Chinese movie ‘Ne Zha 2’ becomes highest-grossing animated film ever

Chinese film Ne Zha 2 overtook Pixar’s Inside Out 2 as the highest-grossing animated movie of all time.

The movie, which is based on a 16th-century novel that draws on ancient Chinese myths, had already become the highest-grossing non-Hollywood film ever, and the first to cross the $1 billion mark in a single market (China; analysts predict the film will cross the $2 billion threshold there, another world first).

Hollywood has chased the Chinese market for years: Films often avoid Beijing-sensitive topics like Taiwan and tweak plots to avoid censorship, while studios increasingly emphasize visuals over dialogue to ease translation. But China also wants some of the soft power that Hollywood gives the US, selling its country via film.