Ne Zha 2 is drawing eyes worldwide making its potential streaming debut a hot-button topic.
The Chinese animated adventure film opened in its home territory on January 29, quickly climbing the box office ranks. After just three weeks in theaters, the movie has already become the highest-grossing film in the history of the Chinese box office.
It has earned over $1.7 billion globally so far, making it the eighth-biggest movie of all time regardless of territory, most recently toppling last year's box office smash Inside Out 2.
When Will Ne Zha 2 Come to Digital?
As Ne Zha 2 starts turning heads with its meteoric rise up the all-time box office rankings, questions will almost surely start to be asked about when fans can watch the movie at home.
The movie debuted in Chinese theaters on January 29, before arriving in U.S. theaters on Wednesday, February 14.
While the movie's digital release plan has not yet been disclosed, there is a pretty good chance it will be made available for purchase stateside at some point in the future.
Like its predecessor, Ne Zha 2 is being distributed by Beijing Enlight Pictures in China and CMC Pictures in the US, so, using that first film as an example of what may transpire for the sequel in its post-theatrical life fans may be able to project when a digital release may happen.
The first Ne Zha debuted in theaters on August 29, 2019, before arriving on PVOD storefronts like Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Google Play six months later on February 25, 2020.
If Ne Zha 2 were to follow a similar U.S. digital strategy, a PVOD streaming release sometime later this year (perhaps in late summer 2025 or early fall 2025) is what should be currently expected.
Ne Zha 2 Streaming Release Expectations
Ne Zha 2's streaming debut plan is a little more complicated than that of its digital release.
The original Ne Zha film never made it to streaming in the U.S., and CMC Pictures does not have a history of bringing its movies to streamers stateside (at least to this point).
That does not mean a streaming debut will never happen for the animated adventure, but it would be fairly groundbreaking if it did.
Chinese blockbusters have very rarely come to the U.S. in streaming form; however, that is not to say it has never happened. Another Chinese animated hit, New Gods: Nezha Reborn (wholly unrelated to the Ne Zha franchise), was brought to Netflix in April 2021 just three months after its February 2021 Chinese theatrical release.
That movie though seems to be an exception to the rule and not a bellwether for things to come with other titles like Ne Zha 2.
One thing Ne Zha 2 has though that some of the other CMC Pictures movies have not had is the word of mouth this new film has. The Chinese sequel has quickly become one of the most talked about titles in the international entertainment industry, especially as it has become one of the eight highest-grossing movies ever.
Given just how big the movie is and how fervent the conversation surrounding it has become, there is a chance a bidding war takes place to bring the movie to U.S. streaming customers in some way.
An example of this happening before (albeit for different reasons) was with 2023's Japanese hit Godzilla: Minus One, which—after its shocking Oscar win for Best Visual Effects—was picked up by Netflix and brought to the U.S.
A similar thing could happen here with a streamer offering CMC Pictures an offer that is too good to turn down, striking a deal to bring the movie to a U.S. streamer. If that were to happen though, fans could likely expect the movie to still take some time before it ever does come to streaming.
Ne Zha 2 is playing now in U.S. theaters.
