Niu Lai, the Notoriously “Bad” Animated Movie, Hits a New High at the Chinese Box Office

Made by a mother and son over five years with minimal budget, Niu Lai (牛来), a Chinese animated film about a yellow cow, has gone from an obscure “bad movie” to an unexpected box office hit. Released on August 5, the film earned just RMB 7,000 (USD 1,000) in its first 10 days with just over 200 moviegoers. But memes of how bad the movie was soon turned the tide. Niu Lai went viral as it was widely mocked by Netizens, drawing audiences eager to experience the film for themselves and describing it as a good laugh from start to end. Screenings jumped from just a handful to tens of thousands, while daily box office revenue eventually surpassed RMB 8 million. By August 20, the film has hit another milestone, crossing RMB 30 million (USD 4.5 million) at the Chinese box office, with more than 1.08 million admissions.

The Niu Lai duo doing everything on their own is a huge part of their unusual story. Director Xin Yumeng handled directing, producing, voice acting and editing, while his mother, Sun Lifang, worked on the script, music, etc. With production cost estimated at only around RMB 50,000 (USD 7,000) and bad quality evident in the film, many can’t help but be amazed at how the movie made it to theaters. Nevertheless, Niu Lai, a film that didn’t even have money for promotion, which is why cinema staff had to hand-draw posters to put on display in theaters, has accomplished the extraordinary with returns exceeding 1,000 times its production investment. The question now is how high can it go.