Latest news with #YangYu
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Ne Zha 2' Director: China's Animation Boom Must Lead to Creative Risk, Not Repetition
The director of Ne Zha 2, the highest-grossing animated film in Chinese box office history, is urging his peers to embrace greater diversity in storytelling, as the industry grapples with the unprecedented $2.2 billion global haul of his record-breaking sequel. As recently as a decade ago, the Chinese animation industry was still taking baby steps but a recent boom has been led by talents such as Yang Yu (aka Jiaozi), responsible for both Ne Zha and the sequel that went ballistic. While the world has warmed to the tale of the little demon boy struggling along his quest for immortality, Yang urged caution when it came to other Chinese filmmakers looking – or even dreaming – of replicating that success. More from The Hollywood Reporter Shanghai: Women Filmmakers Speak Out on Challenges and Triumphs at Kering Seminar How Tennis Icon Andy Murray Is Moving From Centre Court to Center Stage on the Road to Wimbledon Karen Gillan Doesn't Fear Imposter Syndrome 'I think in the next five to 10 years, as more and more young people transition from animation enthusiasts to creators, they will have more space to experiment with diverse content,' said Yang. 'I am optimistic because the animation industry in China actually does not have very large numbers of directors and creators. If you look at the credits behind a film like Ne Zha, there might be around one to two thousand people. At the moment, that's basically everyone in the Chinese animation industry.' Yang is this week serving on the jury for the Golden Goblet award for animation at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival — China's largest annual industry gathering — and spoke alongside fellow jury members: Oscar-nominated Irish filmmaker Nora Twomey (The Secret of Kells) and Japan's Koji Yamamura (Mt. Head). The festival has long supported animation, as has the city that hosts it, given that Shanghai was where the first-ever Asian animated feature (Princess Iron Fan) was produced way back in 1941. There are five international productions in the running for the Golden Goblet, with markets represented including Japan (Make a Girl from Gensho Yasuda), France-Switzerland-Belgium (Antoine Lanciaux's The Songbirds' Secret) and Australia (Magic Beach from Robert Connolly) China has two films involved, and they showcase just how far the genre reaches these days, given there's the IP-driven U.S.-coproduction Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass (Zhang Gang directing) the Li Wei, Weng Ming, Shinichiro Watanabe, Shuhei Morita-directed, war-shadowed fantasy Edge of Time. 'If you look back at the last 10 years, from the success of the big productions from White Snake (2019) and now to Ne Zha, each movie is based on very classic Chinese traditional IP as a starting point,' said Yang. 'It's not that these creators only want to do this, it's because in the past decade, if they don't do this, the film may not sell. 'More global audiences are also eagerly looking forward to seeing more excellent Chinese animation works, which are also a reimagining of traditional Chinese mythology,' he continued. 'So I think this has injected a new power into the industry. Over the years, more and more audiences have started to believe that China can also produce excellent animated films and, gradually, different types of content will begin to emerge.' For her part, Twomey welcomed the 'inspiration' Ne Zha 2 had provided for the global animation industry. 'I believe that now is a very special time,' she said. 'We currently have many interesting situations, but also face many challenges. For example, the popularization of AI and the audience's high expectations for animation have become very high. So, we hope that our imagination will not be constrained and that with endless creativity, we can bring audiences works worth looking forward to.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
South China Morning Post
01-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Ne Zha 2 and DeepSeek trailblazers inspire Chinese looking for brighter future
Published: 10:00am, 1 Mar 2025 At the beginning of 2025, few were fully optimistic about China's development prospects in the shadow of the US-China rivalry in trade, tech, security and other aspects. The world's second-largest economy remained in the doldrums throughout most of 2024 until Beijing launched an array of stimulus policies in September. In the end, GDP expanded 5 per cent from 2023, meeting the official target of 'around 5' per cent, according to official data. However, a sluggish job market, a protracted property downturn and gloomy wage increase outlook still weighed heavily on consumer sentiment. 01:53 Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country's highest-grossing film ever The arrival of green shoots in late January came all of a sudden. The blockbuster film Ne Zha 2 , a home-grown animated feature, has been refreshing records in China box office sales since its debut on January 29. Nine days earlier, DeepSeek , a private Chinese company, shocked the world by launching an AI reasoning model that is fully open source and more cost efficient than most of its peers. The technological excellence exhibited by the movie and the start-up have helped buoy confidence around the nation in what Chinese people can achieve in spite of intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing. 'I was so moved by the movie. When the 'monsters' chained by the ruler in the deep sea angrily smashed their shackles, I resonated with their desperation and admired their fighting spirit,' said David Qiu, a video game designer in Beijing, who said the movie was reminiscent of people struggling in the depressed years of the pandemic and post-Covid economic stagnation. 'We want to live a better life,' he said. The maker of Ne Zha , Yang Yu , founder of Kekedou Animation, graduated from a prestigious medical school in the western city of Chengdu but decided to become an animator. Going by the name Jiaozi, or 'Dumpling', Yang is self-taught in the art of animation. He struggled to make a living for six years but never gave up, according to media reports.
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Ne Zha 2, record-breaking Chinese animated film, is the real deal
Published: 6:15pm, 20 Feb 2025 4/5 stars Animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 arrives in Hong Kong this weekend following a month-long siege of the mainland Chinese box office that shows no sign of abating. The film has run up domestic and international box office records. With ticket sales of over 12.3 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) and counting, it is not only the most successful Chinese film in history but the most successful animated movie ever and the highest earner in any single market, obliterating the previous record of US$936 million held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the United States. Like Ne Zha from 2019, Ne Zha 2 is adapted from Xu Zhonglin's classic 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods , which also served as the source material for this season's Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force . A 144-minute barrage of mythological mayhem, Ne Zha 2 bombards its audience with a cavalcade of supporting characters, side quests, infantile humour and eye-popping animation that is by turns exhilarating and exhausting. Director Yang Yu , better known as Jiaozi , picks up the action immediately following the events of the first film, continuing the adventures of the eponymous pint-sized demi-demon (played by Joseph Cao).
NBC News
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Chinese film ‘Nezha 2' becomes world's highest-grossing animated movie
BEIJING — Chinese animated blockbuster 'Nezha 2' overtook Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' on Tuesday to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. 'Nezha 2' has amassed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth-highest box office film globally. Over 99% of 'Nezha 2''s box office income has come from mainland China, starkly in contrast to Hollywood films, which typically rely on a more global distribution strategy. 'Nezha 2' is a sequel to the 2019 hit 'Nezha.' The film is based on a 16th-century Chinese novel 'The Investiture of the Gods,' depicting a hero boy with magic power who tries to defend Chentangguan, a fortress town. Directed by Sichuan-born director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, the film propelled the 2025 Lunar New Year box office in the country to an all-time high.
ARN News Center
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- ARN News Center
China's 'Nezha 2' becomes highest-grossing animated film globally
Chinese animated blockbuster 'Nezha 2' overtook Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' on Tuesday to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. 'Nezha 2' has amassed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth highest box office film globally. Over 99% of the film's box office income has come from mainland China, starkly in contrast to Hollywood movies, which typically rely on a more global distribution strategy. 'Nezha 2' is a sequel to the 2019 hit 'Nezha'. The film is based on a 16th century Chinese novel 'The Investiture of the Gods', depicting a hero boy with magic power who tried to defend Chentangguan, a fortress town. Directed by Sichuan-born director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, the film propelled the 2025 Lunar New Year box office in the country to an all-time high.
