{"id":8107,"date":"2026-08-21T15:47:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T14:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/?p=8107"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T15:01:43","slug":"inside-the-real-reason-terrible-200-movie-niu-lai-is-beating-spider-man-at-the-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/filmshrine\/2026\/08\/21\/inside-the-real-reason-terrible-200-movie-niu-lai-is-beating-spider-man-at-the-box-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the real reason \u2018terrible\u2019 $200 movie Niu Lai is beating Spider-Man at the box office"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crudely animated movie made by a mother and son has taken the internet by storm this week after going from selling fewer than 300 tickets to becoming a box office sensation in China. And there\u2019s a reason (multiple, actually) why it\u2019s such a success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Niu Lai – roughly translated as Here Comes the Cow or The Arrival of the Ox – is an 86-minute animated movie about a timid calf embarking on a journey of growth in a dreamscape, alongside the skylark Yunque and leopard Baola.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was released in China on August 5 with virtually no marketing, no recognisable stars and animation so shoddy, viewers initially questioned how it made it into cinemas in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire movie<\/a> was created over five years by landscape designer Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifang. They did so with no formal training in filmmaking and on a reported budget of just $200 (this varies, but just know it took the term \u2018low budget’ to a new level).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, they covered all bases. Xin directed, animated, modelled, edited and voiced the male characters in the film, while Sun taught herself screenwriting and penned the script, voiced the female characters and even wrote a song for the film\u2019s final theme.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Still
Credit: Tianjin Yamazaki Film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it was first released, it looked like Niu Lai was destined to disappear into obscurity. During its first 10 days in cinemas, it made just 7,711 yuan – around $1,000 – and sold fewer than 300 tickets\u2026 Then people started talking about how bad it was.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Clips showing Niu Lai\u2019s crude 3D models, jarring animation and awkward dialogue began circulating on Chinese social media, where people relentlessly mocked the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One viewer commented online, “The animation was terrible. I really don’t know how it was released. It was incredibly abstract, and the dubbing was strange too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But instead of killing it, the ridicule had the opposite effect: thousands of people suddenly wanted to see just how strange it really is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within days, cinemas that had barely been showing Niu Lai were scrambling to add screenings. Its daily box office jumped from almost nothing into hundreds of thousands of yuan, before its total surged into the tens of millions.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018NIU LAI\u2019 has reportedly dethroned \u2018Obsession\u2019 as the most profitable film of ALL TIME.<\/p>\n

The Chinese animated film has grossed over $4 MILLION on a budget of just $200. pic.twitter.com\/lUDnPj2vne<\/a><\/p>\n

— ToonHive (@ToonHive) August 20, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n