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Here’s How Ne Zha 2 Became The Fifth Highest-Grossing Movie Of All Time!(Photo Credit –Facebook)

Ne Zha 2 has been making waves all over the globe for two reasons – first, it presents a story that caters to all age ages and second, it has become the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time. It is quite amazing for an animated film to have achieved this feat alongside big names like Inside Out 2, Titanic, Avatar trilogy, and Avengers: Infinity War. It is the first and the only animated movie in history to have crossed the Usd $2 billion collection mark.

Ne Zha 2 is the sequel to the 2019 animated film Ne Zha. The 2019 movie is a loose adaptation of the 16th-century novel Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin. In the movie, the protagonist Nezha is born from a heavenly pearl by the Primeval Lord of Heaven, Yuanshi Tianzun. He...

Good news for our folks in the UK and Ireland. Chinese box office darling Ne Zha 2 will be released this weekend, on Friday, March 21 and will be followed by 37 other countries in the coming weeks. Previews have started as early as March 14.

Ne Zha 2 is a follow-up to an also succesful 2019 Chinese film Ne Zha about a demon boy raised by humans and strives to cultivate himself and protect the people around him from demons and gods. It has broken multiple box office records including the highest grossing Chinese film of all time, the highest grossing animated film of all time beating Inside Out 2, and placing within the top 5 highest grossing films of all time, beating the likes of Spider-man No Way Home, Avengers Infinity War, and Star Wars the Force Awakens, with $2.07B as of writing.

The film is inspired by Chinese mythology with stories...

The rise and rise of the Chinese animation Ne Zha 2 is mythically impressive. Directed by Jiao Zi — a former adman with a degree in pharmacy who taught himself animation — it has rapidly and unstoppably become the biggest film ever made in China, and the biggest animated film anywhere in the world, toppling Inside Out 2’s record within six months. The original Ne Zha barely made a dent in the West — it earned just under $4 million in the US, and about £50,000 in the UK — yet this sequel is now the fifth highest-grossing film of all time, sweeping up over $2 billion in China alone. It is an ecstatic, superlative, firework-powered phenomenon.

So, what is all the fuss about? If you’ve not seen the first film — not currently available on streaming services in the UK — then this epic sequel does its level best to catch you up at the start,...

UK-based, pan-European distributor Trinity CineAsia has acquired theatrical rights from Beijing Enlight Media for record-breaking Chinese animation Ne Zha 2 across 37 territories, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain.

The film has grossed more than $2Bn, overtaking Inside Out 2, and ranking sixth among the highest-grossing films worldwide, behind Avatar, Avatar: The Way Of Water, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Titanic.

A theatrical release in UK and Ireland has been set for March 21 with previews from March 14. Other European releases will follow with theatrical outings expected for France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Benelux and Scandinavian territories. Trinity CineAsia managing director Cedric Behrel told Deadline that he plans to give the film a theatrical release in as many other European territories as possible.

It’s understood that streaming rights for the film are being negotiated separately. Four Hong Kong companies – Intercontinental Film Distributors, Emperor Motion Pictures, Mandarin Films...

"Ne Zha 2," or "Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Havoc in the Sea," is making waves at the box office, breaking records and making history every week. Like its predecessor, it took five years to make this movie, and over 100 animation companies around the world and thousands of artists contributed to it. That's an epic production worthy of its epic story, and audiences are responding in kind, showing up to movie theaters in droves to see it. This has catapulted "Ne Zha 2" to the very top of the list of highest-grossing animated films ever made, despite only releasing outside of China a couple of weeks ago.

Loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel "Investiture of the Gods," the film tells the mythical story of Nezha, a popular character in Chinese mythology who becomes a deity. These films follow the rise of Ne Zha, a rebellious prankster of a boy born from a heavenly pearl,...

Just over a month into its theatrical run, Ne Zha 2 has already broken several big-name box office records. 

The Chinese animated adventure movie has quickly become one of the biggest entertainment stories of 2025, yet most moviegoers Stateside have probably never heard of it.

Released over the Lunar New Year at the end of January, the big-screen epic is loosely based on the Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods, following a young boy spirit as master Taiyi Zhenren attempts to reconstruct their bodies. 

Read full article on The Direct.

In recent times, animated films have become the new path to success, and this has been proven by Englight Pictures’ Ne Zha 2. The Chinese animated film was released on 29 January 2025, and the movie has already crossed the $2 billion mark. Not only that, but it has become the first non-Hollywood animated film to do this.

Ne Zha 2 Animated Film | Credit: Cmc Films

98% of the box office collection for Ne Zha 2 came from China, and it took the movie only 33 days to become the highest-grossing film of 2025 and the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time. And even after all this, Ne Zha 2 continues to break other box office records each day. So what is the secret sauce behind Ne Zha 2’s unprecedented success?

