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China’s animated blockbuster smashed box office records at home. Now it’s hitting Western cinemas
CNN
An unruly Chinese boy who battles dragons and defies destiny has made his way to Western cinema screens after smashing box office records in China.
An unruly Chinese boy who battles dragons and defies destiny has made his way to Western cinema screens after smashing box office records in China. “Ne Zha 2,” an animated blockbuster loosely based on Chinese mythology, is now the world’s highest-grossing movie of all time in a single market, racking up a staggering $1.4 billion in ticket sales in China since its January 29 release. It dwarfs the previous record held by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which netted $936 million in the United States and Canada in 2015. The Chinese production is also the first non-Hollywood film to break into the all-time global top 20 of highest-grossing films. The phenomenal success of “Ne Zha 2” – a rare bright spot in China’s otherwise sluggish box office amid a struggling economy – has sparked a wave of national pride and jubilation, with audiences, state media and officials rushing to celebrate the landmark achievement. For decades, China’s movie market had been dominated by Hollywood blockbusters. But in recent years, homegrown titles – in genres from action and sci-fi to romance and animation – have increasingly outpaced Western films, a pivot fueled by rising cultural pride, more sophisticated storytelling and rapid technological progress. And as censorship tightens and geopolitical tensions with the United States flare, it’s become all the more difficult for Hollywood to navigate political landmines in the once-lucrative market.