China’s highest grossing film of all time, “Ne Zha 2,” has passed one more milestone in its historic run. This past Sunday, it surpassed the global total of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to join the top five highest grossing films of all time before inflation adjustment.
Unlike the Hollywood productions that make up the rest of the list like “Avatar,” nearly all of the film’s $2.08 billion global total has come from domestic audiences in China, with only $31 million coming from overseas. More than 300 million tickets for “Ne Zha 2” have been bought by Chinese moviegoers, a number that nearly matches the 340 million of the entire estimated United States population.
Thanks to the unprecedented popularity of “Ne Zha 2” in China since its Lunar New Year launch, the film has exceeded the unadjusted $2.06 billion total grossed by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in the winter of 2015-16. Prior to that, it passed “Inside Out 2” to become the highest grossing animated film of all time in just three weeks of theatrical play.
The first “Ne Zha” was the debut project of the franchise’s studio, Chengdu Coco Cartoon, and grossed $742 million at the box office. Similar to breakout Hollywood animated sequels like “Moana 2” and “Inside Out 2,” years of subsequent play on streaming helped build up the hype for “Ne Zha 2” by the time it hit theaters during the lucrative Lunar New Year box office period.
As China’s local film industry continues to grow in leaps and bounds, “Ne Zha” has proven to be a key milestone. TheWrap reported last month that the film provides Chinese audiences with something they have never had the chance to enjoy before: a locally produced animated film made with the feature production quality of a movie from Disney or DreamWorks, but rooted in a story from traditional Chinese mythology and culture.
And that has been enough to make “Ne Zha 2” the first $2 billion animated hit, joining a top five all-time list that includes the two “Avatar” films, “Titanic” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
