China Played Hollywood’s Game — Then Flipped the Script to Beat It: “They Used Marvel to Destroy Marvel”

For years, Hollywood could count on China to help turn its biggest blockbusters into billion-dollar hits. But those days are gone, and China doesn’t seem to miss them.

A top talent agent who works with several Marvel actors told Variety, “There’s a reset of what a hit is, and I don’t see them consistently hitting $1 billion as before — without China, with Disney+ exposure, post-COVID, without megastars. China used Marvel, Disney and the U.S. film industry to seed their own.”

One industry insider was even more blunt about the loss of the Chinese box office boost: “We are never going to have those days again.”

The U.S. has always been the world’s biggest spender at the movies. No other country even came close, until China’s film industry exploded. In 2025, China has already reached a huge milestone pretty early on way before Hollywood.

According to the China Film Administration, the country’s total box office has passed 10 billion yuan (nearly $1.4 billion), putting it at the top of the global market.

This record-breaking year comes on the heels of an even bigger success during the Spring Festival holiday. Every movie dominating the box office was homegrown with the most notable example being Ne Zha 2.

Ne Zha 2 has smashed records in China and around the world. In just three days after its release during Chinese New Year 2025, it made 1.1 billion yuan ($137 million), becoming the first movie that year to hit 1 billion yuan so fast. By day four it passed 2 billion yuan, day five it passed 3 billion, and on day six it crossed 4 billion, breaking the old record set by Detective Chinatown 3 in 2021.

By day eight, it passed 5 billion yuan ($684 million), breaking the record set by The Battle at Lake Changjin in 2021. It also became the highest-grossing animated movie in China, beating the first Ne Zha film. By day nine, it had already passed 6 billion yuan.

As of February 8, 2025, the film had made over 7.2 billion yuan, making it the highest-grossing Chinese movie ever, beating Wolf Warrior 2 and The Battle at Lake Changjin. It also beat the single-territory box office record held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the U.S. The film is now the highest-grossing animated movie in the world, beating Inside Out 2 and becoming the first non-American, non-English animated film to reach this level.

On March 9, 2025, Ne Zha 2 passed $2 billion worldwide, the first animated film and first non-American film ever to do so.

The film also performed well overseas. Its Los Angeles premiere sold out instantly, and it made $7.2 million in its U.S. opening weekend, much higher than the first Ne Zha. In Singapore, it broke records for the biggest first-day and total earnings for a Chinese film, making over $4.5 million in total there.

Over the next few years, China might start producing more billion-dollar hits without needing international help. In fact, we might see China dominate the global box office charts with its own movies, while Hollywood struggles to match the same kind of success there.

If Ne Zha 2 is any sign, the future of cinema could be shaped just as much in Beijing and Shanghai as in Hollywood.

Insider statements were first brought by Variety.

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