Beautiful concept poster features Han Li as he arrives in the Western Regions
The first animated movie for the historical martial arts donghua A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immorality has just been announced — A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Lost in the Vast Sea — and, yes, it will be released in movie theaters in China.
The announcement came earlier today via animation studio Wonder Cat Animation’s official Weibo page along with a concept poster (below) featuring protagonist Han Li standing in front of an enormous gate.
The film will be produced by the same team behind the hit dongua series.
Wonder Cat also commented about the upcoming film, giving only slight hints about the plot:
The west wind howls, stirring the yellow sands; millennia drift by, carrying endless sorrow.
Han Li arrives in the unpredictable and treacherous Western Regions, embarking on a new chapter of his vast immortal odyssey.
The first theatrical animated film of A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality is officially announced—a high-octane epic, coming soon to the big screen!
Witness Han Li’s journey through the vast desert as he uncovers a millennia-sealed, stirring tale of human struggle and heroism.
They then ended the post with the movie’s title —  A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Lost in the Vast Sea — a direct translation from Chinese, so its English title could obviously be different.
We will keep you posted as to how that turns out.
Meanwhile, enjoy the cool visual and look forward to this as, with animation focused on a full-length theatrical movie, it is likely to be phenomenal.
When will the A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality film premiere?
While nothing has been announced about the film’s premiere date yet, it is likely to be a year away at the earliest.
That is due to the plot of the movie not being a continuation of the main story, but instead is the telling of a standalone arc that is only briefly mentioned in the novel.
That arc, which involves Han Li’s expedition to the Thousand Bamboo Sect in the Western Regions, is still at least a year’s worth of episodes away from where the story is currently taking place in the ongoing donghua.
I would guess then that, while sure it could happen, studios Wonder Cat and Original Force, and producers iQIYI and Bilibili, are probably not too keen to release a new story while the long-running one has not yet caught up.
Several Chinese fans in various forums are also commenting their guess is the premiere will not take place until at least Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year) in 2026. (Begins February 17th)
Enjoy the cool-looking visual and the news A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Lost in the Vast Sea film is in production then. We will update you here on Leo Sigh as soon as more concrete information comes out.
Meanwhile, Episode 138 of the A Mortal’s Journey donghua is now out for VIP subscribers via the Made by Bilibili channel on YouTube.
The donghua itself is one of the most successful Chinese animated series to ever be produced, with over 3.2 billion views on Bilibili alone so far.