2025 Already Has Its First $1B Movie, & It's Not Even From Hollywood





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Making $1 billion at the box office is an impressive feat. It is so tough that only 58 movies have ever achieved this milestone. The world's top-grossing movie of all time remains James Cameron's 2009 smash hit Avatar, which brought in a whopping $2.9 billion worldwide. Joining Avatar in the $2 billion club are Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War. The majority of films that cross the $1 billion threshold are sequels to major franchises.

The year 2024 was lucky enough to have three films reach $1 billion: Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2. As is typical with many high-grossing films, these releases all came during the summer or the holiday period. Inside Out 2 was released on June 14, 2024, so the worldwide box office did not see its first billion-dollar movie until roughly halfway through the year. This trend has completely shifted in 2025 because a title from overseas has just become this year's first $1 billion movie.

The Chinese Movie Ne Zha 2 Has Passed $1 Billion
Ne Zha 2 Also Set A Record For China

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Ne Zha 2 has officially become the first $1 billion movie in 2025. Ne Zha 2 is a sequel to the Chinese animated movie, Ne Zha, which was released in 2019. The story follows the tale of a god named Taiyi Zhenren, who has to use mystical powers to reconstruct the destroyed bodies of the first film's Nezha and Aobing. The film is directed by Yu Yang, who also stepped in for the first film. Ne Zha 2's leading voice cast includes Mo Han, Hao Chen, Yuze Han, and Deshun Wang.

Per Variety, Ne Zha 2 has now become the first $1 billion movie of 2025. After bringing in $267.1 million during its second weekend, Ne Zha 2's total is now at $1.11 billion. This has allowed the film to set several records, including becoming China's highest-grossing movie of all time. It also holds the new record for the biggest single-market gross, surpassing The Force Awakens' domestic gross of $936.7 million. It's worth noting that the movie came out during the Chinese New Year, which likely played a major factor in its success.

Our Take On Ne Zha 2's Success
This Is Impressive On Multiple Levels

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The box office success of Ne Zha 2 proves once again just how vital the Chinese market is at today's box office. For a winter release to end up a $1 billion movie is impressive, especially when it is a movie removed from the conventional Hollywood system. Not to mention, the first Ne Zha movie made $726.2 million worldwide, so the sequel has passed this total by almost $300 million. If Ne Zha 2 has a bigger international rollout, it will be interesting to see how far its initial momentum can take it.

Source: Variety