BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A sequel to the 2019 box office hit "Ne Zha" is on the way. The first "Ne Zha" became China's top-grossing animated film to date, generating a whopping 5 billion yuan (about 748.99 million U.S. dollars).

The news broke via a monthly bulletin on new film projects that had recently registered with the China Film Administration (CFA), and it soon made headlines on social media platforms.

A hashtag about the sequel has generated 110 million views on the microblogging site Weibo since Friday last week, with netizens excited to see the young hero on the big screen again.

"Ne Zha," loosely based on the tale of a mythological figure of the same name from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel "Fengshen Yanyi," or "The Investiture of the Gods," was directed by Yang Yu, who goes by the nickname Jiaozi.

In stark contrast to previous TV drama and film adaptations of the character in both personality and appearance, Yang's version of Nezha was depicted as a lovably defiant underdog who has to overcome prejudice and his dark fate to become a hero.

There is currently no official word on the release date, however Douban has put it down for 2024. In the sequel, Nezha's teacher will be faced with the tall task of reconstructing the bodies of Nezha and Ao Bing, the son of the Dragon King, directly following the events of the 2019 film.