{"id":3961,"date":"2025-04-07T13:55:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=3961"},"modified":"2025-04-10T18:17:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:17:51","slug":"2025s-obscure-highest-grossing-film-has-almost-broken-titanics-gigantic-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/2025s-obscure-highest-grossing-film-has-almost-broken-titanics-gigantic-record\/","title":{"rendered":"2025\u2019s \u2018obscure\u2019 highest-grossing film has almost broken Titanic\u2019s gigantic record"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Leonardo\t<\/div>
Titanic is the fourth highest grossing film of all time – but a 2025 movie is hot on its tail (Picture: Paramount Pictures via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The highest-grossing film of 2025 has recently broken the world record for the highest-grossing animated film of all time – before it even opened worldwide.<\/p>\n

And now, it’s officially in the top five most successful movies at the box office ever.<\/p>\n

Having smashed an eye-popping barrier after initially grossing over $2,000,000,000 (\u00a31,561,800,000) as of last month, according to Variety<\/a> and Artisan Gateway, the haul for this movie has only continued to grow after it hit UK cinemas on March 21.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first animated film to have managed this feat, snatching the number one spot from Disney\u2019s Inside Out 2<\/a> (which grossed $1.6 (\u00a31.2) billion), and also the first non-English language film to pass both the $1bn and<\/em> $2bn benchmarks.<\/p>\n

And now, it’s vaulted over Star Wars: The Force Awakens to claim fifth place on the all-time box office list with $2,125,757,964 (\u00a31,659,791,8180.<\/p>\n

Despite this, film fans outside China<\/a> are unlikely to know much \u2013 if anything \u2013 about Ne Zha 2.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"This\t<\/div>
The 1997 drama was previously the biggest grossing movie ever (Picture: Paramount Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ne Zha 2 (Nezha: Mo Tong Nao Hai in Simplified Chinese) revolves around a demon child raised by humans and draws on stories from Chinese mythology stories and the 16th-century novel Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also, as the title suggests, a sequel to 2019\u2019s Ne Zha and the third film in the Fengshen Universe, after 2020’s Jiang Ziya.<\/p>\n

Directed by Yang Yu, Ne Zha 2 sees our hero embark on a quest including trials to win a precious potion to restore his friend, dragon prince Ao Bing, to his physical body after it was destroyed by a heavenly lightning strike.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T1M31S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/03\/17\/14\/96275963-0-image-a-4_1742222731923.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-03-17T14:45:24+0000″,”description”:”The highest-grossing animated film of all time just broke $2,000,000,000.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/03\/17\/8966385699895293643\/480x270_MP4_8966385699895293643.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480}<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