There are 5 major things that contributed to Ne Zha 2 becoming a box office giant, and Hollywood desperately needs to learn these 5 things in order...

Late in “Ne Zha 2,” the record-breaking, box office behemoth of a sequel to the 2019 Chinese animated action saga, the battle between a clan of divine immortals and the grisly monsters they look down upon in an ancient realm of myth reaches such dazzling, mind-melting fever pitch, one can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of astounding effects and characters in relentless motion. The aerial clash turns so colossal, the fighters on both factions appear like minuscule specks in a flock of birds.

By that point, one has likely already surrendered to the realization that keeping up with the intricate overload of lore at hand is a task that may require multiple viewings and nonstop notetaking. There are spells, curses, vendettas, a twist villain, giant dragons who turn into humanoid warriors and many other creatures populating the world of this gargantuan feat of eye-popping computer animation. Surpassing...

Quick Links'Ne Zha 2' Obliterates Box Office RecordsThe Future of Animation?

What makes a movie popular enough to become one of the highest-grossing titles of all time? In the United States, it's pretty straightforward. The top of the list is populated by Marvel, Avatar, Star Wars, and some Disney/Pixar franchise properties. It's also easy to pick out when a new movie is predicted to net a big profit. But an animated flick from China is turning everything we know about high-grossing movies upside down.

China's Ne Zha 2 has already shattered numerous box office records in the three weeks since its release. As of February 20, 2025, it's the highest-grossing animated film, the highest-grossing Chinese film, and the highest-grossing non-English language film of all time. It ranks overall as the eighth highest-grossing film ever, with a huge $1.7 billion haul. That's an impressive feat, especially when you consider that most American audiences...

In an era when Western media dominates the entertainment industry, a Chinese film has just surpassed a new milestone. Ne Zha 2 has officially become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, a record previously held by Inside Out 2. Following its release in 2024, the Pixar sequel captivated fans with an incredible theatrical experience, with a storyline that resonates with both children and adults and grossed $1.69 billion worldwide. Ne Zha 2, meanwhile, was written and directed by Yu Yang, and is a follow-up to the 2019 film Ne Zha, which was loosely based on Xu Zhonglin's novel Investiture of the Gods.

The sequel premiered in China on January 29, 2025, before finding its way to limited theaters in the United States on Feb.14. With a budget of 600 million yuan (about $80 million), the film has already made $1.73 billion globally, topping the post-Lunar New Year box office. Meanwhile, its predecessor Ne Zha had a budget...

Ne Zha 2 is taking over the world of animated movies!

The Chinese anime film was first released on January 29th in China, and debuted in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on February 14th.

Following it’s debut, the movie has now become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, surpassing Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2.

While you may not have heard of the movie, we’ve got all the details and the trailer for Ne Zha 2 right here!

Keep reading to find out more…

The hit film is the follow up to 2019′s Ne Zha, which is based on the 16th-century novel “Investiture of the Gods” by Xu Zhonglin.

After the success of the first movie, the sequel was greenlit and the budget increasing, becoming China’s most expensive animated movie!

Here’s a synopsis for Ne Zha 2: After the heavenly lightning, although...

On the last weekend of August 2024, “Inside Out 2” surpassed the 2019 remake of “The Lion King” to become the highest grossing animated film of all time, landing just shy of $1.7 billion worldwide. Less than six months later, its reign has come to an unexpected end at the hands of “Ne Zha 2,” the biggest film hit in Chinese history.

In just three weeks, the animated sequel from director Jiao Zi and the studio Chengdu Coco Cartoon has outgrossed its Pixar counterpart almost entirely from audiences in China, turning out to the tune of more than 250 million tickets sold over the course of the Lunar New Year holidays. With more than 12 billion yuan grossed, or $1.7 billion U.S., “Ne Zha 2” has become the first non-Hollywood production in history to rank among the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time.

While its anticipated that box office returns for the movie will drop...

Universal Language, the original and quietly funny Oscar-shortlisted Cannes and TIFF premiering feature by Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin debuts on one screen each in New York and LA. Chinese animated juggernaut Ne Zha 2 opens Stateside and Oscar Nominated Shorts are back for a 20th season. Sony Picture Classics’ Becoming Led Zeppelin expands to 1,039 locations from 369 Imax screens and IFC Films jumps Armand to 230 theaters from two. Oscar contenders continue to populate screens.

Oscilloscope’s Universal Language quite likes this window with the Academy Awards a few weeks away. In a crowded market, “this date is great. Once the ceremony comes and goes, there is a rotation of films out of theaters,” says theatrical distribution chief Andrew Carlin.

He calls Rankin a great actor and filmmaker with a particular sense of style and Universal Language a film with “a strangeness to it that defies classification” — a plus for Oscilloscope.

Rankin returned the compliment.

