Global earnings of Chinese milestone animation 'Ne Zha 2' hit 13 billion yuan

BEIJING -- The Chinese animated movie "Ne Zha 2" has seen its box office revenue worldwide, including presales, surpass 13 billion yuan (about $1.8 billion), according to ticketing platforms.

The blockbuster has made headlines with a list of spectacular records. It established itself as China's all-time top-grossing film as early as Feb 6, just nine days after its release during the Chinese New Year.

Following the tale of Nezha, an iconic boy god from Chinese mythology, the animation later became the first film to gross $1 billion in a single market. It then entered the global box office top 10 and secured the throne as the highest-grossing animated movie of all time globally.

The Chinese milestone film has opened in overseas markets, including Australia, New Zealand and North America.

With rich storytelling and jaw-dropping visuals, it has drawn many Nezha fans in China to revisit cinemas and contribute more to the still-rising box office receipts. According to the movie's official Weibo account, its release on Chinese big screens has been extended until March 30.

Despite the conclusion of the Spring Festival holiday and the winter vacation, a prime moviegoing season, insiders have anticipated the domestic box office to culminate at around 15 billion yuan.

Largely driven by the glittering Nezha phenomenon and a strong film market performance during the holiday, China's domestic box office revenue of 2025 has exceeded 21 billion yuan as of Saturday, roughly half of that for the whole year of 2024, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.