Chengdu-made summer surprise

Bastille Post Global reported on July 28 that the film had grossed more than 800 million yuan (about US$118 million) since its July 18 release, becoming the biggest box office surprise of the ongoing summer season; as of midnight Monday, July 27, the season's box office had exceeded 5.7 billion yuan, bringing China's 2026 total to more than 21.5 billion yuan.[1]

The film is a flagship project of the Tianfu Changdao Digital Cultural and Creative Park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, where an integrated local animation ecosystem handles every stage of production — from concept sketches and character design to animation, rendering and voice recording. Behind the hand-painted aesthetic lies a sophisticated digital workflow, with AI-assisted tools helping generate scenes and visual effects while preserving the film's distinctive visual style.[1]

The feature framed the film's momentum as part of a noticeable trend of studios turning to Chinese myths and folklore following Ne Zha 2, the most-watched and highest-grossing film ever in China with a global box office of more than 15 billion yuan. Director Mu Zhengyang told the outlet: "The cultural treasures are just there, waiting to be explored. How to make the best of them and give them renewed vitality is where the difficulty, the true value and the meaning lie."[1]