A Chinese cartoon rose in the top 10 most profitable animated films

A hurricane from the East. A Chinese film crosses the billion dollars in revenue for the first time. Better yet: the cartoon Ne zha 2 Carry out this excellent performance when it is only distributed in China.

Directed by Yang Yu, the animated film was released in theaters during the Chinese New Year period on January 29. In a few days, he already broke the previous record held by The battle of Lake Changjinwhich had brought in $ 802 million in 2021. On Sunday, after only twelve days of operation, its total revenues reached $ 1.12 billion.

Even if it is reserved for the moment for the Chinese public, Ne Zha 2 is also the first non-English-speaking film to join the billion revenue club. He climbs even in the ranking of the ten biggest animated films of all time, where we find The Lion King , The Snow Queen Or some of the films Toy Story.

The performance of Ne zha 2 A good omen for the Chinese film industry, which had experienced a difficult 2024 year, with box office revenues down 23 % compared to 2023. But the success of NE ZHA is not due to its cinematographic qualities. To awaken a market at half mast, the Chinese authorities launched in December a promotional operation, offering tickets subsidized to the public of dark rooms until February.

After a first part released in 2019, this new opus which cost 80 million euros is freely inspired by a Chinese myth and stages Ne Zha, a little boy with magical powers, alongside his friend Aobing. Heroes must overcome a crisis that threatens the existence of humanity. The animated film must land in American, Canadian and Australian cinemas this Friday.