Only six films in history had previously made over $2 billion worldwide, and now another has joined the likes of Avatar 1 and 2 and Avengers 3 and 4.
What’s incredible is you’ve probably never heard of this movie, which is the first non-American/non-British motion picture to break the Top 50 highest-grossing films of all time.
Ne Zha 2 is a Chinese animated fantasy adventure based on the superpower’s mythological stories about gods and demons.
Since it was released in China at the end of January, the $80 million movie has made over $2.1 billion worldwide and looks set to sink Titanic by becoming the fourth highest-grossing film ever made.
Smashing box office records, the new movie is also the highest-grossing non-English language film of all time (the first to make over $1 billion, let alone $2 billion) and is the most successful animated movie ever, topping Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
If that wasn’t enough, Ne Zha 2 only opened in UK cinemas this past weekend and from the trailer looks like a zany CGI-animated anime with amazing visuals. Chinese patriotism has been highlighted as one of the reasons the film is doing so well, with some critics even accusing the story of featuring anti-American symbolism. According to The Guardian, there’s a scene where an evil character resides in a jade palace with Ne Zha gasping at how white it is, as though it allegedly represents the White House.
As for what the film and its 2019 original are all about, Ne Zha is a demon child raised by humans (a bit like the comic book superhero Hellboy) An outcast, a prophecy says Ne Zha will bring destruction to the world, but he must choose between good and evil in a journey to become a hero. Loosely based on 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin, the sequel follows Ne Zha on a quest for an elixir to restore his dragon prince friend.
Ne Zha 2 is out now in UK cinemas.
