A Movie Most Of The World Won't See Just Made Box Office History
An unexpected movie has seemingly come out of nowhere to make history at the box office. "Seemingly" is doing a fair amount of work there because, for movie fans living in China, the animated sequel "Ne Zha 2" has become a cultural cinematic event like no other. Not just in China, mind you, but it's become bigger in some respects than any other movie in history. Yes, really.
Over the weekend, director Yu Yang's blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" added $250.6 million to its already staggering total, bringing its haul to $1.08 billion as of Monday morning. Keep in mind that the movie was only released on January 29, meaning it has done all of this in about two weeks. It has become the first movie ever to make more than $1 billion in a single country, and passed "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($936.6 million) to become the biggest movie ever in a single marketplace.
"Ne Zha 2" made headlines over Lunar New Year with its blockbuster opening, lifting the Chinese box office to heights not seen in years. Other hits such as "Detective Chinatown 1900" and "Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force" have also been leading to record-breaking grosses in the country, but it's this animated sequel that has towered high above the rest. At this rate, there isn't a box office record in China that the film won't break. The only question now is just how high it can fly.
Ne Zha 2 has made its way into the record books
Before the pandemic, China had been having luck with homegrown hits such as "Wolf Warrior 2" ($870 million) and "The Wandering Earth" ($699 million), among others. The original "Ne Zha" ($742 million) is also on that list. What makes them so unique is that the vast majority of that money comes from China and China alone. "Wolf Warrior 2," for example, made just $2.7 million in the U.S. That's been the trend even in the aftermath of the pandemic, as movies like "The Battle at Lake Changjin" ($902 million) continued to shatter records.
That's where things get interesting with "Ne Zha 2." As of this writing, just two weeks into its run, it has already passed the lifetime total of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" ($1.077 billion) to become one of the 40 biggest movies ever globally. It is all but assured to pass other Hollywood hits like "Top Gun: Maverick" ($1.49 billion) and "Barbie"( $1.44 billion) in a matter of days, not weeks. It's going to become one of the biggest movies of all time even though most people in the world aren't going to see it. There's only one country fueling the frenzy.
At this rate, we're looking at a movie that very well may reach the $2 billion mark in China alone. It is almost certainly going to pass 2019's "The Lion King" ($1.66 billion) to become the only Chinese movie to crack the top ten all time. If it does get to the $2 billion mark, it will become just the seventh movie ever to do so, landing somewhere between "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2 billion) and James Cameron's "Avatar" ($2.9 billion) on the all time chart.
What's happening with this film right now is nothing shy of remarkable. Most remarkable of all? It's probably going to have a minimal presence on screens elsewhere in the world. It's a single-market hit the likes of which we've never seen, one that will probably encourage China to continue to prioritize its movies even further, rather than rely on Hollywood for blockbusters.
I spoke about this and more box office news on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:
"Ne Zha 2" opens in the U.S. on February 14, 2025.