Ne Zha Is Leaving Netflix Next Month

The 2019 prequel of 2026’s biggest box office success story is set to leave Netflix next month, giving audiences a limited amount of remaining time wherein they can definitely watch the film on the platform. Most of the biggest box office success stories in any given year are films within a larger franchise, with the MCU timeline and Disney films being able to rely on decades of built up fandom and hype to help pave their next chapters.

Though a movie doesn’t need to be part of a wider story in order to excel, this has helped certain releases get an edge on their competition throughout the course of cinema’s story, as a longer film series is able to build more complex character arcs, and more detailed overall narratives than lone releases are generally able to do by themselves.

This goes some way to explain why 2025’s biggest box office hit brought in a staggering result of over $2 billion, since it was able to draw on the prior building blocks laid down by its 2019 predecessor in order to go for cinematic gold. Now, though, we appear to be entering the final days you can watch said predecessor on Netflix, which is worth noting for those who want to watch or rewatch the film with this in mind.

Ne Zha Is Set To Leave Netflix Soon

August is scheduled to see a fair number of major movies leave Netflix shortly, with these installments being balanced out by the roster of new films set to be added to the streaming service over the course of the next few weeks (as per What’s On Netflix). One of the biggest films currently set to leave the platform on August 21 is notably that of the original 2019 Ne Zha, which is the precursor to 2025’s biggest box office film, Ne Zha 2.

Ne Zha itself managed to net itself a considerable box office all by itself, with the film having made a reported $725 million in its worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo) – a doubly impressive feat given this was the same year a cavalcade of $1 billion plus box office movies like Avengers: Endgame, the live-action Lion King, Frozen II, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, and Joker all dominated the movie charts, meaning gaining attention during this time was far more fraught.

However, Ne Zha‘s premise of an animated movie exploring the classic 16th century story titled The Investiture of the Gods – which delves into several fascinating gods and mythological characters, and blends them with some aspects of real-world history – garnered both its own success and paved the way for an even stronger showing for its sequel.

Ne Zha 2 made a reported $2.2 billion when it released in 2025 (via Box Office Mojo), over doubling the original film’s box office total, and making the film the biggest hit of the year overall. This is just one of the reasons Ne Zha is worth watching before it is set to leave Netflix’s film roster, though.

Now Is The Perfect Time To Watch Ne Zha Before It Leaves Netflix

Many people understandably missed Ne Zha when it first released in 2019. This is not only because of the sheer number of major movies that were event movies in the year, but also because the year contained a wide assortment of other must-watch animated family-friendly adventure movies, including Frozen II, Toy Story 4, and the live-action remakes of The Lion King and Aladdin, which all grossed more than Ne Zha in 2019.

The success of Ne Zha 2 brought the series even more into the public eye in a way that ensured both it and its predecessor became more of a priority to audiences who hadn’t previously watched the original.

Now that Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, there’s never been more reason to catch up with the original on Netflix – especially since the number of days viewers can potentially do so look to be dwindling. This is particularly true given the recent talks about Ne Zha 3, as well, since it’s well worth catching up on the series before the next movie emerges.