Ne Zha 2 has earned $2.2 billion worldwide, surpassing other animated films while earning roughly $20 million in a limited U.S. release. A24 will release an English dub on August 22 to broaden U.S. viewership, with Michelle Yeoh voicing Ne Zha's mother and noting the film's role in building a global cultural bridge. The sequel may feel unfamiliar to American audiences due to its mythological setting and the limited exposure to the first film, which grossed $3.7 million in U.S. theaters in 2019. The franchise draws from Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, The Investiture of the Gods, shenmo, and the Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King myth.
But are American moviegoers prepared to embrace heroes who don't remind them of K-pop idols or characters from Marvel and DC comic books? Ne Zha 2's mythological world might feel especially foreign, considering that it is a sequel to a movie that a lot of people in this country haven't seen. (The first film in this fantasy franchise was released in select theaters in the States in 2019, where it grossed $3.7 million - only about 0.5 percent of its worldwide box-office sales.)
The Ne Zha films pull characters and concepts from multiple religions and philosophical systems including Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The franchise is also loosely based on the 16th-century novel The Investiture of the Gods, one of the representative works of the gods-and-demons fantasy genre known as shenmo (which itself is rooted in the ever-complex world of Chinese mythology). On top of all that, it also takes some inspiration from the well-known Chinese myth Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King.
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