Ne Zha 2 has been quickly taking over the world since its kicked off its theatrical run in China and international territories earlier this month, and it’s already on the way to beating out films like Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the global box office. The animated sequel was already a massive hit on China, and within a couple of weeks became the highest grossing animated film in history, breaking a record that was previously hit by Disney’s Inside Out 2 not long before. But Ne Zha 2 is far from slowing down any time soon.
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With Ne Zha 2 heading into its fourth week across theaters, it has not only become the highest grossing feature film in China’s history, but is on track to topple three major blockbusters on the global top ten highest grossing films list very soon. With the latest weekend bringing the film to over $1.8 billion USD (according to a new report from Collider), Ne Zha 2 is on track to overtaking Spider-Man: No Way Home, Avengers: Infinity War, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens if it continues to dominate across China and international territories the way it already has.
Ne Zha 2 Is Taking Over the World
Ne Zha 2 only released in theaters in China at the end of January, but has quickly taken over the country. Only just last week the film became the highest grossing animated film of all time with over $1.6 billion USD in China alone, and the film has now earned an additional $12 million USD with its limited screenings across North America. It might not be the biggest film domestically compared to other releases, but its strength in the box office in China is making it one of the most successful feature film releases of all time, animated or otherwise.
It’s doing so well at the Chinese box office that Ne Zha 2 is currently predicted to cross over $2 billion USD in their region before the film ends its run, and this would put it firmly above Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s lifetime success of $1.9 billion USD. It would only need $2.07 billion USD to then overtake Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and its current trajectory makes that seem very possible. Which is even more impressive considering that much of this success is based in China mainly.
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What Is Ne Zha 2 Anyway?
Written and directed by Yu Yang for Beijin Enlight Pictures, Ne Zha 2 is a direct sequel to sequel to 2019’s Ne Zha, and continues to adapt The Investiture of the Gods, a series of classic stories written during China’s Ming dynasty. The film’s story teases it as such, “After the heavenly lightning, although Ne Zha and Ao Bing survived by becoming Spirits, they would soon dissipate completely. Taiyi plans to rebuild Ne Zha and Ao Bing’s mortal bodies with the Seven-colored Precious Lotus. However, during the process of reconstruction, numerous obstacles arise. What will become of the fate of Ne Zha and Ao Bing?”
But the film has been held in high regard online due to the nature of its action and environmental animation, and fans in North America have been steadily available to see for themselves in the limited screenings across the region. If the film’s success in China keeps it in the worldwide box office for long enough, we could be looking at even more of a monster hit with this one.
