The Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2: Devil Boy of the Sea continues to break record after record and is on the verge of ‘sinking’ James Cameron’s Titanic. The film has generated $2.1 billion in revenue in less than two months since its release during the Lunar New Year in China.
Ne Zha 2 has recently passed Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), both around $2 billion. By surpassing $2 billion at the box office, Ne Zha 2 became the first non-American movie to do so—the Chinese film also became the first to join the ‘billionaire’s club’ outside of the US. It is important to note that the movie garnered $2 billion in China alone—perfectly illustrating why the Asian power does not necessarily export its pop culture abroad.
As reported by Hungarian Conservative, Ne Zha 2 became the highest-grossing animated movie ever, surpassing Inside Out 2 in late February. The most successful film in Chinese history is now chasing James Cameron’s classic The Titanic, released in 1997, which stands at $2.265 billion in revenue.
‘This is not only a milestone in breaking Hollywood's dominance, but also advances China’s cultural soft power. The film's universal theme of individual determination of one's fate transcends cultural barriers, blending Chinese mythology with a coming-of-age story that resonates with audiences worldwide,’ Zhang Peng, a film researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times earlier in March.
The animated movie arrived in the United States in mid-February, while Europeans had to wait longer to see it. As of 26 March, it has only been released in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, and Italy, with other countries, including Hungary, yet to set a concrete release date.
‘This is not only a milestone in breaking Hollywood's dominance, but also advances China’s cultural soft power’
Ne Zha 2 is the sequel to 2019’s hit Ne Zha, which tells the story of a well-known character from Chinese mythology—a young boy with special powers who rebels against the divine hierarchy and his own destiny. The plot is based on a story from the 16th-century novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods), though the filmmakers have taken a rather loose interpretation of the tradition. This modern adaptation may be the key to the film’s popularity: the boy who slays a wide variety of dragons, monsters, and ghosts is beloved by Chinese audiences of all ages.
By reworking the classic tale using state-of-the-art animation techniques and contemporary storytelling methods, the film appeals to both traditional and modern viewers. Directed by Yang Yu (also known as Jiaozi), the production involved 138 animation company employees who worked on the film over five years, making Ne Zha 2 the most expensive Chinese animation ever made.
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