Niu Lai aka The Ox Comes: Made for $47 by two people over 5 years, this Chinese animated movie is so bad that people started buying tickets just to watch it. It has now earned close to $1 million - The Economic Times
Benchmarks<br>Nifty24,366.00-29.85
FEATURED FUNDS★★★★★
Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund Direct-Growth
5Y Return<br>23.43 %
Invest Now
Enter search text:
Home<br>ETPrime<br>Markets
Market Data
Masterclass<br>News
Industry
SME
Politics<br>Wealth
MF
Tech
AI
Careers
Opinion
NRI
Panache
More Menu
Business News›News›International›Global Trends›Niu Lai aka The Ox Comes: Made for $47 by two people over 5 years, this Chinese animated movie is so bad that people started buying tickets just to watch it. It has now earned close to $1 million
The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.
Read Today's Paper
Niu Lai aka The Ox Comes: Made for $47 by two people over 5 years, this Chinese animated movie is so bad that people started buying tickets just to watch it. It has now earned close to $1 million
SECTIONS<br>Niu Lai aka The Ox Comes: Made for $47 by two people over 5 years, this Chinese animated movie is so bad that people started buying tickets just to watch it. It has now earned close to $1 million
ET OnlineLast Updated: Aug 16, 2026, 04:21:00 PM IST<br>Rate Story
Follow us<br>Share
Font SizeAbcSmall<br>AbcMedium<br>AbcLarge
Save<br>Print<br>Comment
Synopsis<br>The animated film 'The Ox Comes' from China has taken the internet by storm, captivating audiences with its uniquely crude computer-generated graphics. Initially struggling at the box office, its ticket sales have surged thanks to viral clips of its low-quality animation. This phenomenon showcases how social media can shape the success of modern films in unexpected ways.
Niu Lai was directed by Xin Yumeng and written by Sun Lifang, who were also the only listed crew members and voice actors.
A Chinese animated film made by just two people has gone from a near-invisible box-office opening to an unlikely viral sensation after viewers began buying tickets simply to see how bad it really was.
Niu Lai, translated as The Ox Comes, initially earned just 7,169 yuan (about $1,000) from 236 viewers during its first nine days in theatres. But after clips of its crude animation went viral on Chinese social media, curiosity around the film exploded.
— TGTM_Official (@TGTM_Official)
The film has now crossed 5.26 million yuan (more than $780,000) at the box office, turning what appeared to be a spectacular flop into one of the strangest movie stories of 2026.
A movie made by two people<br>Niu Lai was directed by Xin Yumeng and written by Sun Lifang, who were also the only listed crew members and voice actors.
Live Events
The film was produced by Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media Co Ltd, a company whose predecessor was an interior design and decoration business before it shifted into media production.
— wutaner (@wutaner)
The movie had almost no conventional marketing campaign. It was released on August 5, 2026, with no trailer or interviews. Its only known advertisement was a poster featuring traditional ink-wash artwork.
The stark contrast between that artwork and the film's crude computer-generated animation quickly caught viewers' attention.
‘Worse than AI’<br>As clips spread online, viewers began mocking the animation quality, with some describing it as “worse than AI.”
Instead of killing the film's chances at the box office, however, the criticism appears to have created a bizarre curiosity factor.
— AnsemKitchen (@AnsemKitchen)
People started purchasing tickets specifically to experience the movie for themselves, turning Niu Lai into a viral meme.
One social media user called it a “disaster” that people were paying to witness, while another described it as potentially the “worst movie of 2026.”
From 7,169 yuan to 5.26 million yuan<br>The film's early performance was almost nonexistent. Niu Lai earned only 7,169 yuan (about $1,000) in its first nine days, with just 236 people watching it.
It was initially screened in 245 theatres, but that number fell to just four by August 14.
Then social media changed everything.
— StarPlatinum_ (@StarPlatinum_)
Following the viral attention, the movie reportedly generated more than 100,000 yuan (about $14,800) in presales, including 46,000 yuan (around $6,800) in presales on August 15 alone.
Its cumulative box office has since exceeded 5.26 million yuan (about $780,000).
That makes Niu Lai a remarkable example of how internet curiosity can completely reverse a film's fortunes. A movie that began with barely a thousand dollars in box-office revenue has now become a viral talking point—and audiences may be paying to see it precisely because they think it is terrible.<br>Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source<br>Add Now!
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
Read More News on<br>The Ox ComesChinese animated movieNiu Laiworst movie of 2026xin...