(Yicai) Feb. 14 -- Shares of Enlight Media, the Chinese production company behind animation blockbuster Ne Zha 2, surged by their 20 percent daily trading limit for a fourth straight day after the movie become the first Chinese film to gross CNY10 billion (USD1.38 billion).

Over the eight trading days since the end of the Chinese New Year holiday on Feb. 4, Enlight Media’s stock price [SHE: 300251] has surged by more than 260 percent, bringing the Beijing-based company’s market value to CNY102 billion (USD14 billion). The shares closed at CNY34.73 (USD4.78) each in Shenzhen today.

Based on a traditional Chinese mythological story, Ne Zha 2 premiered over the holiday. A sequel to Ne Zha, released in 2019, it took just eight days and five hours to overtake China’s previous box office record holder, The Battle at Lake Changjin, having taken CNY5.78 billion (USD796 million) as of Feb. 6. It hit the CNY10 billion mark yesterday.

As of 2 p.m. on Feb. 14, Ne Zha 2 had total box office takings in excess of CNY10.3 billion, according to data from ticketing platform Beacon. That put it ahead of Avengers: Age of Ultron to rank 16th in the global all-time box office charts. The total number of viewers has exceeded 200 million

Enlight Media said on Feb. 5 that Ne Zha 2 had grossed about CNY4.8 billion (USD660 million), earning the firm between CNY950 million and CNY1.01 billion (USD131 million and USD139 million) and equalling more than half of its operating revenue in the most recent fiscal year.

The biggest winner from the movie’s success is Chairman Wang Changtian, who owns 35.5 percent of Enlight Media. With the surge in the stock price, the value of Wang’s stake now exceeds CNY36.2 billion (USD5 billion), having shot up by CNY26.3 billion compared with Jan. 27, just before the Chinese New Year.

Ne Zha 2 is due to be released in North American today, after being shown for the first time in Australia and New Zealand yesterday. It will premiere in Hong Kong on Feb. 27.

Editor: Tom Litting