne Zha 2" and Pop Mart, sold 3000 million units in just a few days, boosting the company's stock price by 4%.

Not to mention Galaxy Park, which has added a lot of movie-related elements since the release of Nezha 2.

For example, a huge nine-colored lotus lantern was used to decorate the fountain, and there was also a dragon float, which was very eye-catching. In addition, the actors who played Nezha, Ao Bing, Taiyi Zhenren, and the Four Dragon Kings were very popular with children, and people lined up to take photos with them.

By this time, almost everyone, young and old, had heard of "Ne Zha 2". Even if they didn't know what the story was about, they all knew that it was the most popular movie during this year's Spring Festival.

This has made even those who didn't originally plan to watch the movie curious and interested, and some even want to follow the trend and go see it.

Reflected in box office results, even on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, "Ne Zha 2" still grossed over 6 million yuan.

Including this, before the entire 7-day Spring Festival holiday was even over, "Ne Zha 2" had already achieved an astonishing box office of 50.65 billion yuan. The stability of its box office performance and the exaggerated trend line it followed left many industry insiders speechless.

It is said that in just the past day or two, existing animated film projects in the industry have become highly sought after, and projects that were previously ignored are now being pursued by many film and television companies.

Moreover, many new animated film projects are also being actively initiated.

It was as if at that moment, the spring of China's animation industry had arrived.

All of this is because the current box office estimate for "Ne Zha 2" has increased from 50 billion to 70 billion.

70 billion yuan—this is already among the top-tier works in Chinese film history. Many live-action films cannot achieve this level of success. A few years ago, who would have thought that an animated film could reach such heights?

But nowadays, an animated film does indeed have the opportunity to achieve this.

As a result, many viewers, while praising "Ne Zha 2", also took the opportunity to mock the entire live-action film industry.

Logically speaking, the entire live-action film and television entertainment industry should ignore this and treat it as if it doesn't exist.

In fact, this is what most film and television stars did after Wang Hao's previous life's "Ne Zha 2" was released and achieved great success.

It's hard to imagine that a film that broke box office records and caused a huge social impact could have no buzz in the entertainment industry, with these people not even willing to capitalize on its popularity.

Are they really saints?
Of course it's impossible.

The industry's indifference towards "Ne Zha 2" is nothing more than the exclusion of animation professionals by film and television practitioners.

But this time it's different, because "Ne Zha 2" is produced by Galaxy Pictures.

So when the daily box office of "Ne Zha 2" began to decline, Galaxy Pictures' publicity department launched a new offensive.

On Douyin, Zhihu, Douban, and Weibo, any actor or celebrity who has ever worked with Xinghe Pictures has started promoting "Ne Zha 2".

This kind of publicity is, of course, done in a tiered manner, rather than in a rush.

Initially, it was just some relatively unknown celebrities celebrating the box office success of "Ne Zha 2," which surpassed 50 billion yuan.

Then, on the 7th day of its release, which was also the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, the daily box office of "Ne Zha 2" dropped to 6.5 million yuan due to the impending end of the Spring Festival season, but the total box office still exceeded 57 billion yuan on that day.

This figure is an absolute peak for animated films. Even Hollywood animated films haven't achieved this level of success in China, and it even surpasses the performance of many live-action films. As a result, rising young celebrities such as Gulnazar, Dilraba Dilmurat, Liu Haoran, and others shared the news and the box office poster hand-drawn by director Jiaozi, offering their congratulations.

Among these, Nazha also specially posted a transformation video on Douyin. In a burst of fire effects, she changed into a set of Nezha's clothes after he grew up, and specially applied makeup to imitate him. She also held a fire-tipped spear in her hand and struck Nezha's signature pose.

The caption reads, "His name is Nezha, and my name is Gulnazar."

After seeing the video, netizens in the comments section exclaimed, "Sister is so cool!" and "Sister is killing me!"

Of course, some netizens also chimed in, saying that what Nazha was wearing was not Nezha's clothes at all. Nezha didn't wear a tube top underneath, just a vest, and it was open.

Naza naturally did not respond to this, but Wang Hao did see what Naza actually looked like dressed as Nezha on WeChat.

Well, all I can say is that this girl is getting prettier and prettier.

Then, on the 8th day after its release, the first day after the Spring Festival holiday, at 9 a.m., the official account of the movie "Detective Chinatown 1900" also released congratulatory posters on various platforms.

In the poster, Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran are dressed in Tang suits, their faces beaming with bright smiles as they welcome Nezha and the Dragon Prince. Behind them, on the Chinatown archway, the words "58 billion" and "sixth in film history" are clearly visible.

Meanwhile, all the actors in the "Detective Chinatown" series, including some Japanese actors, also shared the poster on their social media accounts and offered their congratulations.

On this very day, although the daily box office of "Ne Zha 2" continued to decline, the decline was not significant. After all, the film's fame had completely taken off, with total box office approaching 60 billion yuan and the estimated box office having been revised to 90 billion yuan. As an animated film, everyone would be curious and buy tickets to see it. Therefore, the film's box office on the 8th day still reached 5.4 million yuan.

