A man walks past a screen showing a poster of the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 before a preview screening at the BFI IMAX theater in London, Britain, on March 14, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Chinese films generated $142 million in overseas box-office revenue in 2025, according to box office tracker Dengta. This figure more than doubled from the previous year, reaching the highest point since 2016.

Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2, which broke multiple box-office records, accounted for nearly half of the overseas takings. The film also set new best-ever results for Chinese mainland films in several markets, significantly boosting overall market share.

"As the film industry enters the digital era, Chinese animated films are increasingly demonstrating strong artistic influence and box-office appeal," Zuo Heng, director of the Film Culture Research Department at the China Film Archive, told the Global Times.

Zuo noted that from the 2015 breakout hit Monkey King: Hero Is Back to the animation Chang'an, the Boonie Bears franchise's 11 consecutive years as a Chinese New Year fixture and now Ne Zha 2 setting multiple records, animated films have shown stronger ­momentum than live-action titles. They have become a pillar supporting the industry against broader market headwinds.

Overall, six films confirmed overseas box-office totals exceeding $5 million, three of which were released during the Chinese New Year period. Beyond the films' quality, the holiday window, combined with strong performances in Southeast Asia, provided a significant boost, according to Dengta.

Animation Nobody had grossed $517,000 outside the Chinese mainland. This included HK$329,000 ($42,170) accumulated over 39 days in Hong Kong and Macao. Real-time data shows that the film earned more than 7.3 billion Vietnamese dong ($280,000) during its opening weekend in Vietnam, putting it on track to break into the top 10 overseas performers.

By country, Chinese films ranked sixth worldwide in international box-office revenue in 2025, trailing the US, Japan, India, the UK and France.

In North America, a total of 54 new Chinese films were released in 2025, generating $38.44 million in total box-office revenue for the calendar year, up 158 percent year on year. With the help of its English-dubbed version, Ne Zha 2 surpassed The Medallion to become the fifth highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in North America.

In Japan, Chinese films saw explosive growth in 2025. A total of 24 new titles received theatrical releases. Based on chart data from Comscore, annual box-office revenue reached 1.71 billion yen ($11.16 million), a 518 percent surge year on year and the highest level since 2018. Admissions totaled 1.08 million, up 501 percent from the previous year.

This standout performance owed much to the strong word of mouth and box-office run of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Opening with a modest 19.21 million yen, the film went on to deliver an almost 30-fold comeback, sparking widespread attention in Japan. It became the second highest-grossing non-coproduction Chinese film since 2010, behind only The Legend of Hei, which earned 581 million yen. The sequel to The Legend of Hei ranked second for the year and has surpassed 500 million yen.

"Chinese cinema has now reached its 120th anniversary. One hundred and twenty years is long enough to leave behind a constellation of enduring classics," Zuo said. "And the road ahead for film is even broader - broad enough to be eagerly anticipated by everyone who loves cinema."