Ne Zha 2 is the biggest movie of the year globally, but its biggest release yet in the United States this past weekend was a huge failure. A strong film with great, colorful visuals, there were many reasons to see Ne Zha 2 this past weekend, although it now seems that there were perhaps more reasons not to.

Ne Zha 2 has been a phenomenon overseas. The animated film’s box office success in China has been unprecedented, bringing in nearly $2 billion and making it one of the biggest movies of all time. Unfortunately, this trend did not continue in the US, where it opened to a paltry $1.5 million.

China’s recent creation of big studios of its own has resulted in recent international movies making huge money at the box office without connecting in America. China has seen several successes from this recently, with movies like Hi, Mom and Wolf Warrior 2 each making over $800 million. Unfortunately, these grosses come almost entirely from their home country.

The Marketing Said The Movie Was A Big Deal, But Didn’t Explain Why

Ne Zha 2 is a hard movie to market to American audiences. The film tells the story of Ne Zha, a reincarnation of the demon orb, and it intersects with Chinese mythology, religion, and folklore in ways that are unfamiliar to audiences from other territories.

Even watching the movie, not all of this is clearly explained. The movie digs deep into its own cultural ᴀssociations in story and themes, ᴀssuming the audience already understands them. This led to the American marketing being focused not on what the movie is, but more on how much success Ne Zha 2 has already found.

It is a big deal that Ne Zha 2 has been able to make nearly $2 billion, but that is not going to lure in casual filmgoers. While followers of box office statistics and hungry cinephiles who frequent the cinema regularly might be drawn to such a release, there is not enough of a hook for general audiences.

The marketing, including Ne Zha 2‘s trailer, could have focused more on the beautiful visuals and scale of the film, and it likely would have been more effective if it had spent more time actually explaining what the story of Ne Zha 2 is. Instead, the film leaned on its previous success as a bankable feature, which turned out not to be an effective strategy.

The US Has Adopted A Greater America-First Position

America, both politically and culturally, has moved into a more isolationist philosophical bent. This is reflected in the nation’s political machinations, and it has created some tension with various countries around the world, including Canada, Mexico, and especially China.

Many have justified the disappointing international component of Superman‘s global box office as being because the character represents America, and America is not as well-liked on the international stage at the moment. A similar explanation might help to understand Ne Zha 2 failing to connect in the US.

America is less open than it used to be, and tensions are higher with China. This new film reflects Chinese philosophy and mythology, which is less appealing to American audiences at this time. With China building its own studios and big-budget films, and relying less on American ones, it makes sense for Americans to be dubious about their products.

The US is more America-first than it has been in recent years, and Ne Zha 2 reflects the opposite of that. Seeing Ne Zha 2 directly supports the cultural changes of China’s movie industry, which has been to the detriment of American films overseas.

Animated Movies Have Not Had A Strong Year

Animation has not been the most popular genre in American cinemas this year. While most years have seen at least one or two enormous animated films by this time, the biggest animated movie of the year has been Elio for some time, with a box office total of only $152 million.

The bigger family hits of the year have been mostly in live-action remakes. Lilo & Sтιтch hit the $1 billion milestone, while How to Train Your Dragon earned a franchise-best $626 million. It seems that animated films in theatres are not connecting in 2025 the way that they have in previous years.

There is, however, one important counterpoint to this. Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters ruled the box office this past weekend, earning $18 million in only two days. While this is an important note, it also must be understood that KPop Demon Hunters has become a unique cultural sensation. The theatrical release capitalized on that with untraditional, sing-along screenings.

The cultural setting of KPop Demon Hunters may also seem to contradict the America-first position listed above. However, despite an international story, the film is primarily an American product, produced by Sony Pictures Animation. In addition, even an $18 million opening weekend is small in the larger picture, drawing even less than Elio‘s $21 million domestic opening.

Ne Zha 2 Is A Sequel To A Movie America Didn’t See

Ne Zha was released in 2019, and it earned a worldwide total of $742 million, with only $3.6 million coming from domestic screenings. The film did not leave a significant cultural mark on America, and audiences who saw the first one would be an extremely limited demographic.

American audiences have been trained to look at franchises comprehensively. Recent moves like The Marvels suffered at the box office because audiences ᴀssumed they had to know all of the characters before seeing the film. That required homework in watching not just Captain Marvel, but the TV series WandaVision and Miss Marvel as well.

This has trained American audiences to believe that one must see Ne Zha before seeing Ne Zha 2. This is not entirely true, as the film does mostly stand on its own. However, it does immediately pick up after the events of the first film, and the viewing experience is stronger after seeing the 2019 film.

Movies in the West have become increasingly interconnected and serialized, and audiences have learned to recognize this. Many franchise movies have even begun to replace numbers with subтιтles in an attempt to continue luring in new audiences. Even the тιтle of Ne Zha 2, released with a 2 suffix, suggests that the prior film would need to be seen first.

There Is No Proven Market For Dubbed Family Movies

Ne Zha 2 is a unique cultural product. Until now, all of the highest-grossing animated movies have been English-language productions. While there have been changes in how foreign language cinema has been seen in recent years, Ne Zha 2 represents something entirely different.

Movies like Parasite have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and even Japanese animation has found box office success with its recent Demon Slayer movies. However, each of these examples is aimed at entirely different audiences, both of which are primarily adult.

Up to now, the most successful dubbed family movies have come from Japan’s Studio Ghibli. Movies like The Boy and the Heron earned $46 million domestically, but this was grown over decades of affection for the brand, and it also appealed more to an adult audience.

Notably, even Ghibli took a while before their appeal to American audiences was solidified. Classics like My Neighbor Totoro only earned $2 million in its domestic run, as did Princess Mononoke in its first release. Both of these have gone on to be beloved in the West, but they also appeal to a different audience than Ne Zha 2.

Ne Zha 2 is a movie that is built to appeal to kids, with colorful creatures, fun visuals, and crᴀss humor. Unfortunately, American children have not yet been conditioned to watch dubbed movies of this kind. It remains to be seen if animated Chinese family films will ever have a place in American cinemas.