Los Angeles, California – Michelle Yeoh has been enlisted to star in the English dub of the Chinese mega-hit Ne Zha II, the world’s most successful animated film, in an attempt to woo US audiences.
Ne Zha II is the highest-grossing movie of the year, and the biggest animated film ever made, but if you live outside of China, you’ve likely never heard of it. With Michelle Yeoh’s help, that could be about to change.
A24, the trendy indie studio behind Everything Everywhere All At Once, is releasing a re-dubbed English-language version of Ne Zha II in US theaters this Friday.
The hope is that a fantastical tale of warring dragons, demons, and immortals – rooted in Chinese mythology – will translate well for Western audiences.
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“I had seen Ne Zha II in Chinese, and even at that time I thought, ‘I hope they do an English version, because you want little kids to be able to see it and understand,'” Yeoh told People.
The sprawling fantasy film centers on Ne Zha, a tiny child with fearsome magical powers, who sets off on a quest to save his best friend after his hometown is attacked by dragons.
The film grossed around $2.2 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, though most of its success came from the Chinese domestic audience.
“The storytelling is so amazing because they have kept intact the classic myth of how it was before, but added that contemporary way of storytelling,” Yeoh said of the film.
“This is for people who always felt that they’re not seen, or they have been ostracized, or they don’t look right, or they don’t fit in, so that they don’t give up.”
