An Unexpected Movie Just Made History By Crossing The $2 Billion Box Office Milestone

Enlight Pictures

Box office history has somewhat quietly been made. That is, for anyone who lives outside of China. The Chinese animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2” has been on a tear in its native country all year, and has been easily the biggest movie of 2025 globally since early February. Amazingly enough, there’s a good chance it will hold the crown for the rest of the calendar year too. That’s because director Yu Yang’s breakout sequel just passed the $2 billion mark a little over a month into its theatrical run.

As of Tuesday, March 4, “Ne Zha 2” had collected $2 billion globally, passing 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.95 billion) on the all-time worldwide charts. It is now just the seventh film ever to cross the $2 billion mark, joining “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.05 billion), “The Force Awakens” ($2.07 billion), “Titanic” ($2.26 billion), “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($2.32 billion), “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.79 billion), and “Avatar” ($2.92 billion). When all’s said and done, “Ne Zha 2” is likely to sit behind “Titanic” or “Avatar: The Way of Water” in the number four or three spot.

To make this all even more remarkable, “Ne Zha 2” did this by making the vast majority of its money in one country. In mid-February, it made history by becoming the first movie to ever gross at least $1 billion in a single country. Yes, it has been released outside of China, but those numbers are drops of water in a bucket, comparatively. The animated sequel has done decent business in the U.S. bringing in $18.1 million to date. But again, that’s a fractional percentage of the film’s overall gross. China alone is doing the heavy-lifting here.

Ne Zha 2 is in the midst of a box office run for the ages

Enlight Pictures

“Avengers: Endgame” still holds the record as the fastest movie to reach $2 billion at the box office, having done so in just 11 days before briefly becoming the biggest movie of all time (before “Avatar” took the crown back). “Ne Zha 2” managed to do this in 33, becoming the second-fastest.

“Ne Zha 2” is now the only non-Hollywood movie to join the $2 billion club. It’s also the only animated movie to ever achieve such heights at the box office, having passed Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” ($1.69 billion) a few weeks ago to become the biggest animated movie ever. To say that this movie is unexpectedly successful would be a dramatic understatement. Even so, it’s not as though these Chinese blockbusters came out of nowhere.

China has been having luck with homegrown box office hits over the last decade, with the likes of “Wolf Warrior 2” ($870 million), “The Wandering Earth” ($699 million), and “The Battle at Lake Changjin” ($902 million) serving as just a few examples. Again, these movies made almost all of their money from Chinese ticket buyers. The original “Ne Zha” ($742 million) was also a sizable success, although the sequel has truly outgrown its predecessor in shocking fashion. All of this to say, it was only a matter of time before China had its own “Infinity War,” so to speak.

This is why Hollywood can no longer depend on Chinese audiences, as the country is prioritizing its own releases these days. Even so, this is a very good sign for the health of the global box office. Looking ahead, we wonder, can anything challenge “Ne Zha 2” for the crown in 2025? Perhaps only James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” when it arrives in December.

“Ne Zha 2” is in theaters now.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}