Michelle Yeoh has been confirmed as the lead star of an English-language version of one of the biggest movies of all time.
The Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 was released earlier this year and quickly smashed several records as it dominated China’s box office over the lunar new year holidays. Not only did it become the highest-grossing film ever in a single market worldwide, but also the first film ever to cross $1bn (£805.5m) in a single market.
Ne Zha 2 is a sequel to the 2019 fantasy adventure Ne Zha, which follows a young boy born with unique powers who teams up with dragon prince Ao Bing to fight demons and save the very community that fears him.
An English-language version of the film is now in production, with A24 and CMC Pictures collaborating to bring the movie to cinemas this summer. A subtitled version of the film was released in Europe and the US earlier this year.
Michelle Yeoh, who won an Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, called the film “a landmark in Chinese animation”.
In a statement, the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon star said: “I’m honoured to be part of Ne Zha 2, a landmark in Chinese animation and a powerful reminder of how universal our stories can be. Sharing this with audiences in English is such a joy, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience the wonder, heart, spectacular artistry, and magic of this film on the big screen.”
The film series, written and directed by Jiaozi, is loosely based on a 16th-century novel, Investiture of the Gods, attributed to Xu Zhonglin. The film reportedly took over 4,000 artists across 138 animation companies to create, with more than 2,400 shots.
Released in China for the lunar new year on 29 January, Ne Zha 2 managed to captivate audiences of all ages and achieve significant success, boosted by the extended holiday period when many people returned home to celebrate. In the first week of its release alone, Ne Zha 2 made ¥4.84bn (£534 m) in China, setting the record for the most money made by a single film in the new year period.
Ne Zha 2, made on a $80m (£61.9m) budget, is already the highest-grossing animated film in history making $2.06bn (£1.59bn) in China, followed by Inside Out 2, which made $1.7bn (£1.3bn) worldwide.
Overall, Ne Zha 2 ranks as the sixth among the highest-grossing films worldwide, overtaking Avengers: Infinity War, and sitting behind Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way Of Water, Titanic, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s also the first non-Hollywood film to gross over a billion.
