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Chinese animation sensation Ne Zha 2<\/em><\/a> is now on track to become the highest-grossing theatrical animation release of all time, a remarkable feat considering that it will achieve the milestone from its gross in China alone. The record is expected to be broken within the next three days.<\/p>\n Bookmark this post for regular updates on the film\u2019s stunning box office performance and what it means more broadly for the animation world:<\/p>\n February 17, 1:45pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> The Chinese New Year holiday period has ended and so has winter vacation for students, which led to a significant decline in today\u2019s box office gross. Ne Zha 2<\/em> grossed $26.1 million on Monday, its 20th day of release, pushing its overall box office in China to $1.659 billion. The film has now passed Disney\u2019s 2019 The Lion King<\/em> remake ($1.656 billion) to become the second-highest grossing animated feature of all-time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The film has also now entered the top 10 highest-grossing films of all-time, both live-action and animation. It is the first non-American film to enter the top 10, but there\u2019s another key difference: Ne Zha 2\u2032<\/em>s entire gross is from a single country, while the total for every other film on the list is for a global release that was available to a signifcantly bigger audience. Here is the current list of highest-grossing films:<\/p>\n February 16, 6:39pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> Ne Zha 2\u2032<\/em>s phenomenal performance at the Chinese box office has come at the expense of the long-running Boonie Bears<\/em> franchise. Boonie Bears: Future Reborn,<\/em> the 11th film in the franchise, opened on the same day as Ne Zha 2<\/em> and today it finally passed the $100 million mark. While the figure is quite solid for most Chinese animated features, it\u2019s a disappointing performance for Boonie Bears.<\/em> Last year, the franchise\u2019s 10th film, Boonie Bears: Time Twist,<\/em> grossed over $275 million in China, while in 2023, Boonie Bears: Guardian Code<\/em> earned $220 million. <\/p>\n It will be interesting to watch how Ne Zha 2<\/em> will impact future animation releases in the country. On February 28, a duo of international films open in China \u2014 Naoko Yamada\u2019s The Colors Within<\/em><\/a> and Gints Zilbalodis\u2019 Flow<\/em><\/a>. Currently, both films are projected to earn under $10 million, with The Color Within<\/em> projections ranging from $2-8m and Flow<\/em> anticipating $2-3m.<\/p>\n February 16, 6:23pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> On Sunday, Ne Zha 2\u2032<\/em>s 19th day of release in China, the movie grossed $84.5 million in its homeland, lifting its Chinese gross to $1.63 billion. The film is still in third place for all-time highest-grossing animated film, but should pass both The Lion King<\/em> remake and Inside Out 2<\/em> sometime next week to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Here is the all-time list as it currently stands: <\/p>\n Cumulative Boxoffice Comparison<\/p>\n \ud83d\udfe4#\u54ea\u5412\u4e4b\u9b54\u7ae5\u95f9\u6d77<\/a> #Nezha2<\/a> \u2014 \u9632\u5f39\u677e\u9f20 (@bulletproofsqui) February 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n February 16, 4:30pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> Ne Zha 2<\/em> exploded onto U.S. and Canadian screens this weekend, driven by strong ticket sales in urban centers with a large Chinese population. In North America, the film opened in fifth place with an estimated $7.2 million through the weekend, and is looking at $8.3 million over the four-day President\u2019s Day holiday period. Remarkably, the film managed these numbers from only 660 theaters, for a $10,909 per-theater average, the second best average among the top 20 films, trailing only Captain America: Brave New World<\/em> ($21,559 per-theater average). For comparison, Dog Man<\/em> earned an estimated $9.7m this weekend from 3,334 theaters for a per-theater average of $2,918.