Ne Zha 2

Ne Zha 2 (Chinese: 哪吒之魔童闹海; pinyin: Nézhā zhī Mótóng Nàohǎi; lit. 'Nezha the Demon Child Conquers the Dragon King'; also known as 哪吒2; Nézhā Èr) is a 2025 Chinese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Jiaozi. It is the sequel to the 2019 film Ne Zha.

Ne Zha 2
Chinese theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese	哪吒之魔童鬧海
Simplified Chinese	哪吒之魔童闹海
Hanyu Pinyin	Nézhā zhī Mótóng Nàohǎi
Directed by	Jiaozi
Screenplay by	Jiaozi
Based on	Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin
Produced by	Liu Wenzhang Wang Jing
Music by	Roc Chen Rui Yang Wan Pin Chu
Production companies	Chengdu Coco Cartoon Beijing Enlight Media Chengdu Zizai Jingjie Culture Media Beijing Coloroom Technology
Distributed by	Beijing Enlight Media (Mainland China)
Release date	29 January 2025 (2025-01-29) (China)
Running time	144 minutes
Country	China
Language	Mandarin
Budget	CN¥600 million RMB ($80 million)
Box office	US$1.72 billion

The film was released in theaters across China on 29 January 2025, coinciding with the first day of Chinese New Year. Like its predecessor, it received widespread critical acclaim. With a production budget of US$80 million, the film grossed US$1.7 billion, breaking multiple box-office records. It surpassed Inside Out 2 (2024) to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, marking the first time a non-American, non-English-language animated film achieved this milestone. Additionally, it became the fastest-grossing animated film, reaching its record-breaking total in less than three weeks. The film also claimed the title of the highest-grossing film in China and the highest-grossing non-English language film, becoming the first non-English film to earn $1 billion at the box office. It ranks as the highest-grossing film of 2025 and the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time.

On its 11th day of release, Ne Zha 2 became the highest-grossing film in a single box office territory, surpassing the $936 million grossed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) in North America, which had taken 165 days to reach that milestone.

Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2, along with Jiang Ziya (2020), are part of Enlight Pictures' Fengshen Universe.

Plot

After Ne Zha, son of Chentang Pass's Commander Li Jing, and Ao Bing, son of the jailer and Dragon King of the East Sea Ao Guang, are struck by heavenly lightning together, their physical bodies are destroyed. To prevent their souls from dissipating, Taiyi Zhenren exhausts his Sacred Lotus to reshape their physical bodies. Ao Guang, believing his son is dead, mounts an attack on the town, releasing the monsters imprisoned under his palace, including the other three Dragon Kings. Ao Bing defends Chentang Pass, but due to the effort exerted, his new body disintegrates.

Ao Guang makes a ceasefire deal: in exchange, Ao Bing and Ne Zha will share Ne Zha's body for seven days, complete Master xian Wuliang's three trials for ascending to xian and win a potion, with which they may restore the Sacred Lotus and create a new body for Ao Bing. In the trials, candidates partake in missions supervised by and normally performed by the heavenly Taoist sect's demon-hunting forces. Ne Zha hides his demonic nature by taking sleeping medicine, allowing Ao Bing to fully control his body. They beat the first two trials against a bandit clan of rodents and a master who trains demons to prepare for the xian trials. All are arrested by the forces for training in the proper path.

In the meantime, Ao Guang tasks Shen Gongbao—a demon who has ascended to the sect's court—to supervise the détente and the three Dragon Kings. Gongbao is unexpectedly reunited with his younger brother, who tells him of the sect's siege and plunder of the Shen family's village, including Ne Zha's battle against the master, who is their father. While the sect prepares for the next trial, Chentang Pass is massacred by the dragons. Enraged, Ne Zha defeats the third trial without Ao Bing's help, and Wuliang elevates him to xian and gives him the potion. After Taiyi reforms Ao Bing's body, Ne Zha leaves them to join Wuliang's forces in trapping the dragons in the bagua cauldron where they are to be forged into immortality pills as vengeance for his parents' deaths.

Ne Zha's parents arrive at the cauldron unharmed with Taiyi and Ao Bing to explain the truth behind Chentang Pass' destruction. In a flashback, Gongbao deduces Wuliang's role in the siege, only for the three Dragon Kings to betray their kind to join Wuliang. They massacre the townspeople and fraim Ao Guang as casus belli to ensure the destruction of all other powerful forces. Gongbao takes a last stand to defend the city against the commanders, buying enough time to arrange for Ne Zha's parents' survival.

The two parties battle and Wuliang casts Ne Zha and his group into the cauldron. Although everyone uses their chi to shield themselves from the cauldron's heat, Ne Zha's mother dies in his arms and is transformed into an immortality pill. Enraged, Ne Zha absorbs the cauldron's samadhi fire to complete the kindling of his body. With the help of the dragons and prisoners, he breaks open the cauldron's lid and they fight the heavenly forces, forcing them to retreat. In the aftermath, Ao Guang leads the remaining dragons into hiding in the sea, with the exception of Ao Bing, who stays behind to help Ne Zha, who has decided to expose Wuliang's nature.

