Enlight Media has reported its strongest performance since going public, driven largely by the success of Ne Zha 2.
According to its financial report released on October 28, the company recorded revenue of RMB 3.616 billion (USD 506.2 million) in the first three quarters of 2024, up 150.81% year-on-year (YoY). Net profit attributable to shareholders surged 406.78% to RMB 2.336 billion (USD 327 million). In the third quarter alone, revenue reached RMB 374 million (USD 52.4 million), a 247.54% increase from a year earlier, while net profit jumped 993.71% to RMB 106 million (USD 14.8 million).
Films contributing to the first three quarters included Ne Zha 2, The One, Girl on Edge, Dongji Rescue, and Fairizest: Rally for Pally. Nie Xiaoqian, which premiered in 2024, also contributed part of its box office revenue to the period.
With a global gross of RMB 15.9 billion (USD 2.2 billion), the world’s fourth highest in 2024, Ne Zha 2 clearly powered most of Enlight’s results. Based on industry estimates, the company likely earned about RMB 3.1 billion (USD 434 million) from the film’s box office.
Film company stocks tend to move in lockstep with their blockbuster hits. Following Ne Zha 2’s runaway success, Enlight’s share price tripled to RMB 41.22 (USD 5.8) in February before halving a month later to around RMB 20 (USD 2.8). Even with record profits, the stock barely moved on the day of the earnings release.
Wang Changtian’s investment playbook
Volatile revenue remains an industry-wide curse for film studios. The key question is how to stay profitable when there’s no blockbuster on screen.
Even after Ne Zha 2 left theaters, Enlight reported nearly RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) in merchandise income in the third quarter.
During the quarter, Enlight invested in Dongji Rescue, Girl on Edge, and Fairizest: Rally for Pally. None performed well at the box office, yet profits still grew. Apart from selling partial stakes early to recover costs, much of that profit came from the long-tail effect of Ne Zha 2’s merchandise sales.
This suggests that Enlight is beginning to prove its ability to generate revenue beyond ticket sales through IP operations.
Still, consumer enthusiasm for Ne Zha 2 has faded quickly. While IP-related revenue reached several hundred million RMB during the film’s initial quarter in theaters, that figure dropped sharply to under RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) by Q3, a sign that its merchandising power remains limited. For comparison, Pop Mart’s Labubu figurine alone generated RMB 4.8 billion (USD 672 million) in revenue in the first half of 2024, despite lacking a narrative foundation.
Given Ne Zha 2’s popularity, critics believe its derivative business should have performed better, hinting at Enlight’s unwhelming IP monetization capabilities.
That said, Enlight remains one of China’s strongest film companies. Among studios unaffiliated with a major director, it is arguably the closest thing China has to a homegrown Disney. It’s backed by valuable IP, an integrated industry chain, and an investment strategy that embraces high-risk, high-reward bets.
Coloroom Pictures, its animation arm, exemplifies this approach. Founded a decade ago, Coloroom’s mission was clear: invest widely in promising animation studios. By taking a venture capital–style approach to animation, Enlight reduced the creative risk of in-house production while cultivating future partners.
In 2015 alone, Coloroom invested in more than 20 companies across the animation value chain. Its early backing of director Yang Yu (also known as “Jiaozi”) and Cococartoon has now paid off.
Crucially, Enlight benefits from being both a film distributor and a shareholder in those studios, capturing profits on two fronts. Chairman Wang Changtian has skillfully used investment leverage to amplify returns from individual films.
Following the same strategy, he made another significant move: investing in Maoyan Entertainment.
When mobile internet platforms were just emerging, Wang foresaw their potential impact on film distribution and ticketing. In 2016, Enlight acquired a 57.4% stake in Maoyan, becoming its controlling shareholder. The move proved prescient. In today’s era of online ticketing, platforms like Maoyan heavily influence theater scheduling. As Maoyan’s majority owner, Enlight enjoys greater flexibility in securing prime screening slots.
Ne Zha 2: A highlight and a shadow
The blockbuster success of Ne Zha 2 raises a question: how long can Enlight rely on its popularity, and when will the next breakout arrive?
From a broader perspective, a single hit cannot lift the entire Chinese box office. A healthy market doesn’t necessarily need multiple megahits, but it does need steady, diverse output.
In fact, Ne Zha 2’s dominance exposes an industry problem. Its overwhelming draw siphoned audiences from other releases. With few strong follow-ups during key holidays, the film continued to top charts months after release, ranking third even during the Qingming Festival in April despite debuting in February. Meanwhile, box office revenue during the National Day holiday has fallen back to levels seen a decade ago.
Three years after pandemic restrictions eased, lingering caution has slowed the industry’s recovery. According to Top Century Consultation, the number of films filed for approval nationwide in the first five months of 2025 dropped more than 20% YoY, while actual releases declined 16%.
“People with a few million or ten million RMB still won’t risk making a theatrical film, as they are too afraid of losing money,” one producer told 36Kr. Stricter content reviews and a fear of failure have sharply reduced creative output.
The result: filmmakers are crowding into fewer, safer release windows—mainly around major holidays—leading to severe polarization. As one producer put it:
“It’s like fishing in a shrinking pond. Everyone’s competing in the same spot.”
This convergence of holiday scheduling and blockbuster dependence peaked with Ne Zha 2. In the first half of 2024, total box office revenue reached RMB 29.23 billion (USD 4.1 billion), up 22.9% YoY and nearly matching pre-pandemic highs. Yet more than half of that came from the Lunar New Year period, with Ne Zha 2 alone accounting for 52.8% of the holiday’s revenue.
Afterward, the box office slumped. From March through June, not a single month surpassed RMB 2 billion (USD 280 million).
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Animation films, with their long production cycles, feel these pressures even more. Studios are cutting costs wherever possible, including labor.
Ne Zha 2’s end credits list over 100 animation suppliers, an impressive sight that also exposes structural weaknesses. The long roster reflects a fragmented industry where top studios dominate while smaller ones remain stuck in low-value production work.
“There are far too many junior animators entering the market every year, but not enough senior ones,” an animator told 36Kr. “China’s animation films rely on sprawling supplier networks, while Western studios use project-based teams. The former gives big studios more bargaining power but doesn’t foster balanced growth.”
With its strong content pipeline and distribution network, Enlight Media already holds some of the best cards in China’s film industry. What it needs now is patience from the market—perhaps the rarest commodity in today’s climate.
Enlight was ahead of its time a decade ago. Today, it seems the times still haven’t caught up. As the company continues to bask in the glow of Ne Zha 2, its real turning point may come when Coloroom Pictures becomes the halo itself.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Song Wanxin for 36Kr.