'Ne Zha II' Is the 5th Highest-Grossing Film of All-Time. That's Not a Problem for Hollywood.
While the massive success of China's animated title may seem like the start of a massive shift, we need to examine its larger context.
Some believe that the U.S. is ceding its power to China. We see this across various industries, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy, as well as the loss of soft power. Wouldn’t it follow that Hollywood, our greatest exporter of American culture, would also lose its place in the world? We’ve already seen how the industry has tried to bend itself to accommodate China’s censors, added Chinese stars into minor roles for blockbusters, or put American stars into Chinese movies. It’s a complex relationship between Hollywood and China because China has such a large population, and Hollywood doesn’t want to lose that audience. Conversely, China’s film industry looks at the success of a movie like Kung Fu Panda and wonders why they don’t just make a movie like that in their own country. China doesn’t necessarily want to be reliant on Hollywood for entertainment, and Hollywood struggles to tweak its material to appease a worldwide audience.
The success of Ne Zha II would appear to be a solution to both problems. The animated sequel is currently the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time behind Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic. That’s some fairly esteemed company for a movie most Americans likely have never heard of, and it is still being distributed in the U.S. by A24, who are known more for their arthouse fare like Moonlight and Uncut Gems. If money is a metric of success, shouldn’t Ne Zha II be, as its marketing suggests, “a global phenomenon,” rather than a late-August curiosity?
For those wondering, Ne Zha II is the sequel to 2019’s Ne Zha, and is based on Chinese mythology. Both films are odd mashups of family fare with kiddie jokes leading up to massive, anime-style battles. Ne Zha looks fine for what it is, but Ne Zha II is a giant leap forward in terms of its animation quality. Here’s the trailer:
