Box Office: Ne Zha 2 astonishes with USD 2.08 billion global haul, but can it sink Titanic’s USD 2.26B total?

Ne Zha 2 is on a record-breaking spree with USD 2.08 billion, but Titanic’s USD 2.26 billion remains a huge challenge. Can the Chinese animated hit push further and take the crown?

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 15, 2025 | 01:01 PM IST | 49K

Picture Courtesy: IMDb

Chinese animated epic Ne Zha 2 continues its astonishing box office run. The film has grossed USD 2.08 billion globally, out of which USD 2.04 billion came from its domestic market alone in just 44 days. The film, directed by Jiaozi, remains a dominant force in its home territory despite showing a very natural sign of now slowing down.

On its seventh Friday, the film earned USD 3.3 million with a 57.6% drop from the previous Friday. With USD 1.9 million in pre-sales for its seventh Saturday, when it will play on 139,000 screens, the film still has momentum, but the question is: is it enough to surpass Titanic’s USD 2.26 billion global total?

Ne Zha 2 was released in China on January 29, coinciding with the Chinese New Year. The festive holiday period gave it a good kickstart, and so did the legacy of its predecessor, 2019’s Ne Zha. Like the original film, Ne Zha 2 is rooted in Chinese mythology and draws inspiration from the 16th-century novel Investiture of the Gods. These factors make it highly resonant with the Chinese audience.

Despite its impressive box office performance, Titanic’s numbers remain significantly out of reach for Ne Zha 2. The film will need an additional USD 180 million to overtake the 1997 James Cameron classic, which has enjoyed multiple re-releases over the years. However, Ne Zha 2’s unprecedented run in China is setting records never seen before. Coming Tuesday, the film will complete seven full weeks at No. 1 in China, a streak hardly seen in the modern box office, with the introduction of new releases every week.

The film has already broken multiple records, becoming the highest-grossing film ever in a single market (China) and the highest-grossing animated film worldwide. It is also the highest-grossing non-English language film and the first foreign-language film to surpass USD 1 billion and USD 2 billion globally.

While its chances of surpassing Titanic are negligible, the offering has already outgrossed major Hollywood titles like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Infinity War, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Ne Zha 2’s achievement allows China to flex the power of its indigenous productions on the global stage, where only Western films usually find a seat—whether deserved or not. It also does a whole lot to reinforce the credibility of animated cinema, which to this day is still viewed by some as mere cartoons.