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If we look at 2024’s top ten highest-grossing films worldwide, animated features dominated the global box office in a way few expected. A remarkable five out of the top ten titles came from the animation genre – Kung Fu Panda 4, Mufasa: The Lion King, Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, and the year’s biggest blockbuster, Inside Out 2, which led the chart with an astounding $1.699 billion worldwide (as per Box Office Mojo).
Now, as 2025 approaches its final stretch, the spotlight shifts to whether animation has managed to retain a similar level of dominance. How many animated films have cracked 2025’s global top ten, and more importantly, which of the year’s top five animated earners delivered the strongest returns relative to their production budgets? Let’s break down the numbers.
Animated Films In The Top 10 Films Of 2025
Compared to five animated titles making it into 2024’s worldwide top ten, 2025 has seen a slightly reduced presence, with three animated films securing spots among the year’s highest-grossing releases so far. These include Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, Disney’s blockbuster sequel Zootopia 2, and the current global box office leader, Ne Zha 2, which stands as the top-grossing film of 2025 worldwide. As of now, in both years, the top-grossing film worldwide came from the animation genre, implying its sustained box office dominance (Note: Avatar: Fire and Ash is running in theaters).
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Top 5 Highest-Grossing Animated Films of 2025
Here’s a look at the five highest-earning animated releases of 2025 so far, based on their worldwide box office totals as per Box Office Mojo:
- Ne Zha 2: $1.902 billion
- Zootopia 2: $1.273 billion
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle: $715.3 million
- The Bad Guys 2: $239.4 million
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: $154.3 million
Overall, these five films demonstrate the continued strength of animation at the global box office in 2025, with both Hollywood sequels and anime titles delivering impressive worldwide numbers. The next question is which of them performed the best relative to its budget, not just which one earned the most.
Best Return On Budget
To calculate the return on budget, let’s have a look at the estimated budget figures of the five highest-grossing animated titles of 2025 as per various reports.
- Ne Zha 2: $80 million
- Zootopia 2: $150 million
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle: $20 million
- The Bad Guys 2: $80 million
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: $4 million
Based on the figures above, we have ranked the five films according to their earnings-to-budget ratios, highlighting which titles delivered the most substantial returns relative to production cost:
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: 38.58x
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle: 35.77x
- Ne Zha 2: 23.78x
- Zootopia 2: 8.49x
- The Bad Guys 2: 2.99x
As the ranking shows, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc has emerged as the best performer by return on investment, with its modest $4 million budget and solid global earnings translating into a massive 38.58x return. It is followed closely by Infinity Castle and Ne Zha 2, both of which also delivered exceptional value relative to their production costs. Now, all eyes will be on whether 2026 can deliver the same level of animated hits as 2025.
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