<\/p>\n February 15, 9:30am PT \u2014 <\/strong> On Saturday, Ne Zha 2\u2032<\/em>s 18th day of release in China, the film grossed a staggering $107.3 million in China. That was the film\u2019s best day at the Chinese box office since its seventh day of release. The film\u2019s total from Chinese theaters now stands at $1.54 billion, surpassing the $1.45 billion of Walt Disney Animation Studios\u2019 Frozen 2<\/em> to become the third-highest-grossing animated film in history. <\/p>\n February 14, 11:20pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> The English subtitled version of Ne Zha 2<\/em> opened across roughly 750 theaters in the United States today. Early projections, via Deadline<\/em><\/a>, show the film landing in fifth place over the President\u2019s Day holiday, with $5.9 million in the Friday-Sunday period, and $6.5 million over the four-day holiday period. <\/p>\n February 14, 7:15pm PT \u2014 <\/strong> Since 1937, when the Walt Disney Company released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,<\/em> the studio has owned the title of highest-grossing theatrical animated film for all but six years. The only period when it previously lost the title was in 2004 when Dreamworks Animation\u2019s Shrek 2<\/em> became the highest-grossing animated film, but Disney recovered the title in 2010 with Toy Story 3<\/em> and has held it ever since, topping itself with Frozen<\/em> in 2013 ($1.3 billion), The Lion King<\/em> cg remake in 2019 ($1.65 billion), and Inside Out 2<\/em> in 2024 ($1.69 billion). In a few days, Disney will lose the title again to Ne Zha 2<\/em>, which is currently headed to north of $2 billion.<\/p>\n February 14, 3:30pm PT <\/strong> \u2014 On Friday, Ne Zha 2\u2032<\/em>s 17th day of release in China, the film grossed $78.8 million, lifting its overall total to $1.43 billion from Chinese theaters. The film is distributed by CMC Pictures, and directed by Yu \u201cJiaozi\u201d Yang.<\/p>\n After passing The Super Mario Bros. Movie<\/em> yesterday, Ne Zha 2<\/em> is currently fourth on the all-time highest-grossing animated film list, behind three Disney animated films. The list as it currently stands: <\/p>\n Chinese tracking firm Maoyan is currently projecting that Ne Zha 2<\/em> will exceed $2 billion in Chinese box office gross. Only six films have ever reached the $2B milestone, and none animated. <\/p>\n The film\u2019s daily gross is still rising at a torrid pace and it isn\u2019t following the box office trajectory of other top-grossing Chinese films, which typically flatten out after a couple weeks. See chart below:<\/p>\n Cumulative Boxoffice Comparison<\/p>\n \ud83d\udfe4#\u54ea\u5412\u4e4b\u9b54\u7ae5\u95f9\u6d77<\/a> #Nezha2<\/a>\n
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\ud83d\udfe2#\u957f\u6d25\u6e56<\/a> #TheBattleatLakeChangjin<\/a>
\ud83d\udfe0#\u6218\u72fc2<\/a> #WolfWarrior2<\/a>
\ud83d\udfe3#\u4f60\u597d\u674e\u7115\u82f1<\/a> #HiMom<\/a>
\ud83d\udd34#\u54ea\u5412\u4e4b\u9b54\u7ae5\u964d\u4e16<\/a> #NeZha<\/a>
\ud83d\udd35#\u6d41\u6d6a\u5730\u7403<\/a> #TheWanderingEarth<\/a>#ChinaBoxOffice<\/a> #BoxOffice<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/58bueEfv3p<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\ud83d\udfe2#\u957f\u6d25\u6e56<\/a> #TheBattleatLakeChangjin<\/a>
\ud83d\udfe0#\u6218\u72fc2<\/a> #WolfWarrior2<\/a>
\ud83d\udfe3#\u4f60\u597d\u674e\u7115\u82f1<\/a> #HiMom<\/a>
\ud83d\udd34#\u54ea\u5412\u4e4b\u9b54\u7ae5\u964d\u4e16<\/a> #NeZha<\/a>
\ud83d\udd35#\u6d41\u6d6a\u5730\u7403<\/a> #TheWanderingEarth<\/a>#ChinaBoxOffice<\/a> #BoxOffice<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/x7iS6B1hFQ<\/a><\/p>\n