Pixar animated film “Inside Out 2” made history in 2024 by overtaking 2019’s “The Lion King” to become the highest grossing animated film of all time. This year, the crown has been passed once more, to the Chinese animated epic “Ne Zha 2.”
The first “Ne Zha” film was released in 2019, and was met with both critical acclaim and commercial success. The story follows Nezha, a protection deity in Chinese folk mythology. In the movie, an energy absorbing pearl, called the Chaos Pearl, is split into two parts, the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb. The Spirit Pearl is intended to be reincarnated at the third son of deity Li Jing, but the two halves are swapped and the Demon Orb is reborn instead.
The movie then follows Ne Zha, the reincarnation of the Demon Orb, as he goes through life thinking he was born of the Spirit Pearl. Ne Zha receives training to hunt demons, though his attempts at fulfilling his perceived destiny result in chaos and destruction.
The conflict in the first movie is caused by two main factors. The first is that the Demon Orb is cursed such that in three years, Ne Zha will be killed by heavenly lightning. The second is that Spirit Pearl was reincarnated as the son of the dragon king, named Ao Bing. The dragons – from which Ao Bing descends from – are trapped on the ocean floor, serving as jailors.
Ao Bing and Ne Zha fight due to their opposing situations, but eventually make up and work together to save Ne Zha from his fate. The movie grossed nearly a billion dollars in China alone, becoming the highest grossing animated film of all time in the country.
The direct sequel, “Ne Zha 2,” picked up right where the first one left off, both in terms of story and commercial success. The movie follows Ne Zha and Ao Bing after being struck by heavenly lightning and trapped outside of their bodies. They strike a deal with the Dragon King Ao Guang to allow them both to inhabit Ne Zha’s body. The movie follows them as they attempt to rebuild their bodies and return to their normal lives.
“Ne Zha 2” came out the gate swinging, grossing $447 million on its opening weekend in China. This immediately set the record for the highest domestic opening weekend for an animated movie, breaking the $389 million record that “Moana 2” set only three months earlier. This opening also ranks at number 13 for the highest of all time, beating out “Batman v Superman.”
The earnings did not stop there, as the film grossed more in its second weekend than its first. Its second weekend raked in $696 million, pushing the film to one billion dollars total in only two weeks, making it the third fastest movie to reach the milestone behind both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” Both films reached the milestone in just over a week.
The film grossed $549 million in its third week and $248 million in its fourth week, putting its total at $1.9 billion, enough to push it over “Inside Out 2” in the race for the highest grossing animated movie. A relatively quiet $101 million in its fifth week pushed it past $2 billion, becoming the first animated film to accomplish this milestone.
The records do not end there. Of its $2 billion, 1.9 of them came directly from Chinese markets. This breaks the record set by “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens’” $936 million North American record for the largest success in a single market. These earnings also make it the highest grossing non-English film, and one of only three non-English movies to break the top 100 highest box office successes of all time.
The success of “Ne Zha 2” speaks volumes about the future of movies to come. Sean Baker suggested in his Oscars acceptance speech for “Anora” that movie theaters were in danger of going extinct. If the gross of “Ne Zha 2” is any indication, theaters may be around for years to come.
