Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Last year the Disney-Pixar film Inside Out 2 beat expectations to become the highest grossing animated film of all time. The record didn’t last long.
Ne Zha 2 is also a sequel, but its success is almost entirely down to one country: China. The film is about Chinese mythology, was made by a Chinese studio and was first released in Mandarin during the Chinese New Year.
Since then it has dominated the Chinese box office and passed the $2 billion mark. Ne Zha 2 is currently the seventh highest grossing film of all time – above The Lion King, The Avengers and Barbie.
It’s an unprecedented success for China’s film industry, and shows the appetite Chinese moviegoers have for homegrown entertainment over American exports.
China briefly overtook the US as the biggest theatrical market during Covid. With Ne Zha 2, it could do so again.
