Graphic: GT

The grossing of Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 hit 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) as of 7:10 pm on Thursday, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Black Panther to become the first Asian film to break into the top 20 in global box office rankings. The new milestone was followed by the film's overseas release, which earned it positive reviews from foreign audiences.

As of Thursday, Ne Zha 2 has also become the first film in Chinese cinema history to have over 200 million viewers, according to CCTV.

"It shows the world's filmmakers the development of Chinese cinema, the support for Chinese films, and the deep cultural significance behind them, including the success of Eastern aesthetics. This is a monumental milestone for the Chinese film industry," Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told the Global Times.

"Especially in light of the current challenges and difficulties faced by the global film industry, this provides a significant boost of support and confidence for world cinema and for China," said Sun.

Since its release during the Spring Festival holidays, Ne Zha 2 has become a cultural phenomenon. It has already dominated the global box office for a single market and is on track to break into the top 5 of the all-time global box office rankings, with projections exceeding 15 billion yuan. 

Benefiting from the huge success of the film, film and television stocks were actively trading as of Thursday morning, with Enlight Media, one of the production companies of Ne Zha 2, rising over 18 percent, continuing to set new historical highs for its stock price.

With the sharply increasing box office, the film has met with overseas audiences around the world. On Thursday, it was officially released in countries including Australia and New Zealand. The film has been screened in over 116 theaters in these two countries, earning it the title of highest-grossing Chinese film in the region for advanced screenings over the past 20 years, according to overseas distributor CMC. 

The CMC also said that in North America, Ne Zha 2 has been scheduled in over 700 theaters, breaking the record for the largest opening theater count for a Chinese film distributed by a Chinese studio in the region in the past 20 years. Its pre-sale box office has also surpassed the opening weekend box office for Chinese films in the region over two decades.

C.L. Chadwick, an Australian student who watched Ne Zha 2 at the preview screenings in Adelaide, told the Global Times that he was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Chinese animation and the movie certainly challenged biases he may have held beforehand about its competitiveness. 

"Animation and modern art are not areas that most Australians would associate with China, but I would strongly agree with the statement that Ne Zha 2 was on par with Western animation from both a technical and artistic standpoint," the Australian said.

Some foreign media outlets have hailed the film for "redefining the heights of China's film industry," while several Hollywood producers, after viewing the movie, expressed interest in pursuing more collaborations with their Chinese counterparts. Meanwhile, numerous international movie fans have taken to Xiaohongshu to engage with Chinese audiences, discussing the film's storytelling, spiritual depth, and stunning visual effects.

Zhang Peng, a film researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, remarked that the breakthrough significance of Ne Zha 2 goes far beyond the impact of a single film, becoming a landmark case for the global export of Chinese culture.

Speaking of the reasons for the warm response toward the film across the world, Zhang pointed out that by focusing on the narrative on the coming-of-age journey of a rebellious teenager and incorporating universal emotions such as family bonds and responsibility, the film lowers the cognitive barrier of its mythological background. And through embedding Taoist philosophy into character design as well as enhancing dramatic tension through nonlinear storytelling, the film aligns with the aesthetic preferences of contemporary audiences.

"In many ways, Ne Zha 2's impressive performance signifies the transition of Chinese cinema from being a 'market miracle' to becoming a 'cultural export.' While box office predictions remain subject to variables, the film has already provided the world with a window into the rise of China's film industry and its growing cultural soft power," said Zhang.