
Ne Zha and Friends: Sequels Fuel Spring Festival Box Office Boom
With more than 7.5 billion yuan ($1 billion) in ticket sales by Monday afternoon, China’s Spring Festival box office is on track to shatter last year’s 8 billion yuan record.
Five sequels dominate the screens, from animated epics to martial arts legends, pulling massive crowds and giving the industry a much-needed boost during the holiday running from Jan. 28 to Feb. 4.
With industry experts calling this the “most anticipated” festival season in years, the influx of high-quality content is expected to drive significant demand. Financial institutions are optimistic, with Guotai Junan Securities predicting the total box office could reach 8.4 billion yuan, while CICC forecasts a 9.7% year-on-year increase, bringing the total to about 8.8 billion yuan.
The Spring Festival holiday has long been a battleground for major film companies, with industry giants like Alibaba Pictures, Wanda Film, Bona Film, and China Film strategically releasing key films to capture a share of the market.
This year, “Ne Zha 2” has dominated the box office, amassing 3.6 billion yuan in ticket sales to date — nearly half of the total box office revenue so far.
The sequel continues the tale of Ne Zha, a rebellious boy destined to become a demon who ultimately defies his fate. Based on the literary classic “Fengshen Yanyi” or “The Investiture of the Gods,” the film picks up with Ne Zha’s rebirth, his body reconstructed from a seven-colored lotus following a cataclysmic event.
In 2019, the first installment of the franchise set a domestic record for the highest-grossing animated film, earning 5 billion yuan. Maoyan, an online ticketing platform and box office data provider, projects that Ne Zha 2 will surpass that figure, bringing in an estimated 6.8 billion yuan.
“Detective Chinatown 1900,” the fourth installment in director Chen Sicheng’s billion-dollar franchise, continues to rake in ticket sales, securing second place with 1.9 billion yuan. Another franchise, the mythology epic “Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force,” also based on “Fengshen Yanyi,” has earned 923 million yuan.
Among the offerings this year, “Legends of Condor Heroes: The Gallants” stands out as the only standalone film amid a sea of sequels. A martial arts drama adapted from the works of legendary Kung Fu writer Louis Cha, better known as Jin Yong, the film is one of the six major contenders this Spring Festival season.
Other films include the latest entry in the Boonie Bears animated franchise, “Future Reborn,” and the action-packed “Operation Leviathan,” which are part of established series that continue to draw loyal audiences.
Speaking to domestic media, Tong Jiabo, a member of the China Film Critics Association, underscored that while sequels are not traditionally common for the Spring Festival, their rise reflects a growing industrialization of China’s film sector. “The ability to produce high-quality, standardized films shows that Chinese studios are making significant strides in establishing themselves on the global stage,” he said.
The box office surge this festive season has provided a much-needed lift for China’s movie industry, which has struggled to recover to pre-pandemic levels after a lackluster 2024.
Total box office revenues reached 42.5 billion yuan last year, a 22.6% decline from 2023’s 54.9 billion yuan, according to data from the China Film Administration. To further boost the market, state and local governments have rolled out measures like ticket discounts and consumption coupons, aiming to make movie theaters a more attractive entertainment option.
(Header image: People walk past film posters at a cinema in Kunming, Yunnan province, Feb. 3, 2025. VCG)