Ne Zha 2 sets China box-office record with US$1 billion in 10 days
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A man walks past a promotional poster for Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 in Beijing on Feb 11. The movie has now earned over US$1 billion.
PHOTO: AFP
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CHINA – Chinese film Ne Zha 2 grossed more than US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) in China over its first 10 days in cinemas, setting the country’s new box-office high mark.
The fantasy blockbuster animation sequel surpassed 7.7 billion yuan (S$1.43 billion) in earnings as at Feb 9, after its debut during the Chinese New Year festivities on Jan 29, according to data from Chinese ticketing site Maoyan. Domestically produced and distributed, the film comfortably eclipsed the previous top movie, war drama The Battle At Lake Changjin (2021), and pushed the original Ne Zha (2019) down to fifth place on the all-time list.
Chinese cinema has been dominated largely by domestic titles recently, with only the occasional entry from blockbuster franchises such as Avengers (2012 to present) and Fast & Furious (2001 to present) showing up as popular imports. With its immediate success, Ne Zha 2 is now the world’s highest-grossing film in a single market.
According to Hollywood trade outlet Variety, the record was previously held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which pulled in US$936.7 million in North America alone.
The film is also forecast to become the world’s biggest animated movie of all time, according to Chinese news outlet Xinhua.
A giant screen showing a trailer for the Chinese movie Ne Zha 2 at a cinema in Beijing, China, on Feb 6, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Shares of Ne Zha 2 distributor Beijing Enlight Media Co soared by more than 40 per cent since Feb 5 as the market digested the strong opening. Pre-orders for an art book tied to the film also skyrocketed across China, while microblogging site Weibo saw posts celebrating the film’s success top trending lists throughout the week.
The historic achievement of this animated feature marks a rebound after the Chinese box office suffered a 23 per cent decline in 2024.
Ne Zha 2’s spectacular visual effects and resonant characters have helped its popularity spread by word of mouth and online social buzz. It is also a boost for the Chinese government, which is striving to increase domestic consumption. Movies are seen as helpful to draw consumers out to shop, particularly as most cinemas in the country are located in malls.
China’s domestic creative industry is best known for its films in the action and history genres, but it has been diversifying and elevating the quality of its output. Hollywood productions have to date struggled to gain a foothold in the market, as distributors face requests by Beijing to modify sensitive scenes or the timing of their releases.
Even with the Chinese government’s agenda to boost the local film industry, the number of foreign films released in the country rose in 2024. That included Walt Disney Co’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which was approved despite its irreverent and violent content. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire and Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron (2023) anime were in the top 10 most popular films in China in 2024, with science-fiction flick Alien: Romulus just outside. BLOOMBERG