Box office history has been made in China, as the animated sequel “Ne Zha 2” has become the first film ever to gross $1 billion in a single country.

Released on Jan. 29 for the start of the Lunar New Year festivities, “Ne Zha 2” has grossed an incredible $1.1 billion after just 12 days of release, passing the $935 million grossed by “The Force Awakens” in the U.S. in 2015-16 for the single market record.

The film has already broken every Chinese industry record, passing “The Battle of Lake Changjin” for all-time grosses and “Wolf Warrior 2” for ticket sales. And with its theatrical run only two weekends in, the sequel has plenty of legs to reach $1.5 billion, which would surpass the global totals of recent Hollywood hits “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Barbie.” It is also within reach of the $1.66 billion global total of the “Lion King” remake, which would make it the...

Ne Zha 2 Box Office: Hits $1 Billion(Photo Credit – YouTube)

Ne Zha 2 is breaking all box office records with its mind-boggling performance. It has crossed the $1 billion mark at the Chinese box office this morning after surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ $935 million plus haul yesterday. It became the single-market highest-grossing film of all time. All eyes are on it now to see how much it collects on its second Sunday. Scroll below for the deets.

After only ten days in the theatres, the film has achieved several titles. At the time of its release, the Og film was reportedly the highest-grossing animated film in China, the highest-grossing non-us animated film worldwide, and the second-highest-grossing non-English-language film of all time. The fantasy adventure film was written and directed by Jiaozi. It features the Chinese Mythological character Nezha, a protection deity in Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion.

Ne Zha 2...

Ne Zha 2 Box Office: Sets New Record In Just 10 Days (Photo Credit – Instagram)

The 2025 Chinese animated movie Ne Zha 2 has stunned the world with its unimaginable box office performance. It is already the highest-grossing film in the country’s history and the first 2025 film to earn over $900 million in just ten days. It will cross a massive milestone ahead of Sunday and has beaten Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ total as the highest-grossing film ever in a single market. Keep scrolling for the deets.

The Force Awakens is the sequel to the Return of the Jedi and the highest-grossing film of all time at the US box office. It collected $936.66 million in its domestic run. Meanwhile, the Chinese movie is the direct sequel to the 2019 film Ne Zha and the third film in the Fengshen franchise. The series is loosely based on the novel Investiture of the Gods. The...

The Chinese film industry celebrated an extraordinary Lunar New Year with the animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” leading a record-breaking box office performance. The film generated an impressive Rmb 9.51 billion ($1.3 billion) between January 28 and February 4, marking a significant turnaround for the country’s entertainment sector.

“Ne Zha 2” emerged as the clear winner, earning Rmb 4.84 billion ($665.7 million) in its first week alone. The animated sequel has already claimed the title of highest-grossing animated film in a single market, outperforming Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” despite lower average ticket prices.

The film is on track to make global box office history. If it reaches its projected final gross of Rmb 8.7 billion ($1.2 billion), it will become the first film to cross the $1 billion mark in a single market, potentially surpassing the North American record set by “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.”

Directed by Yu Yang and based on the...

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It's still pretty early into 2025, but January is in the books and we have at least a few new movies out in the world. All things considered, it was a pretty quiet month at the box office, with movies like "Wolf Man" falling short of expectations. That's in North America though. Elsewhere in the world, namely China, theaters are overflowing with patrons who are eager to see what wonders await them in the cinema. In particular, an animated sequel now stands as by far the biggest movie of the year overall -- and it's not even remotely close.

"Ne Zha 2," the sequel to 2019's blockbuster "Ne Zha," debuted this past weekend in China. To say that it had a big opening would be a dramatic understatement. Over the Lunar New Year holiday in the country, the animated film opened...

The Chinese box office hit a record high over Lunar New Year with animation Ne Zha 2 and prequel Detective Chinatown 1900 helping deliver a total gross of more than $1.1bn (RMB8bn) over six days from January 29 to February 3

The Year of the Snake made a strong start last Wednesday (January 29), the first day of the holidays, with takings of $250m (RMB1.8bn), up 35% on 2024 and the biggest single day gross ever in China – beating the previous record of $235m (RMB1.69bn) from 2021.

Six new local titles were released over the period and the total gross is expected to...

A year and a half after the release of the first installment, “Creation of the Gods II” is finally out in the world. Chockful with even more epic battles, mythological creatures, deities, immortals and black magic curses, the supercharged high fantasy blockbuster is well armed to take the Chinese New Year box office by storm.

The story picks up right after the events of the first film. Tyrant King Zhou has been resurrected by the fox spirit and orders Commander Wen Zhong (Wu Hsing-kuo) and his returning army to leave immediately and attack Xiqi. There, Ji Fa (Yu Shi), Jian Ziya (Huang Bo) and their Kunlun immortal sidekicks must protect the besieged city against female general Deng (Nashi) and her troops, which include four giants and their magical weapons. Meanwhile, Prince Yin Jiao (Chen Muchi), who was beheaded at the end of the previous movie, is resurrected by the great...

