'Ne Zha' 2nd place on Chinese mainland's all-time box office chart

BEIJING -- China's top-grossing animated film "Ne Zha" has risen to the second place on the box office chart covering all the films ever screened on the Chinese mainland, behind only "Wolf Warrior 2," according to an announcement by the film's official Weibo account.

Data from the China Movie Data Information Network as of Monday showed that "Ne Zha" grossed a total box office of around 4.7 billion yuan ($654 million) in the 39 days since its July 26 debut on the Chinese mainland.

The film is loosely based on the tale of Nezha, a mythological figure from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel "Fengshen Yanyi," or "The Investiture of the Gods."

Directed by 38-year-old Yang Yu, who goes by the nickname Jiaozi, the film depicts Nezha as a mischievous boy with cute and ugly features instead of the attractive young figure that appeared in recent remakes.

In the Yang Yu film, Nezha is positioned as a lovably defiant underdog character who has to overcome prejudice and his dark fate to become a hero.

The 2017 film "Wolf Warrior 2" raked in a box office of more than 5.6 billion yuan on the Chinese mainland.