China’s animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 dethroned Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on Tuesday, becoming the world’s highest-grossing animated film ever, reports Reuters, citing data from ticketing platform Maoyan. The Chinese hit is now also the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time.
The box office earnings of Ne Zha 2 have surpassed 12.3 billion yuan (US$1.69 billion), including pre-sales and overseas earnings. More than 99 percent of this income has stemmed from audiences in the mainland.
Other milestones Ne Zha 2 has achieved include being the first ever film to gross over US$1 billion in a single market, becoming first non-Hollywood movie to join the billion-dollar club, and becoming the highest grossing film in China’s movie-making history.
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The film, a sequel based on characters from Chinese mythology and directed by Jiaozi (also known as Yang Yu), was released in mainland theatres on 29 January, coinciding its run with the Lunar New Year holiday. It began screening at theatres outside the mainland this week, and premiered in Macao last night – following Tuesday’s release in Hong Kong.
Leong Wai Man, head of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, told Xinhua that the success of Ne Zha 2 could inspire Macao’s own film industry to incorporate more Chinese cultural themes into its output in the future.
Inside Out 2 was the highest-grossing film of 2024, making around US$1.68 billion worldwide and knocking Disney’s Frozen II off its perch as the world’s highest-grossing animated film.
