Inside Out 2 Dethroned As Highest-Grossing Animated Movie Of All Time

Name: Ne Zha 2
Genre: Animation

By Hannah Gearan

Updated Feb 19, 2025

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successful animated works like Minions, Frozen, Frozen II, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Per Reuters, Inside Out 2 has officially been dethroned by Ne Zha 2. At the time of writing, the 2025 film grossed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan, equivalent to $1.69 billion. This barely es Inside Out 2's $1.68 billion. The total has also made it the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time.

What This Means For Ne Zha 2

The Film Has Set Multiple Records

Ne Zha 2 becoming the new record holder represents the shortest turnaround in a new film to usurp the previous highest-grossing animated film of all time. Before Inside Out 2 broke the record in 2024, Disney's Frozen II was the highest-grossing animated film of all time for nearly five years. Even before that, Frozen held onto that position for six years before being overtaken by its own sequel. Finding Nemo had only clung onto it for a short time before being beaten by Shrek 2, but even the record was held for a year.

It was the first movie of 2025 to make over $1 billion, a milestone that is typically accomplished during summer.

Ne Zha 2's success is impressive beyond just the highest-grossing animated film. It was the first movie of 2025 to make over $1 billion, a milestone that is typically accomplished during summer. It is also China's highest-grossing movie of all time and now by a fair margin. Furthermore, it holds the record for the biggest single-market gross, as the vast majority of its ticket sales have come from China. It is also the only movie in the top 20 all-time box office list whose original language is not English.

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CEO of IMAX China, Daniel Manwaring, has recently said that "China was essentially late to the post-COVID world." To clarify that context, the country delayed the release of a lot of projects, creating about a three-year backlog that they only really started unpacking in 2023. These pandemic-related market closures and slowdowns might make Chinese audiences ready to go back to the movies, partially explaining the wild success of Ne Zha 2. It also helped that the film was released during Chinese New Year (January 29 to February 12), which further contributed to its hype early on by attracting families.

Is Ne Zha 2 Any Good?

The Audience Popcornmeter Is Incredibly High

Most animated movies that claim the title of the top-grossing animated film of all time are critically acclaimed. This was true of both Frozen movies, Aladdin, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King. The previous titleholder, Inside Out 2, was regarded as a fantastic Pixar sequel and is in contention for Best Animated Feature this year, where it will compete against Flow, Memoir of a Snail, The Wild Robot, and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

Some general reviewers have come from American audiences since the movie was recently released in North America this past weekend.

The interesting thing about Ne Zha 2 is that critical reviews are not fueling its success. Because of the very China-focused release, there is no Tomatometer available to evaluate on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the film does have over 1,000 verified audience ratings, giving it a Popcornmeter of 99%. Manwaring has praised Ne Zha 2's technical achievement. He said that the sequel has "the best animation quality China has ever done." With this lauding of its visual layout, it is no surprise that the movie is a huge success in IMAX theaters, where it has made over $100 million.

Our Take On Ne Zha 2's Box Office Record

Ne Zha 2 Could Become The Highest-Grossing Movie Of 2025

A character standing on a cliff in Ne Zha 2

Ne Zha 2's box office success is unprecedented, especially given its lack of commitment to a multinational rollout. The first Ne Zha film had a significant profit, but its $726.2 million gross pales in comparison to its sequel. Its success is great news for the Chinese market as it experiences its post-COVID recovery. Based on its current box office sum, Ne Zha 2 has a decent chance of becoming the highest-grossing film at the box office in 2025, though some highly anticipated releases like Avatar: Fire and Ash are coming later in the year.

Ne Zha 2 is now available in theaters in the United States.

Source: Reuters