Handmade poster, memes, sudden box office boon: What is the hype behind ‘worse than AI’ Chinese animated film Niu Lai?

Some movies instantly become hits in theatres, while others disappear just as quickly. But the recently released Chinese animated film Niu Lai has turned out to be an unusual case. Mocked so much that it has now become a box office hit, even competing with Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. So what is the craze behind it?

Decoding Niu Lai box office success

Niu Lai is a low-budget animation film about a cow in a dream sequence. The film, which has been severely criticised on the internet, grossed 7,705 yuan ($1,140 or ₹1.09 lakh) in its first 10 days at the box office. But now, it has made more than 11.4 million yuan, as per tracking site Mao Yan.

The film witnessed a huge growth in footfall and ticket sales after it went viral across social media over its confusing plot and poor graphics.

"You may regret for 80 minutes if you watch it, but if you don't, you'll regret it for life," BBC quoted a social media post about Niu Lai.

Zero promotion, 'hand-crafted'

Reportedly, the film had no promotional poster, trailer, publicity or promotional tour.

“With almost no marketing budget but plenty of unexpected hype, Niu Lai has cinemas across China making their own promotional posters by hand. Theater staff are putting their finest artistic skills to work,” reported Shanghai Daily.

While some on the internet dubbed the film as ‘worse than AI’, a section of people jokingly argued that it was " hand-crafted ".

About Niu Lai

Niu Lai (translated to The Cow Is Coming in English) is an 86-minute animated film. The film revolves around a newborn calf and its journey as it grows up. It is said that the film took more than five years to be completed by director Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifan, with no budget.

The film was released on 5 August.

Director reacts

“If we focused all our energy on rendering precision, this film would never have been made. Between perceiving details and the overall narrative, I chose to let the story run first,” Xin Yumeng said in a radio interview for Entrepreneurial Youth Talk, as per Wenxue City.

He added that he prioritised the overall story over polishing every other visual detail in the film. He believed that the audience wasn't going to inspect “every hair under a microscope”.

Reportedly, Xin has moved on to his next project. This time the production has begun working on his next animated film, Yang Gao, or Sheep High. He updated about his upcoming film, “we won’t have to wait five years”.