Rise of Ne Zha

New animated film based on a mythological figure smashes box-office records, Xu Fan reports.

Smashing box-office records in animation, the film Ne Zha has proved to be a dark horse, tipped to lift up the Chinese film industry, which has experienced a slowdown in the past five months.

The film, which topped the mainland's ticket-revenue charts for four consecutive days, has grossed more than 800 million yuan ($116 million) since it hit domestic theaters on Friday, according to live box-office tracker Maoyan.