The smashing success of the animated film shows that Chinese audiences are opting for local films over American blockbusters. Since this weekend, it has also been a hit in the West.
BEIJING, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Chinese animated blockbuster Nezha 2 overtook Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on Tuesday to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan (1896.HK), opens new tab.
Nezha 2 has amassed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth highest box office film globally.
Over 99% of Nezha 2’s box office income has come from mainland China, starkly in contrast to Hollywood films, which typically rely on a more global distribution strategy.
Nezha 2 is a sequel to the 2019 hit Nezha. The film is based on a 16th century Chinese novel “The Investiture of the Gods”, depicting a hero boy with magic power who tried to defend Chentangguan, a fortress town.
Directed by Sichuan-born director Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi, the film propelled the 2025 Lunar New Year box office in the country to an all-time high.
($1 = 7.2776 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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It was the first movie of 2025 to make over $1 billion, a milestone that is typically accomplished during summer.
CEO of IMAX China, Daniel Manwaring, has recently said that “China was essentially late to the post-COVID world.” To clarify that context, the country delayed the release of a lot of projects, creating about a three-year backlog that they only really started unpacking in 2023. These pandemic-related market closures and slowdowns might make Chinese audiences ready to go back to the movies, partially explaining the wild success of Ne Zha 2. It also helped that the film was released during Chinese New Year (January 29 to February 12), which further contributed to its hype early on by attracting families.
