Animated Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2”, based on traditional mythology, has smashed multiple box office records on its way to becoming the country’s most successful movie ever.
The tale of a rebellious young deity who battles dragons is the first movie to earn over $1 billion in a single market, overtaking “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which made $936 million in the United States in 2015.
Released on January 29 to coincide with the Lunar New Year holiday, a prime movie-going time in China, the film has reignited the country’s film industry after 2024 saw box office receipts slump 23 percent compared to a year earlier.
A sequel five years in the making, “Ne Zha 2” – which draws on the 16th-century novel “Investiture of the Gods” – has tapped into both growing demand for products that draw from traditional Chinese stories and national pride in China’s technological progress.
Audiences have also pointed to the movie’s special effects as evidence of China’s film industry catching up with, or even surpassing, Hollywood’s offerings.
The original “Ne Zha” became China’s highest-grossing animated film after it was released in 2019.
“Ne Zha 2” surpassed all former domestic box office record holders – including the 2019 sci-fi hit “The Wandering Earth” and 2021’s patriotic war film “The Battle at Lake Changjin” – in just nine days.
