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 first non-Hollywood film to join the top 10 all-time list.
The first “Ne Zha” was released in 2019 and became a breakout hit in China despite being the debut feature film from its animation studio, Chengdu Coco Cartoon, grossing $725 million.
Loosely based on Chinese mythology and the classic novel “Investiture of the Gods,” the film follows a boy named Ne Zha and his friend Ao Bing, who were born with supernatural powers thanks to a primordial energy source called the Chaos Pearl. In the sequel, they must fight the Dragon King of the Four Seas and his army of ferocious sea creatures to protect their village.
“Ne Zha 2” will get a U.S. release on Feb. 14.
