Box office history was made on Saturday, as China’sNe Zha 2broke several records within the span of a few hours.Ne Zha 2, which debuted over the lucrative Chinese New Year period, is alreadythe year’s highest-grossing film, and it hasn’t even been rolled out internationally yet. The movie has consistently been generating over $50 million every day of release so far, and has now becomethe first movie of 2025 to passthe coveted $1 billion markat the global box office.Ne Zha 2is also the highest-grossing film in a single country, andthehighest-grossing non-Hollywood film of all time.
The movie generated nearly $85 million on its second Saturday, which was enough to send it past the $1 billion mark in China alone. It took just 12 days to achieve this feat. With $33 million in advance sales for Sunday, themovie’s current haul stands at $1.03 billion. Incidentally, this is about as much asMoana 2has been able to gross in over 70 days of worldwide release. This also makesNe Zha 2one of the 10 highest-grossing animated movies of all time; the list is topped by Disney’sInside Out 2, which concluded its run with nearly $1.7 billion last year.
By passing the $936 million mark on its eleventh day of release,Ne Zha 2overtookStar Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens' decade-old record for the highest gross in a single country. The movie also has a shot at becoming the first film in history to gross $100 million in a single day during its second weekend. This is a remarkable performance on all fronts, underlining just how huge the Chinese market has become in recent years. There was a time, not too long ago, when Chinese audiences wouldgladly lap up Hollywood tent poles. But in the post-pandemic era, the market has relied mostly on homegrown films.
‘Ne Zha 2’ Will Debut Domestically on Valentine’s Day
Produced ona reported budget of $80 million,Ne Zha 2is also the first Chinese film to hit $1 billion at the box office, making itthe highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.Deadlinereports that according to the local platform Maoyan,Ne Zha 2is now expected to conclude its China run with nearly $1.5 billion. Even if it makes zero dollars in any other country, the movie will surpassFrozen IIto become the second-biggest animated title in history.
Ne Zha 2will be rolled out internationally on February 14. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
