{"id":89402,"date":"2025-08-24T11:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/89402\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T11:28:10","slug":"chinas-animated-hit-ne-zha-ii-gets-a-second-u-s-release-this-time-with-michelle-yeoh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/89402\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s animated hit ‘Ne Zha II’ gets a second U.S. release, this time with Michelle Yeoh"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONG KONG \u2014 An English-dubbed version of the Chinese blockbuster \u201cNe Zha II,\u201d<\/a> the world\u2019s highest-grossing animated film ever, has been released in the United States, with a voice cast that includes Michelle Yeoh<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The film, inspired by Chinese mythology, opened in more than 2,500 American theaters on Friday. It is the latest in a wave of successful animations featuring Asian culture, such as Netflix\u2019s recent hit \u201cKPop Demon Hunters.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The sequel to a hit movie released in 2019, \u201cNe Zha II\u201d tells the story of a child demigod named Ne Zha who rebels against his innate devilry and chooses to use his magical powers and martial arts skills to defend humanity from dragons and other foes.<\/p>\n

Yeoh, a Malaysian actor and fluent Mandarin speaker, said she found it hard to follow the English subtitles during some of its more spectacular scenes when she first watched the movie in Hong Kong<\/a>. She left the theater thinking it needed to be dubbed in English.<\/p>\n

\"MichelleMichelle Yeoh at the Los Angeles premiere of \u201cNe Zha II\u201d on Aug. 4.Frazer Harrison \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

She later received a call asking if she wanted to voice Lady Yin, Ne Zha\u2019s mother, for an English-dubbed version being distributed by A24.<\/a> The New York-based independent film company is known for productions including \u201cMoonlight\u201d<\/a> and \u201cEverything Everywhere All at Once,\u201d<\/a> the 2022 film that made Yeoh the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHell yes,\u201d Yeoh said in response, calling the movie \u201ca beautiful way\u201d to cross the cultural bridge between East and West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a universal language of family, of love, of the underdog, of someone who\u2019s ostracized, misunderstood just because you\u2019re born different,\u201d she told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\"LadyLady Yin (voiced by Michelle Yeoh) with Ne Zha.A24<\/p>\n

Since its release in mainland China in January, \u201cNe Zha II\u201d has become the world\u2019s fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time, just behind James Cameron\u2019s<\/a> \u201cTitanic.\u201d<\/a> In February, it surpassed Pixar\u2019s \u201cInside Out 2\u201d<\/a> as the world\u2019s highest-grossing animated film.<\/p>\n

It is also the first non-Hollywood film to exceed $2 billion in global earnings, most of which came from the Chinese box office.<\/p>\n

The movie \u2014 which is directed by Sichuan-born Yang Yu, also known as Jiaozi \u2014 has stoked national pride in China<\/a>, with the state-run newspaper People\u2019s Daily praising its commercial success as the \u201cfruits of a confident nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many schools, state-owned companies and government entities across China have actively organized group viewings of \u201cNe Zha II\u201d in celebration of what they see as a milestone in Chinese animation.<\/p>\n

The success of \u201cNe Zha II\u201d is driven by both the maturation of China\u2019s animation industry and authorities\u2019 \u201cfull support\u201d for strengthening the country\u2019s soft power and cultural exports, said Zeng Hong, assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University\u2019s Academy of Film.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from \u201cNe Zha II.\u201dA24<\/p>\n

Although the English-dubbed version may do better in the U.S. than the earlier Chinese-only release with English subtitles, which earned about $20 million<\/a>, Zeng said that if \u201cNe Zha II\u201d succeeds with international viewers it is likely to stem more from its domestic acclaim and novelty than from genuine interest in Chinese mythology.<\/p>\n

Zeng said while she expects some reviews in the U.S. will criticize the film as Chinese propaganda, other viewers may just watch it out of curiosity.<\/p>\n

Kevin Ma, a veteran observer of the film industry who is based in Hong Kong, said another challenge \u201cNe Zha II\u201d faces in its latest release is the tight theatrical window in today\u2019s streaming-dominated market.<\/p>\n

New films may capture public attention for only one or two months before moving to streaming platforms, said Ma, who is also a film festival consultant.<\/p>\n

Even though \u201cNe Zha II\u201d came out only at the beginning of this year, it almost seems \u201clike a distant memory now\u201d because of consumers\u2019 \u201cshorter attention span\u201d in the streaming age, he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Peter Guo<\/a><\/p>\n

Peter Guo is\u00a0a fellow on NBC\u2019s Asia Desk, based in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HONG KONG \u2014 An English-dubbed version of the Chinese blockbuster \u201cNe Zha II,\u201d the world\u2019s highest-grossing animated film…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-89402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}