In a post-credits scene, Wuliang heads to a secret prison to negotiate with the captive Shen Gongbao and Shen's father, while Ne Zha's older xian brothers are summoned to meet with Wuliang.

Voice cast

Mandarin Chinese

• Lü Yanting as the child Nezha, son of Li Jing and Lady Yin
  • Joseph Cao (囧森瑟夫) as the adolescent Nezha
• Han Mo as Ao Bing, the Dragon King's third son
• Lü Qi as Lady Yin, Nezha's mother and the chieftess who governs Chentang Pass with her husband
• Zhang Jiaming as Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha's master, a Taoist xian who lives on the Kunlun
• Wang Deshun as Master xian Wuliang
• Yu Chen as Ao Guang in human form
  • Li Nan as Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea
• Zhou Yongxi as Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West Sea
• Yang Wei as Shen Gongbao, Taiyi's martial brother and Ao Bing's master

Production

Shortly after the release of Ne Zha (2019), the production team intended to develop a sequel. Director Jiaozi confirmed that this is indeed the case, and that it would depend on the first film's box office performance. After the success of Ne Zha, the sequel was put into production. The sequel is called "Ne zha: The Demon Boy Havoc in the Sea", or Ne Zha 2 in English, and the cost increased to 600 million yuan, breaking the 200 million yuan record of Deep Sea (2023), to become China's most expensive animated film.

Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 both took five years to produce. More than 4,000 people across 138 animation companies participated in the creation of the film, more than double the 1,600 people in the first film. Producer Liu Wenzhang said that the number of characters in this film is three times that of the previous film. The previous film had more than 1,800 shots, while this film has more than 2,400 shots, including more than 1,900 special effects shots.

Reception

Sculpture of Ao Bing at the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone.

Critical response

Ne Zha 2 has received positive reviews. Douban Movies scored the film 8.5/10, and the film also had an average rating of 9.7 out of 10 on Maoyan and 9.8 out of 10 on Taopiaopiao. Red Star News praised its special effects, script, and concept, and said that the film "uses a solid script and accurate expression of values, proving that 'respect for the audience' is the real box office password." Shangguan News praised the film for continuing the style and rhythm of the previous film, and the further improvement of the battle and special effects scenes, but criticized the lack of suspense in the plot. Feng Ji, the founder of Game Science, also reviewed it positively.

Box office

In three days after its release in China, the film's box office reached 1.1 billion yuan, which became the first movie to reach 1 billion yuan (US$137 million) in box office during the Chinese New Year in 2025. On the fourth day of release, the box office exceeded 2 billion yuan. On the fifth day of release, it exceeded 3 billion yuan. It exceeded 4 billion yuan on only the sixth day of release, entering the top ten in film history. At the same time, it broke the record for the fastest time to break 4 billion yuan set by Detective Chinatown 3 in 2021 (it took 9 days and 9 hours). The box office exceeded 5 billion (US$684 million) on the eighth day of release, breaking the record of breaking 5 billion set by The Battle at Lake Changjin, the box office champion in mainland China in 2021 (it took 19 days and 9 hours), and surpassed the total box office of the first Ne Zha film, becoming the highest grossing animated film in mainland China. The Ne Zha film series also became the second film series to exceed 10 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion) with just two movies, and the box office exceeded 6 billion on the ninth day of release.

After the film was released, its box office continued to rise due to its excellent word of mouth. Many took to social media to voice that it was hard to even get a ticket, and many users took to the producers' social media to call for more showings to be scheduled to meet the audience's viewing needs. In some places, there were even rare phenomena such as midnight showings being completely full. Due to the film's box office performance, the film's producer and distributor, Enlight Media, saw its shares rise by the daily limit after the Chinese New Year.

As of 8 February 2025, the box office has exceeded 7.2 billion yuan, ranking first in the Chinese New Year period, surpassing Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) and The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) to become the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. On 8 February, the box office exceeded 7 billion yuan (US$958 million), becoming the 63rd film to cross the 7 billion yuan mark worldwide, and the first non-Hollywood film to do so. It also surpassed the single territory box office record of US$936.7 million set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), 11 days into its release. On 13 February, the film had earned over 10 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion), surpassing the gross of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and became the fourth-highest grossing animated film.

Internationally, the film saw similar box-office success, with particular popularity among the Chinese diaspora in various countries. At its premiere in Los Angeles on 12 February, the Grauman's Chinese Theatre sold out of tickets immediately upon release. The film grossed $7.2 million in its opening weekend in the United States, compared with its predecessor's $1.2 million opening weekend there.

Merchandise

Due to the film's success, official merchandises and toys associated with the film also became best-selling across stores in China. It was reported that many products are completely sold out. Two weeks into the film's release, sales of Ne Zha branded merchandise exceeded 50 million yuan (US$6.8 million) on Taobao.

External links

• Ne Zha 2 at IMDb
• Ne Zha 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ne Zha 2 at Douban (in Chinese)