As a result, the total box office of "Ne Zha 2" also spectacularly surpassed 61 billion yuan on that day.

This time, the creative team behind "Ne Zha 2" once again released the box office posters they had prepared in advance.

That same evening, before midnight, the official account of the film "Sky Ladder" also released a congratulatory video on various platforms to congratulate "Ne Zha 2" on breaking records again and taking the fifth place in the all-time box office rankings.

In the video, animated characters such as Nezha, the Dragon Prince, Li Jing and his wife, the Dragon Father, Shen Gongbao, and Taiyi Zhenren sit on a space elevator and soar into space.

Above them were numbers like "20 billion", "25 billion", "30 billion", and "35 billion", like the floors of an elevator, but they were shattered by the ascending space elevator until they successfully reached the space station at the top.

Here, the neon lights of 61 billion are shining brightly, which is the box office achievement of the movie "Sky Ladder", but it has now been surpassed by "Ne Zha 2".

At the same time, the creative team of "The Ladder to Heaven", including director and actors Zhao Liying, Wu Jing, and Wang Zhi, who were already prepared, also forwarded the news and sent their best wishes, hoping that "Ne Zha 2" would continue to achieve great success at the box office.

Currently, there aren't many gatekeepers above "Ne Zha 2".

Among them, "The Martian," which ranks fourth in Chinese film history, only grossed 63 billion yuan, just 4 million yuan more than "Ne Zha 2" which grossed 61 billion yuan.

Almost no one would consider this number a hurdle.

Sure enough, on the 9th day after the release of "Ne Zha 2", at noon, the official account of the movie "The Martian" also posted a congratulatory video.

In the video, Nezha and Ao Bing, dressed in spacesuits, arrive on Mars. They not only ride a Mars rover but also enter the Mars base, where they are welcomed by movie characters including Zhang Yi and Jing Tian.

Meanwhile, on the table at the base, there was a large cake with "63 billion" prominently displayed on it.

Fourth in film history!
The success of "Ne Zha 2," an animated film, is truly astonishing.

However, after watching the celebratory video, viewers couldn't help but laugh and say that this was actually a team-building activity within Galaxy Pictures, because both the earlier congratulations to "Ne Zha 2" and the later challenges awaiting "Ne Zha 2" were Galaxy Pictures' works.

They're just entertaining themselves and promoting their own work.

However, movie fans and audiences do not seem to dislike Xinghe Pictures' actions.

Given the quality of "Ne Zha 2", it is absolutely well-deserved to receive such treatment.

Not long ago, the production team of "Ne Zha 2" released a documentary about the behind-the-scenes production of the film.

Of the more than 2400 shots in the entire film "Ne Zha 2", there are more than 2000 special effects shots and more than 1 special effects elements, making it arguably the "ceiling" of domestic animation production.

Behind this is the hard work of hundreds of special effects artists from Xinghe Group's Xingguang Huancai Company, as well as more than 3000 staff members of the film crew over six years.

Besides Starlight Animation and Galaxy Group's animation production companies, 138 other Chinese animation companies participated in the creation of this film.

These companies cover almost all of China's leading animation companies and small and medium-sized studios.

For example, Fantawild was responsible for the waterfall and water flow effects in the movie, Suzhou Red Whale Film & Television undertook one-sixth of the production task, and 21 Ten Animation used its self-developed software to complete the group animation of 200 million characters on the same screen.

This "nationwide mobilization" production model has also broken the production capacity bottleneck of a single company and promoted technology sharing and development throughout the industry.

With so many participants, such a long production time, and such a huge expense, "Ne Zha 2" fully represents the most advanced animation production technology in China today. And the movie tickets are only around 60 yuan, which is lower than the price of many AAA blockbusters. Audiences who have seen the movie feel that it is incredibly cost-effective.

Moreover, in terms of plot, compared to the previous version of "Ne Zha 2" by Wang Hao, this version of "Ne Zha 2" is undoubtedly more rigorous and reasonable because of the involvement of professional screenwriters from Xinghe Group.

In the original "Ne Zha 2", there were still quite a few loopholes in the story logic and problems with the plot and character design.

For example, the Crane Boy and Deer Boy under the Immortal Elder's seat are problematic in their character design.

Because in the overall setting of the story, there is a distinction between immortals and demons. Shen Gongbao was discriminated against in the Chan Sect because he was a demon, and he uttered the famous line, "Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain."

But Deer Boy and Crane Boy are both demons, and even the Immortal Elder is a tree spirit. So, the core of the demon-dominated Chan Sect is actually demons? What kind of discrimination is this?
Therefore, a new concept was added to the new version of "Ne Zha 2", namely "immortal roots and immortal bones".

In the world of "Ne Zha 2", both humans and demons can cultivate to become immortals. However, to become an immortal, one must shed one's mortal body or demonic form and pass trials to prove that one's character is sufficient before entering the Ascension Pool to wash away one's mortal form, sever karmic ties, and reshape one's "immortal body" to truly become an immortal.

(End of this chapter)