Worldwide box office: January 31-February 2 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Ne Zha 2(various) $283.6m $416.3m $283.6m $416.3m 1 2. Detective Chinatown1900(various)

$129.4m $247.4m $128.7m $246.3m 8 3. Creation Of The Gods II: Demon Force(various) $42.9m $125.1m $41.6m $123.8m 10 4. Dog Man(Universal) $40.2m $40.6m $4.2m $4.6m 31 5. Boonie Bears Future Reborn(various) $25.6m $56.5m $25.6m $56.5m 1 6. Legends Of The Condor Heroes: The Gallants(various) $21m $74.6m $21m $74.6m 3 7. Mufasa: The Lion King(Disney) $17.8m $653m $11.7m $423.5m 53 8. Companion(Warner Bros) $15m $15m $5.5m $5.5m 61 9. Operation Handal(various) $13m $35.4m $13m $35.4m 1 10. Sonic The Hedgehog 3...

Exclusive: Stars Collective, a Los Angeles-based film finance and mentorship arm, has announced the launch of Stars Asian International Film Festival – a new capsule film showcase to take place in Los Angeles November 12-16.

The festival, which will include a dozen feature selections celebrating Asian cinema, will spotlight a broad range of exceptional films by Asian filmmakers, including a Xiaogang Feng Retrospective which will run from the 9th to the 16th. Kicking off the festival will be the Opening Ceremony on November 12th; the StarS Summit held at the Petersen Automotive Museum on November 13th; followed by the StarS Gala, in collaboration with Women In Film (Wif) on November 14th at the Audrey Irmas Pavilion; and concluding with the Closing Gala at the Los Angeles Theatre on November 16th.

“We are thrilled to launch the Stars Asian International Film Festival. This festival embodies our commitment to showcasing the richness and diversity of Asian cinema,...

There can be a debate when it comes to adaptations of literature: Is it best to have read the source material or not? Reading it gives you an understanding of character and context so are not confused by any cinematic shorthand that presumes your understanding. Yet, coming in without that knowledge also removes any images that have formed in your head and so you base everything purely on what is presented to you on screen. “Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms” is part one of a trilogy based on the classic work “Investiture of the Gods” written in the Ming Dynasty by Xu Zhonglin. With the second and third parts to follow, Well Go USA are bringing the opening chapter to the west and introducing the tale to a largely unfamiliar (Including this reviewer) audience.

Creation of the Gods: Kingdom of Storms is released from WellGo USA

Prince Yin...

Director Wuershan’s ambitious adaptation of Xu Zhonglin’s 16th-century novel has too much highly variable CGI but its idiosyncrasies set it apart

“Strange things keep happening these days,” muses Jiang Ziya (Bo Huang) halfway through this extravagant adaptation of Xu Zhonglin’s 16th-century myth-and-fantasy novel Investiture of the Gods. By this point, we’ve already seen a woman kill herself with a hatpin before being possessed by the spirit of a white fox; a gurgling, pistachio-coloured demon baby is found naked in the woods; and a conjuror who can make his head float free of his body when threatened with decapitation. Strange days indeed.

Ziya is one of three immortals sent to arrest the Great Curse which is threatening the future of the Shang dynasty. King Zhou (Kris Phillips) is besotted with the seductive but malevolent Su Daji (Naran), and is letting his kingdom descend into carnage. The only hope is the Fengshen Bang,...

‘Lost In The Stars’ and ‘Never Say Never’ among local hits that have propelled takings.

China’s box office continued to heat up in the summer months as July closed with $1.2bn (RMB8.7bn), the second biggest month this year, according to the latest data provided by Artisan Gateway.

Four local films ruled the market, each of which crossed the RMB1bn mark. Directed by and starring Wang Baoqiang, Happy Pictures’ Never Say Never has taken $287.7m (RMB2.04bn) as of July 30. The drama opened on July 6 and is based on a true story of a man who turned orphans into martial arts fighters.

In the end, it was always going to come down to those youngsters.

China’s First International Film Festival, which has now 17 editions, prided itself on providing a platform on which the county’s next generation of filmmakers can reveal their talent. Fittingly, then, the event is attended by a predominantly young audience. They travel in large numbers to the city of Xining, set in China’s mountainous central region, fringing the Tibetan Plateau, and they really do feast on the program of independent films.

There were 98 films screened across the festival’s nine-day run, 27 features and 71 shorts among them. There were Q&a sessions with the audience that often ran well into overtime, such was the enthusiasm shown for everything from a gritty but life-affirming three-hour drama about a migrant woman trying to forge a life in a big city (Qin Tian’s Fate of the Moonlight) to a...