Ne Zha 2, the sequel to the Chinese animated comedy Ne Zha, is on track to become the biggest animated film of all time.
The movie, which hit theaters in China on January 29, has garnered $1.37 billion at the global box office against a budget of just $80 million. Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing film of 2025, the highest-grossing film in China, the highest-grossing non-English language film, the 16th highest-grossing film of all time, and has just beat out the Super Mario Bros. Movie for third-highest grossing animated film of all time. The flasghip film, first released in 2019, earned $747 million at the global box office against a budget of $22 million.
The sequel picks up directly fter the events of the first film after Ne Zha and Ao Bing sacrifice themselves using the Chaos Pearl's energy, effectively destroying their physical bodies, while their souls live on. Per the official synopsis, "Taiyi Zhenren attempts to use the seven-colored lotus to reshape their physical bodies, but encounters numerous difficulties."
Written and directed by Jiaozi aka Yang Yu, the voice cast includes Joseph as Ne Zha, Mo Han as Ao Bing, Hao Chen as Li Jing, Yuze Han as Aoshun, Qi Lü as Lady Yin, Yanting Lü as Boy Nezha, Deshun Wang as Wuliang, Xianwong as Xinglinr.
The film currently sits at a 99% Fresh audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ne Zha 2 is in theaters now. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, skip to our list of movie release dates.
Flow won big as this year's Oscars underdog against Pixar and Netflix, and it's proof of the power of storytelling over dialogue
As the new Looney Tunes movie that Warner Bros passed on makes a strong start, one of its artists urges fans to "buy a ticket it and support it" saying "word of mouth and hype works"
