This year’s biggest blockbuster (so far) isn’t from Marvel, Pixar or James Cameron. In fact, most Americans aren’t even familiar with the box office juggernaut — because it’s barely playing in the United States.
“Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese animated movie, has become an unprecedented smash, racking up $1.9 billion from nearly 80,000 screens after four weeks — and with little help from the world’s largest theatrical market. It’s now the highest-grossing movie in a single territory, overtaking 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which earned $936.7 million in North America. “Ne Zha 2” cemented the benchmark in 11 days; “The Force Awakens” took a comparatively glacial 165 days.
And the milestones don’t stop there: “Ne Zha 2” is the biggest animated movie in history, surpassing 2024’s “Inside Out 2” ($1.66 billion). Soon, it will be the first animated movie to cross $2 billion. All these laurels have turned the family film into a point of pride in China at a time when President Donald Trump is imposing new tariffs on the country.
“Since ‘Ne Zha 2’ is now competing with Hollywood films for records, it has become a duty to promote and support the film,” says Stanley Rosen, a political science and international relations professor at USC. “It’s become a litmus test of whether you’re patriotic or not.”
Buoyed by great reviews, a prime release date during the Lunar New Year and a booming sense of nationalism, ticket sales are projected to reach $2.09 billion by the end of the film’s run, according to China’s box office ticketing agency Maoyan. That would leave “Ne Zha 2” as the fifth-biggest movie in history behind “Titanic” ($2.26 billion) and ahead of “The Force Awakens” ($2.07 billion). Unlike those theatrical titans, “Ne Zha 2” is rapidly scaling box office charts without an assist from the rest of the world. (The movie has generated roughly $15 million in North America, where it’s playing in 800 theaters. Those are notable returns for a Chinese-language film but don’t put much of a dent in worldwide sales.)
“Even after the holiday ended, ‘Ne Zha 2’ continued to exhibit remarkable momentum, with only minimal declines on weekdays,” says Lai Li, a market analyst at Maoyan Entertainment. “At its peak, it captured over 70% of the market share. We have been closely monitoring the exceptional box office trajectory, tracking its performance in real time and dynamically adjusting box office forecasts.”
“Ne Zha 2,” a fantasy adventure about a dragon-slaying boy, is the follow-up to 2019’s “Ne Zha,” which was popular — earning $726 million globally — but nowhere near the scope of the second film. While the original was released over the summer, the sequel premiered during the new year, when citizens have off from school and work. The two-week-long holiday leaves plenty of time for multiple trips to the multiplex.
“These phenomena take on a life of their own, as with ‘Barbenheimer,’ where everyone is talking about it,” Rosen says. “You have to see it, sometimes more than once, to be part of the conversation.”
Moviegoers are also responding to a desire to see their own stories on-screen. “This is based on Chinese mythology, so there are deep roots in the culture that resonate,” says Adrian Tong, senior analyst at Hong Kong-based research and consulting firm Media Partners Asia. “It blends in contemporary themes, like social justice, that appeal to younger generations.”
“Ne Zha 2” executive producers Christopher Chen and Alina Yan Qiu compare the second film’s outsized victory to Cameron’s “Terminator” franchise. The original, 1984’s “Terminator,” was modestly successful with $78 million. Yet the sequel, 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” became a runaway smash with $520 million, thanks in part to stunning technological advancements between the two installments.
“Even Western audiences would feel shocked to see the level of quality of the animation,” Chen and Qui say. “Because of advances in [computer-generated] animation over five years, there’s a significant jump in quality between both ‘Ne Zha’ films.”
Because of those dazzling visual effects, “Ne Zha 2” has been a draw in Imax. The company’s premium screens have accounted for $131 million in sales. No surprise, the film is setting yet another record, this time as the highest-grossing Imax release ever in China, outpacing 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” with $83.5 million. Only 16 films have ever surpassed the $100 million mark in global Imax grosses.
“Every time we think the numbers are plateauing, they hold up,” says Imax’s CEO Richard Gelfond. “Pent up demand is a factor. People were hungry to see a beloved film with beautifully done animation and an epic story.”
A decade ago, Hollywood fare dominated in China, with blockbusters like “Avatar” and “Avengers: Endgame” earning hundreds of millions of dollars in the Middle Kingdom. But Chinese audiences have developed a stronger preference for local titles. Still, the country’s box office has been struggling after temporarily overtaking North America as the biggest theatrical market in pandemic-stricken 2020 and 2021. Overall revenues in China fell to $5.9 billion in 2024, a decrease of 23% from 2023 and a 27% drop from pre-pandemic times. But analysts note it only takes a few wins to turn around a depressed market.
“High-quality films will make the box office more sustainable,” Rosen says. “How many ‘Ne Zha’s’ can they produce to get the box office to what it used to be?”
