Virtually unknown in the west, Ne Zha 2 is the world’s highest-grossing animation at £1.6bn – outdoing Inside Out 2 – just weeks after its release
Just a few years ago, the biggest star of the Chinese box office was a brave army commander. Last year it was a woman who rediscovers herself through boxing. But in 2025 the hero that has caught everyone’s attention – and broken international box office records – is an animated demon child.
Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animation written and directed by Yang Yu, is a whirlwind of a film. The plot, inspired by Chinese mythology, follows the story of Ne Zha, a demon child raised by humans. He is on a quest to obtain a precious elixir to restore the physical state of his friend, the dragon prince Ao Bing, whose body has been destroyed by a lightning strike.
Epic battle scenes and spellbinding graphics – and a dose of symbolism – have enticed Chinese audiences to the cinema in their millions. Since its release over the lunar new year holiday between the end of January and the middle of February, Ne Zha 2 has taken 14.7bn yuan (£1.6bn) at the box office, making it the best-performing film in Chinese cinema history. Ne Zha 2 has also broken records globally: it is the highest-grossing animated film worldwide, surpassing Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
Ne Zha 2 marks a shift from the patriotic epics that have dominated Chinese cinemas for the past few years. The Battle at Lake Changjin, which Ne Zha 2 pushed into second place, is a 2021 Communist party-sponsored film that depicts Chinese soldiers battling Americans in the Korean war.
Wolf Warrior 2, now third in the Chinese box-office rankings, is a 2017 film about a Chinese soldier who protects aid workers in Africa.
