Originally released on Valentine’s Day, Ne Zha 2 has demolished all competition in 2025 and is firmly in a league of its own in animation history. Against a production budget of US$80 million, Ne Zha 2 broke numerous box office records inside and outside China. It became the highest-grossing film in a single box office territory and globally became the highest-grossing animated film, the highest-grossing non-English language film (being the first to gross over $2 billion), and the first animated film in history to cross the $2 billion mark. It also ranks as the highest-grossing film of 2025, the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time,[9] and the highest-selling animated film in terms of ticket sales. The film’s English dub was released in the United States on 22 August 2025 by A24, with Michelle Yeoh (playing Lady Yin) leading a new cast of voice actors.
Highest-Grossing Animated Films of 2025 (Worldwide)
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Ne Zha 2 – $2.20 billion
A Chinese animated fantasy adventure that shattered box office records both domestically and globally. It became not only the top-grossing animated film of 2025 but also the highest-grossing animated feature of all time, crossing the $2 billion mark. -
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle – $295.8 million
Ranked as the second-highest grossing animated film launched in 2025. -
Nobody – $195.7 million
An animated title from Shanghai Animation Film Studio that claimed the third spot in global revenue for the year. -
The Bad Guys 2 – $190.0 million
DreamWorks Animation’s sequel that performed strongly on the international stage. -
Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback – $153.5 million
A Japanese animated feature that secured a mid-tier ranking in box office earnings for 2025. -
Elio – $153.4 million
Disney’s animated outing that matched closely with Detective Conan’s performance in terms of gross. -
Dog Man – $145.6 million
Based on Dav Pilkey’s popular graphic novels, this DreamWorks Animation title also earned solid box office returns in 2025. -
Boonie Bears: Future Reborn – $102.0 million
A Chinese animated installment that garnered notable success, ranking eighth among animated releases. -
The King of Kings – $76.9 million
An animated Christian-themed film featuring a star-studded voice cast; it earned moderately worldwide.
Upcoming releases for 2025:
Arco – An animated sci-fi fantasy from Ugo Bienvenu (produced by Natalie Portman) that premiered at Cannes in May 2025. It’s set for theatrical release in France on October 22, 2025, and in the U.S. on November 14, 2025.
Stitch Head – A darkly comedic animated feature based on Guy Bass’s novel, directed by Steve Hudson. It premiered at Annecy on June 10, 2025, and will hit U.S. theaters on October 29, 2025.
Scarlet (Japanese: Scarlet Without Limits) – Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, this fantasy-action anime had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 4, 2025. It’s scheduled to release in Japan on November 21, 2025, with a North American limited awards run starting December 12, 2025, followed by a wider release in early 2026.
Zootopia 2 – Disney’s long-awaited sequel is expected to release theatrically in late November 2025—tentatively on November 26 or 28
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants – The latest SpongeBob cinematic adventure is scheduled for release on December 19, 2025.