Up Next<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrevious Page<\/title>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__page\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__arrow metro-related-video-carousel__arrow--right disabled\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<title>Next Page<\/title>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-videos-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ne Zha 2 has also surpassed Avengers: Infinity War to settle in behind (for now) Avengers: Endgame, <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2022\/12\/28\/avatar-the-way-of-water-sequel-hits-1billion-at-global-box-office-18007873\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Avatar: The Way of Water<\/a> and Titanic in second, third and fourth respectively.<\/p>\n<p>Titanic’s gross box office currently stands at $2,257,844,554 (\u00a31,763,602,381), $130m (\u00a3101m) ahead of Ne Zha 2 and a long-term fixture in the number one spot before filmmaker James Cameron dethroned himself.<\/p>\n<section class=\"metro-comment-cta\">\n<div class=\"metro-comment-cta__inner\"><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text-wrap\"><title>Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">Are you going to watch Ne Zha 2?<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>His Avatar, released in 2009, still remains the biggest movie ever after raking in $2.9bn (\u00a32.23bn) at the box office.<\/p>\n<p>The film so far has a remarkable 99% critics\u2019 rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.screendaily.com\/reviews\/ne-zha-2-review-energetic-chinese-sequel-is-the-highest-grossing-animated-film-of-all-time\/5202798.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Screen Daily<\/a> writing that Ne Zha 2 \u2018stands up to the best that Disney, DreamWorks, Aardman or Studio Ghibli can offer\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"255\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22741158 lazyload\" alt=\"No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Everett\/REX\/Shutterstock (15168696e) NE ZHA 2, (aka NEZHA: MO TONG NAO HAI), 2025. ? CMC Pictures \/ Courtesy Everett Collection Ne Zha 2 - 2025\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_244215427-ece2.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Ne Zha 2 has taken over $2billion at the box office, surpassing Inside Out 2’s record (Picture: Everett\/Rex\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2025\/film\/reviews\/ne-zha-2-review-1236324922\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Variety<\/a> calls it \u2018breathtaking\u2019 and argues that it \u2018surpass[es] its predecessor in all manner of visual ambition and kinetic intensity\u2019 \u2013 although there are only 11 reviews so far counting towards the \u2018Tomatometer\u2019 score.<\/p>\n<p>At the opposite end of the scale, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/films\/0\/ne-aha-2-review-animation\/?msockid=38a7908bdf2965931af985acde9264e0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Telegraph<\/a>\u2019s opinion is a one-star piece \u2013 yet to be added \u2013 which calls Ne Zha 2 \u2018an absolute headache to sit through\u2019 and \u2018by turns frantic, gaudy and puerile\u2019 and \u2018as mindless as Hollywood\u2019s worst\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The audience so far have also been overwhelmingly positive though, with a 99% score derived from over 1,000 reactions.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I [have] watched all Disney and Dreamworks animated movies, and all movies on the world history chart, in the past 40 years. I can say this is definitely the BEST animated movie of all time,\u2019 shared Annie, while Michelle Y echoed her praise with: \u2018Best animation movie ever! Epic!\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"284\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22741149 lazyload\" alt=\"No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Everett\/REX\/Shutterstock (15168696c) NE ZHA 2, (aka NEZHA: MO TONG NAO HAI), 2025. ? CMC Pictures \/ Courtesy Everett Collection Ne Zha 2 - 2025\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_244215549-601a.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Fans have called it the ‘best animated movie of all time’ (Picture: Everett\/Rex\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was also praised as \u2018absolute cinema\u2019, \u2018mesmerising\u2019 and \u2018a spectacle and a half\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Damn satisfying for my first Chinese film at the cinema. Probably didn’t need to be as long as it was, but goddamn, this film needs to be seen!\u2019 added Rob B.<\/p>\n<p>For 2025 so far,Detective Chinatown 1900 \u2013 another Chinese effort \u2013 is the year’s second-best effort and Hollywood\u2019s top film, <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/02\/02\/harrison-fords-soulful-captain-america-performance-compared-king-lear-co-star-22481021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Captain America: Brave New World<\/a>, is third on $411m (\u00a3320m).<\/p>\n<p>It’s been a landmark year so far for non-English language animation as Flow became <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/03\/radical-silent-animated-film-flow-finally-getting-uk-release-historic-oscar-win-22659286\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Latvia’s first-ever Oscar winning film<\/a> – and highest grossing film – after it picked up the Academy Award for best animated feature.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Ne Zha 2 is in cinemas now.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page – we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Titanic is the fourth highest grossing film of all time – but a 2025 movie is hot on its tail (Picture: Paramount Pictures via AP) The highest-grossing film of 2025 has recently broken the world record for the highest-grossing animated film of all time – before it even opened worldwide. And now, it’s officially in the top five most successful movies at the box office ever. Having smashed an eye-popping barrier after initially grossing over $2,000,000,000 (\u00a31,561,800,000) as of last … <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/07\/2025s-obscure-highest-grossing-film-has-almost-broken-titanics-gigantic-record\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> “2025\u2019s \u2018obscure\u2019 highest-grossing film has almost broken Titanic\u2019s gigantic record”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3961"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3961"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3966,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3961\/revisions\/3966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}