Ne Zha 2 Box Office Breakthrough (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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It’s happening! After years of toying with box office analysts and causing Hollywood to clench its teeth in sour, the Chinese film industry is about to deliver the world’s first billion-dollar movie that is neither made in English nor dominated by U.S. dollar earnings.
The latest animated spectacle, Ne Zha 2, has defied all expectations, soaring to unparalleled heights during the country’s Lunar New Year festivities. The result is cataclysmic and inevitable to shatter at least half the records; this adaptation of ‘Investiture of the Gods’ is moving at a pace unseen outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Released solely in China on January 29, the sequel has already collected a staggering $756.66 million in just eight days—an unprecedented feat for any January release, surpassing American Sniper and the fastest for an animated feature.
Ne Zha 2’s historic first-week haul of $673 million has already eviscerated Avengers: Endgame’s $473 million debut by a staggering 42%, and it’s far from finished. The film is only a weekend from registering itself as the biggest grosser in a territory. It is a record held for nine years by Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens with $936 million.
The precedent set by China’s previous record-holders makes Ne Zha 2 a slam dunk to break the glass ceiling. The Battle at Lake Changjin, the highest-grossing non-English film to date, fell just short of toppling the Avengers and Force records — missing by a mere $8 million and $25 million, respectively. Even when China briefly outperformed North America during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 war drama couldn’t quite reach the ultimate milestone, closing at $913 million.
However, Ne Zha 2 is far ahead in debut earnings and footfalls, making its entry into the all-time Top 25 highest-grossing films — unadjusted for inflation — a certainty. It also solidifies itself as 2025’s most dominant blockbuster, a position that will only be challenged by Avatar: Fire & Ash and Zootopia 2.
China’s global box office presence became undeniable in 2017 with Wolf Warrior 2, the first non-English film to crack the Top 100 highest earners with a juggernaut of $870 million. The original Ne Zha and The Wandering Earth soon followed, surpassing $700 million each in 2019. Meanwhile, Hi, Mom secured its place as the highest-grossing film by a solo female director, dethroning Wonder Woman with its $841 million tally.
While none of these films reached the mythical $1 billion, they ensured that cinema pundits worldwide now turn their eyes toward the Lunar New Year. The date currently hosts 2025’s five biggest films — all Chinese. Yet none are displaying the relentless momentum of Ne Zha 2, which is only just beginning its historic rampage at the box office — one for the record books.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates from various sources. Koimoi has not independently verified the figures.
