In February 2025, Ne Zha 2 became the first non-Hollywood film reported to pass $1 billion at the box office—and did so in China alone. That was a single-market milestone, not a claim that the film had already earned $1 billion worldwide.
What the $1 billion milestone means
A February 10, 2025, Xinhua report hosted by the Hunan Government Website International said Ne Zha 2 had reached 8 billion yuan, about $1.12 billion at the report’s conversion, including presales. The report described it as the first non-Hollywood film to enter the billion-dollar club. The figure is a dated early tally, not the film’s final gross.
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“Non-Hollywood” describes the film’s production and industry origin; it does not mean the film had not been released outside China. The key qualification is the market: the $1 billion milestone was achieved in China, rather than by adding receipts from multiple countries.
How the single-market record was set
A China National Film Administration page carrying Xinhua reporting says that by 9 p.m. on February 7, 2025, the film’s gross, including presales, had surpassed 6.7922 billion yuan—approximately $950 million in that report. It overtook the North American gross of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making Ne Zha 2 the highest-grossing film in a single market at that point.
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These February figures reflect different report dates and thresholds: the February 7 tally documents the single-market record, while the February 10 report gives the later 8-billion-yuan milestone and its dollar conversion. Neither should be confused with a subsequent worldwide total.
Later worldwide and animation records
Guinness World Records lists Ne Zha 2 as the highest-grossing animation. Its dated record entry gives a worldwide gross of 14,265,482,649 yuan ($1,989,046,691) as of June 30, 2025. Guinness separately lists 13,967,697,245 yuan ($1,945,234,399) for China as of June 17, 2025. These are record snapshots at specified cutoffs, not live totals.
| Measure | Reported gross | Cutoff and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Early China milestone | 8 billion yuan (about $1.12 billion) | By Sunday in Xinhua’s February 10, 2025 report; includes presales. |
| China single-market record | More than 6.7922 billion yuan (about $950 million) | By 9 p.m. February 7, 2025, according to the China National Film Administration page carrying Xinhua reporting; includes presales. |
| China gross in Guinness entry | 13,967,697,245 yuan ($1,945,234,399) | As of June 17, 2025; Guinness World Records. |
| Worldwide gross in Guinness entry | 14,265,482,649 yuan ($1,989,046,691) | As of June 30, 2025; Guinness World Records. |
The February record compares one market with another single market. The June worldwide figure combines receipts across markets. Because they answer different questions and use different cutoffs, they are not interchangeable. The Associated Press later described Ne Zha 2 in December 2025 as the year’s highest-grossing film and said it had collected nearly $2 billion in China; Guinness provides the more precise dated figures above.
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Directed by Yang Yu, known as Jiaozi, Ne Zha 2 opened on January 29, 2025, during the Chinese New Year period. Its predecessor, Ne Zha (2019), grossed 5 billion yuan in China, according to the contemporaneous Xinhua report.
The China National Film Administration’s February 2025 page reported planned releases in Australia on February 13 and North America on February 14. Those announced dates establish the film’s planned international rollout, but they do not establish what share of its eventual worldwide receipts came from outside China.
Why the film traveled beyond its home market
The film draws on Chinese mythology and incorporates visual inspiration from Sanxingdui and Jinsha bronzes, as described by the China National Film Administration. Nezha also appears in the Ming-dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods), according to a Henan provincial government report. That literary context does not by itself establish that the movie is a direct adaptation of the novel.
Jiaozi, discussing the prospects for Chinese cinema internationally, said: “It’s about whether a script, a story and its characters can move audiences worldwide,” he said in a video interview. Maoyan analyst Lai Li said: “The success of ‘Ne Zha 2’ has set the tone for the year,” Lai said.
Ticket sales and franchise value are different measures
A January 2026 article from China Intellectual Property, part of the Ministry of Commerce, reports that the Ne Zha 2 property partnered with more than 23 brands across areas including digital products, food and beverage, and collectible toys. The article estimates the franchise’s total commercial value at 30–35 billion yuan, but does not explain its calculation. That estimate concerns broader franchise activity; it is not box-office revenue and should not be added to ticket grosses.
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