20 Recent Movies You Had NO IDEA Were Box Office Hits
13. Ne Zha 2
Unless you're a serious cinephile, a box office obsessive, or an animation enthusiast, you probably haven't heard of the Chinese animated fantasy film Ne Zha 2.
And even if you have, you probably didn't know that the film broke a spate of box office records when it released in China at the start of 2025.
For starters, it grossed an eye-watering $2.22 billion (!) on a mere $80 million budget, effortlessly making it the highest-grossing film of 2025 worldwide, far ahead of second and third place - Zootopia 2 ($1.86 billion) and Avatar: Fire and Ash ($1.48 billion).
At present Ne Zha 2 is the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, the highest-grossing film in a single territory, the highest-grossing animated film ever, and the highest-grossing non-English language film.
And yet, because the film made 99% of its money in its home nation, its success has flown somewhat under-the-radar in the West.