How Ne Zha 2’s Box-Office Run Was Reported to Surpass Avengers: Infinity War

In a March 11, 2025 opinion article, China Daily Hong Kong reported that Ne Zha 2 had crossed 14.88 billion yuan (about $2.05 billion) and surpassed Avengers: Infinity War. That is a dated comparison, not an audited, current ranking: the available figures come from different reports and dates, and no cited source compares both films using one consistent box-office database.

What the reported milestone means

The headline claim comes from a March 11, 2025 China Daily Hong Kong opinion article. It said Ne Zha 2 had passed 14.88 billion yuan, reported as $2.05 billion, and overtaken the 2018 Marvel film Avengers: Infinity War. The comparison should be read as what that article reported at that time—not as a definitive present-day ranking. China Daily Hong Kong, March 11, 2025.

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Worldwide gross comparisons can shift according to the reporting date, currency conversion, whether re-releases are included, and whether figures are adjusted for inflation. The cited sources do not provide a current, same-database total for both films or an inflation-adjusted comparison. Accordingly, the $2.05 billion figure belongs to the March 2025 report, not to a timeless total.

How Ne Zha 2 reached the milestone

A Chinese New Year opening

Ne Zha 2 opened in mainland China on January 29, 2025, during the Chinese New Year holiday. The early surge was extraordinary: China’s National Film Administration, relaying Xinhua, reported that by 9 p.m. on February 7 the film’s gross, including presales, had exceeded 6.7922 billion yuan (about $950 million). That report compared the figure with the North American single-market gross of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is a comparison between one film’s China receipts and another film’s North American receipts—not a worldwide head-to-head. The administration reported that Ne Zha 2 passed 7 billion yuan by February 8. China National Film Administration, February 17, 2025.

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Animated-film records

Xinhua, in a report published by the Hunan Government International Website on March 24, said the film had earned more than 15.3 billion yuan as of the preceding Sunday afternoon. The report also said it became the highest-grossing animated film globally on February 18. Hunan Government International Website, March 24, 2025.

Guinness World Records later listed Ne Zha 2 as the highest-grossing animation globally, reporting worldwide receipts of 14,265,482,649 yuan ($1,989,046,691) as of June 30, 2025. Its separate China-only figure was 13,967,697,245 yuan ($1,945,234,399) as of June 17. These are dated Guinness figures; they differ from later press descriptions and should not be blended into one supposedly definitive total. Guinness World Records.

Why reported totals vary

The sources give different snapshots rather than a reconciled ledger. Guinness’s record entry specifies its worldwide total and the date through which it counted receipts. The Associated Press, writing in August 2025, described the film as having generated more than $2.2 billion in ticket sales. The two dated accounts are not reconciled in the cited material, so they should remain attributed to their respective sources rather than treated as interchangeable totals. Associated Press, August 15, 2025.

Exchange rates also matter when yuan receipts are rendered in dollars. A nominal-dollar comparison does not account for inflation, and worldwide totals can include different release windows or re-releases. Without matched dates and methods for both titles, the March comparison is a notable reported milestone, but not enough to establish a like-for-like current ranking.

The film behind the numbers

Ne Zha 2 draws freely on the 16th-century classic Investiture of the Gods and Chinese mythology, according to Le Monde. It follows Ne Zha, a rebellious child born as the reincarnation of a demon to mortal parents, as he challenges the idea that fate is fixed. In the sequel, he is tested while trying to save his friend and village. Le Monde, February 20, 2025; Associated Press, August 15, 2025.

The Associated Press reported that production took five years and involved some 4,000 people from 138 Chinese animation companies. The film runs 143 minutes. AP also reported that an English-language version featuring Michelle Yeoh as Lady Yin was scheduled to open in more than 2,500 North American theaters on August 22, 2025; that was a reported schedule, not confirmation of present-day availability.

What its IMAX record does—and does not—show

IMAX Corporation’s 2025 annual report says Ne Zha 2 became the company’s highest-grossing IMAX release of all time in China. The report also states that local-language films across IMAX’s global network generated $405.4 million in 2025, or 32% of IMAX’s total global box office. That latter figure covers local-language films as a category; it is not the gross of Ne Zha 2 alone. IMAX Corporation 2025 annual report, filed February 26, 2026.

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