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

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.



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

Niu Lai was directed by Xin Yumeng and written by Sun Lifang, who were also the only listed crew members and voice actors.

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.


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’

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.


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

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.


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.