2025 was a fairly successful year at the box office for the United States, but it was an even bigger year for China. Already a big market for some films coming out of the US, animated films both from the states and from China themselves helped to revitalize a dull box office pattern that they’d been seeing from the previous year.
As far as 2025 goes, Hollywood Reporter noted the entire year saw $7.41 billion in revenue for the box office. Most of that revenue came from animated features, with the highest performing ones coming at the open and the close of the year.
To put it into perspective, 2024 wasn’t the most fruitful year for China in terms of box office revenue. As a whole, the year only brought in a lower cume of $5.8 billion.
The beginning of ‘25 saw Ne Zha 2 completely dominate the box office in China. With the strategic release coinciding with the Chinese New Year, Ne Zha 2 made a colossal $2.2 billion in the China market alone. Even without factoring in the other international markets, Ne Zha 2 was the best performing film of 2025 financially speaking. Going further, reports indicate that roughly 80% of their yearly revenue came from titles out of China, no doubt boosted by the likes of Ne Zha 2.
On the other end of the year was Zootopia 2, Disney’s sequel to their 2016 mega-hit Zootopia. The first film was a big success, even beyond the usual standards of Disney animation, and Zootopia 2 is no different, already performing better than its predecessor while still making money. Right behind Ne Zha 2, it’s the second highest grossing film of 2025, per BoxOfficeMojo, with just above $600 million coming from the Chinese market.
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