The biggest box office hit of 2025, Ne Zha 2, will be streaming on HBO Max in time for the holidays. After grossing more than $2 billion worldwide, China’s animated sequel became the highest-earning film of 2025 and the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time at the global box office.
Now, HBO Max subscribers will be able to watch the English-dubbed version of Ne Zha 2 on the streaming platform as of December 24. Additionally, the first Ne Zha film will make its HBO Max debut on December 1, allowing subscribers to watch both movies during the holiday season.
After releasing in China on January 29, the original Chinese version of the movie had a limited release in U.S. theaters in February. A24 later picked up distribution for an English dub version of the film, which was released in U.S. theaters on August 22. The English dub’s cast is led by Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Crystal Lee, Vincent Rodriguez III, and Aleks Le. Check out the official logline for the film below:
A rebellious young boy, Ne Zha, is feared by the gods and born to mortal parents with wild, uncontrolled powers. Now he’s faced with an ancient force intent on destroying humanity, he must grow up to become the hero the world needs.
Ne Zha 2’s U.S. box office performance only yielded $23 million, but it now has the opportunity to find a wider U.S. audience after it begins streaming on HBO Max, especially with subscribers being able to watch the sequel and the original 2019 film that preceded it.
At the worldwide box office, Ne Zha 2 knocked Star Wars: The Force Awakens out of the top 5 and claimed the 2015 movie’s spot. Along the way, it also surpassed Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Inside Out 2, and Jurassic World. The only movies to have made more worldwide than Ne Zha 2 are Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic.
Ne Zha 2 dethroning Inside Out 2 makes the Chinese movie the highest-grossing animated film of all time. This milestone was achieved less than a year after the Pixar sequel grossed nearly $1.7 million globally and became the all-time top earner for an animated film.
Between Zootopia 2, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5, Shrek 5, Spider-Man: Beyond the Verse, and Frozen 3, many animated movies are releasing in the next two years that are expected to perform incredibly well at the box office. While they will all undoubtedly be box office hits, they have a high bar to achieve if they are to reach or surpass Ne Zha 2’s numbers.
Release Date
January 29, 2025
Runtime
144 minutes
Director
Yang Yu
Lü Yanting
Young Nezha (voice)
Joseph
Youth Nezha/Jie Jie Shou Zuo (voice)