Chinese animated legend Nezha makes box office history, roaring past The Lion King
- Movie earns US$288 million in 10 days with its plot focus on free will
A Chinese-made animated movie about a legendary antiauthoritarian figure raked in more than 210 million yuan (US$30 million) at domestic cinemas on Sunday, about 10 times the takings of Disney’s remake of The Lion King.
Nezha has earned more than 2 billion yuan since it opened in cinemas across China on July 26, setting an earnings record for a Chinese animated movie.
The movie has also earned rave reviews and is rated 8.6 out of 10 on Douban, a Chinese forum for culture and movies.
Nezha is loosely based on the Chinese novel The Investiture of the Gods, set in the Shang dynasty (1600BC to 1050BC). Ne Zha is the third son of a garrison commander and eventually commits suicide to save his people from the Dragon King’s rage.
As he dies, he tells his parents that he will “return his bones to his father and flesh to his mother”, so that he will owe them nothing. He is later reborn as a god.
In the past, the character was known as a free spirit and a symbol of opposition to patriarchy and autocracy.