A Movie Most Americans Have Never Seen Could Make Box Office History

It's been a roller coaster of a year at the box office, from the low lows of January when disappointments like "Wolf Man" were having to carry the load, to the high highs we've seen more recently with movies such as "Lilo & Stitch" over-delivering with $1 billion globally. But the biggest surprise of 2025 remains the Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2," which shattered records by making more than $2 billion earlier this year. Almost all of that money came from China, which is probably why most English-speaking folks in North America have never even heard of it. That narrative will be changing soon, though, if A24 has anything to say about it.

The studio behind "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is set to release an English-dubbed version of director Jiao Zi's smash hit in the U.S. on the weekend of August 22. While we can't say for sure how it's going to go, there at least exists a possibility that this re-release could push "Ne Zha 2" past a massive box office milestone: It could pass James Cameron's "Titanic" to become the fourth-biggest movie of all time. Yes, really.

Unadjusted for inflation, 1997's smash hit "Titanic" made $2.264 billion through the years, counting its various re-releases. As of right now, "Ne Zha 2" has $2.2 billion worldwide to its name. Without getting down to the pennies of it all, the animated record-breaker would need to earn somewhere between $60 and $65 million more to overtake Cameron's landmark '90s blockbuster. If A24's English version can travel even a little in Europe or other English-speaking countries, that number is very much in reach.

"Ne Zah 2" made roughly 88% of its money in China. It's the highest-grossing movie ever in a single country by a lot, with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($936.6 million) a distant second. And it made just $20.8 million in the U.S. earlier this year. In short, there is a lot of room for growth in the global theatrical marketplace.

The sequel centers on a rebellious young boy named Ne Zha who is feared by the gods and born to mortal parents with wild powers. Faced with an ancient force intent on destroying humanity, he must grow up to become the hero the world needs. The cast for the English dub includes Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere All At Once"), Crystal Lee ("Genshin Impact"), Vincent Rodriguez III ("Raya and the Last Dragon"), Aleks Le ("Solo Leveling"), and Damien Haas ("Predator: Killer of Killers").

Having a cast like this coming from a respected studio like A24 could help put this movie on a lot of people's radar. It also doesn't hurt that the first "Ne Zha" has been streaming on Peacock for some time, giving audiences a chance to catch up with the original. In the grand scheme of things, $65 million isn't much to expect from a company like A24, especially with a hook like "see the biggest animated movie of all time on the big screen." Speaking of big screens, A24 also secured an IMAX release for this, which will only further pad ticket sales.

Indeed, "Ne Zha 2" passed "Inside Out 2" ($1.69 billion) to become the biggest animated movie ever earlier this year. The interest is there. That interest has largely been relegated to China up to this point, but the fever around it has led to a lot of ink being spilled on the movie's behalf. A relatively small number of curious moviegoers could easily push it to new heights. It certainly doesn't hurt that the August release slate is pretty weak, meaning there aren't as many options for moviegoers to choose from. As a result, we may soon see a bit of cinema history made.

"Ne Zha 2" hits theaters in the U.S. on August 22, 2025.