Ne Zha 2, a film that belongs to the Chinese animated fantasy genre, has surprisingly hit the international box office as the highest-grossing movie of 2025. The made-in- China feature, deeply rooted in Chinese culture, was among the factors that helped the animation and mythological storytelling to show their global attractiveness through this film, whose success is certainly remarkable.

Xiao Woji is at the helm of Ne Zha 2, which is the second part of the initial successful Ne Zha (2019), and that is also an adaptation of the immortal classic novel Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin. It weaves the plot of the reincarnation of Ne Zha and the awakening of the soul of his lady love Ao Bing. The sequel unfolds Ne Zha’s encounter with the villain Master Shen in a much more emotionally and visually powerful manner than the first one.

The opening of the film in China occurred on January 29, 2025, when it instantly became a hit both with the public and the critics. The movie was first made in Mandarin; after that, Ne Zha 2 was dubbed in a number of other languages such as English and Hindi, thus becoming accessible to the whole world.

According to the reports, Ne Zha 2 raked in more than ₹19,000 crore worldwide at the box office, thereby securing the position of the highest-grossing film of the year for itself. It also signaled the entrance of the Asian cinema’s growing power into the global arena and animation movies to be among the most successful ever made.

Furthermore, it is significant to note that in 2025, besides East Asian countries, other foreign mythological animations like India’s Mahavatar Narasimha excelled at the box office which indicates a resurgence of global interest in mythological tales that are deeply intertwined with the cultures of the countries.

Ne Zha 2 has once again confirmed the ancient people of mythology that their tales are still one of the favorites of the modern audience worldwide.