Disney and Pixar are shaking in their boots after the Chinese sequel Ne Zha 2 just became the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Released on Jan. 29 in China, Ne Zha 2 is an animated fantasy sequel about Ne Zha, a young hero who wields his magical gifts to fight demons and save his community from peril, forging his own destiny in the world despite opposition from powerful heavenly forces.
Since its premiere, the film has taken the global box office by storm, earning $1.9 billion in less than 8 weeks, quickly surpassing Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 as the highest-grossing animated film ever. The film is performing so well that it will also likely become one of the biggest movies in history, putting it next to Hollywood super-earners Avatar, the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic.
Although Ne Zha 2 was released internationally on Feb. 14, Chinese citizens appear to be the main driving force behind the film’s ticket sales, with the film reportedly only generating $15 million in North America thus far.
According to reporting from Variety, Ne Zha 2 is becoming a symbol of national pride for China. Watching the film has even been framed as an act of patriotism, especially as tensions between China and the U.S. rise following Trump’s implementation of tariffs on Chinese goods.
“Since Ne Zha 2 is now competing with Hollywood films for records, it has become a duty to promote and support the film," Stanley Rosen, a political science and international relations professor at USC, said to Variety. “It’s become a litmus test of whether you’re patriotic or not.”
Despite receiving only four critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s audience score, consisting of over 1,000 verified ratings, sits at a staggering 99 percent, indicating that Western viewers seem to enjoy the film as much as Chinese viewers.
If you want to watch the film that is giving the biggest studios in Hollywood a run for its money, Ne Zha 2 will be playing at theaters across the country for the next month.
