How an $80-million 'non-Hollywood film' beat Disney, Pixar to become highest-grossing animated film, minted $1.9 billion

A low-budget Chinese film is now the highest-grossing animated film ever, beating behemoths Disney and Pixar.

Updated on: Feb 28, 2025, 18:27:25 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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For decades, Hollywood films have sat atop the box office food chain. Courtesy of the soft power of American pop culture and the wide reach of most major studio-backed Hollywood films, these movies make significantly more money than any other industry on the planet. The biggest blockbusters rake in over a billion dollars each every year. And yet, this year, a tiny $80-million movie is not just the highest-grossing film of the year, but the highest-grossing animated film ever.

The highest-grossing animated film

Chinese film Ne Zha 2 has set the box office ablaze with record-breaking collections. A fantasy adventure film directed by Jiaozi, it is the third film in Enlight Pictures' Fengshen Universe after Ne Zha (2019) and Jiang Ziya (2020).

Made on a budget of $80 million, Ne Zha 2 was released in theatres on 29 January, and in just four weeks, it has earned $1.92 billion. This has made it the highest-grossing Chinese film ever and also the highest-grossing animated film ever. In this list, it beat Disney and Pixar's record-breaking Inside Out 2 ($1.69 billion). And Ne Zha 2 is not done yet. The film is still running in theatres across China, making it almost certain that it will cross $2 billion. That elite club has only 6 films so far.

Ne Zha 2's record-breaking box office run

The film, like the two other instalments in the franchise, is loosely based on Chinese mythology and the 16th-century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods. Its release coincided with the Chinese New Year, giving it a festive release push. Since then, it has beaten every Disney and Pixar film (Inside Out 2, The Lion King, Frozen 2, Minions, and many more) at the box office. It even eclipsed the Marvel films that released alongside it, beating Captain America: Brave New World by almost seven times despite a much lower budget. It is currently the seventh highest-grossing film of all, behind only the two Avatar films, Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, and Titanic and Star Wars Episode VII.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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