American Audiences Don't Care About The Biggest Animated Box Office Hit Ever

"Ne Zha 2" did the unthinkable at the box office earlier this year when it became by far the highest-grossing animated movie of all time. The Chinese blockbuster came out of nowhere to pass Pixar's "Inside Out 2" ($1.69 billion), which broke the record just last year — a record that seemed like it would stand for a long time. As impressive as the Chinese movie's run has been, it has failed largely to break out beyond its home country. A24 put a meaningful effort forth over the weekend to bring out American audiences to see this record-breaking epic, but it didn't work particularly well.

A24 released a new English-language dub of director Zi Jiao's "Ne Zha 2," which boasts a stellar cast led by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh ("Everything Everywhere All At Once"). The film has made $2.15 billion globally and is just shy of $15 million away from overtaking James Cameron's "Titanic" worldwide. While the film had been released in U.S. theaters earlier this year, the hope was that an English dub with recognizable stars would extend its reach. It was even given IMAX screens across the country.

Yet, for all of that effort, the animated juggernaut earned just $1.5 million over the weekend, landing at number 13 on the charts as Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" came in at number one with $18 million. It wasn't exactly a crowded weekend, with "Honey Don't!" only making $3 million and director Ron Howard's "Eden" bombing with scarcely $1 million. Even so, prospective ticket buyers in North America largely felt no need to see what all of the fuss was about.

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 voice cast for the A24's new English version also includes Crystal Lee ("Genshin Impact"), Vincent Rodriguez III ("Raya and the Last Dragon"), Aleks Le ("Solo Leveling"), and Damien Haas ("Predator: Killer of Killers").

As for why audiences largely didn't turn out? There are a few obvious reasons. For one, "Ne Zha 2" is a sequel to a movie that the vast majority of American moviegoers have not seen. Granted, the original "Ne Zha" has been streaming on Peacock for some time, but it's not exactly something that the average person is seeking out. Beyond that, A24 had limited resources to pour into the marketing campaign. To further complicate matters, it's likely that there's a lot of crossover with the audience for "KPop Demon Hunters," which had a two-day-only release billed as a sing-along event. So that had the edge in the marketplace.

What we can say with certainty is that "Ne Zha 2" is the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time behind only "Titanic" ($2.26 billion), "Avatar: The Way of Water" ($2.32 billion), "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.79 billion), and "Avatar" ($2.92 billion), but the movie made nearly $2 billion of its money in China alone. Every other movie in the all-time global top 20 had to rely far more on the global theatrical marketplace to get the job done.

To illustrate just how wild this is, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" held the previous record for the most money made in a single country, with $936.6 million of its $2.07 billion total coming from the U.S. "Ne Zha 2" made about $1 billion more than that in China. It remains fascinating that such a cultural phenomenon couldn't extend that success more meaningfully around the world. Chinese audiences are increasingly favoring homegrown titles, and this marks a real turning point. It may be a big deal, but Chinese regulators can't force the rest of the world to care about it. 

"Ne Zha 2" is in theaters now.