How China’s ‘Ne Zha 2’ Beat ‘Inside Out 2’ to Become the Highest-Grossing Animated Film in History

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This year’s highest-grossing movie (thus far) doesn’t come from Marvel, Pixar, or James Cameron. Interestingly, many Americans haven’t heard of this cinematic titan, as it’s primarily showing outside of North America.

In a remarkable turn of events, the Chinese animated film titled “Ne Zha 2” has shattered records, amassing an astounding $1.9 billion on approximately 80,000 screens following four weeks. Notably, this impressive feat was accomplished with minimal support from the world’s largest box office market. As a result, it has surpassed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which made $936.7 million in North America back in 2015, to become the highest-grossing film in a single territory. Impressively, “Ne Zha 2” reached this milestone in just 11 days, significantly faster than “The Force Awakens,” which needed a comparatively slow 165 days.

The achievements keep piling up for “Ne Zha 2”: it’s currently the highest-grossing animated film ever, surpassing the anticipated “Inside Out 2” ($1.66 billion). It’s poised to become the first animated movie to earn over $2 billion. This incredible success has made this family film a source of national pride in China, especially amidst the new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

Stanley Rosen, a professor specializing in political science and international relations at USC, states that as ‘Ne Zha 2’ is now vying for records alongside Hollywood productions, it’s essential to publicize and back the film. He implies that this is a measure of one’s loyalty or patriotism.

Propelled by favorable critiques, an opportune debut on the Lunar New Year and a strong surge of patriotism, projections estimate that “Ne Zha 2” will earn approximately $2.09 billion by the end of its screening, as suggested by China’s box office ticketing agency Maoyan. This would position it as the fifth-highest grossing film ever, trailing behind “Titanic” ($2.26 billion) and surpassing “The Force Awakens” ($2.07 billion). Unlike its theatrical counterparts such as “Titanic” and “The Force Awakens”, “Ne Zha 2” is swiftly climbing box office rankings with minimal international assistance. (The film has amassed around $15 million in North America, where it’s being screened in about 800 theaters. These earnings are substantial for a Chinese-language movie but do not make a significant impact on global sales.)

Following the holiday’s conclusion, the movie ‘Ne Zha 2’ showed consistent strength, experiencing only slight dips on weekdays,” comments Lai Li, an analyst at Maoyan Entertainment. “At its zenith, it controlled more than 70% of the market. We’ve been keeping a close eye on its impressive box office trend, regularly updating our forecasts based on real-time tracking and dynamic adjustments.

The movie ‘Ne Zha 2’ is a fantasy adventure sequel about a boy who slays dragons, following the success of the 2019 film ‘Ne Zha’. Although the first movie was quite popular, earning $726 million worldwide, it didn’t reach the scale of its sequel. Unlike the original release in summer, the second film premiered during the new year, providing ample opportunity for people to visit cinemas multiple times due to the two-week-long holiday when schools and workplaces are closed.

Rosen notes that these occurrences can become self-sustaining, much like the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon, which has sparked numerous discussions. To join in on the dialogue, one often needs to witness it, and at times, more than once.

Audiences also seem drawn to watching stories that reflect their own cultural backgrounds. As Adrian Tong, a senior analyst at the Hong Kong-based media company Media Partners Asia, explains, “This film is grounded in Chinese mythology, making it deeply connected to the culture and relatable for many people.” He adds that the movie tackles modern issues such as social justice, which resonates particularly with younger viewers.

Christopher Chen and Alina Yan Qiu, executive producers of “Ne Zha 2”, liken its massive success to that of James Cameron’s “Terminator” series. While the first Terminator movie from 1984 earned a modest $78 million, the sequel, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” released in 1991, saw an incredible surge with $520 million. A significant factor contributing to this leap was the remarkable technological improvements between the two films.

Chen and Qui remark that even Western viewers might be taken aback by the high-quality animation of ‘Ne Zha’. Over the past five years, computer-generated animation has made a substantial leap forward, resulting in a noticeable improvement between the two ‘Ne Zha’ movies.

Due to its stunning special effects, “Ne Zha 2” has been attracting crowds at IMAX theaters. The film has generated a staggering $131 million in sales from these premium screens alone. It’s no wonder that it’s breaking records now, becoming the highest-grossing IMAX release ever in China, surpassing “Avengers: Endgame” with an impressive $83.5 million. To date, only 16 films have managed to earn over $100 million at IMAX worldwide.

Imax’s CEO, Richard Gelfond, notes that the numbers seem to level off when we expect them to drop, but they don’t,” he says. “There appears to be a buildup of demand. People have been eagerly waiting to watch a well-animated and captivating film with an epic tale.

A little over a decade ago, Hollywood films were highly popular in China, bringing in massive earnings with hits like “Avatar” and “Avengers: Endgame” raking in hundreds of millions in the Chinese market, known as the Middle Kingdom. However, Chinese viewers have shown a growing fondness for homegrown productions. Despite this shift, China’s box office has experienced difficulties, even surpassing North America as the largest market during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. By 2024, total revenues had decreased to $5.9 billion, representing a 23% drop from the previous year and a 27% decrease compared to pre-pandemic levels. Yet, it takes just a few successful releases to revive a struggling market.

Rosen remarks that creating top-notch movies could help keep the box office thriving over time. He wonders how many ‘Ne Zha’-like films would be needed to bring the box office back to its previous levels.

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2025-02-25 17:47