Stephen Chow as Nezha? The actor-director dresses up for fun ahead of Ne Zha 2’s Hong Kong release

Hong Kong actor-director Stephen Chow recently dressed as Nezha in anticipation of, what else, the Chinese animated fantasy film Ne Zha 2, which comes out in Hong Kong cinemas on Saturday (Feb 22). 

In Chow’s Instagram post on Tuesday (Feb 18), he donned the character's costume including his signature gold ring and red sash while his back faced the camera. 

Hong Kong actor and one of Chow’s frequent collaborators, Lam Tze Chung, was in the background of the picture and appeared shocked.

The 62-year-old said in Mandarin: “The 2nd (Ne Zha film) is showing in Hong Kong this Saturday. I have prepared the basic look for the film.” 

The Kung Fu Hustle star continued and expressed his excitement by repeating: “I want Ne Zha 2” 10 times in the caption. 

The 2019 film Ne Zha depicts a demonic child, Nezha, cursed to live only three years. He is shunned by society but ends up saving his village from being destroyed. 

This year's sequel, released on Jan 29 in China, overtook Pixar's American animated coming-of-age film Inside Out 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, making more than 12.3 billion yuan (S$2.2 billion) to date, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. 

Ne Zha 2 is now the eighth highest box office film globally.

Ne Zha 2’s director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi ("dumpling" in Mandarin), said in a past interview that he was a longtime fan of Chow.

He said that Chow’s films, such as A Chinese Odyssey (1995), Shaolin Soccer (2001), Flirting Scholar (1993), and Hail the Judge (1994) had inspired several comedic scenes in Ne Zha 2.