The movie Niu Lai, which is about a calf dreaming of becoming an adult in the company of his family, made only 10,000 yuan in the first ten days after its August 5 launch. However, it made 8.2 million yuan in a single day.
Niu Lai drew massive crowds after viral mockery reviews
The 3D animation of the film’s characters seems to be of a primitive kind. Audiences referred to the appearance of the film as ‘ugly’ and ‘eerie.’ Some online reviews criticized and ridiculed the film. In China, some of the locals also posted comments like, ‘unbelievably bad’ and ‘new internet trolling era icon.’
Other widely used comments include the one about the movie being “a must-watch for Chinese stock market investors.” The name of the film, which stands for Niu Lai in Chinese, can be translated as “the bull is coming.” This pun was a source of humour among the audience, who were waiting for the bull market. There were comments like, “If the index reaches 4,000 tomorrow, I will go to the cinema to support this movie.”
This film did terribly at the start. In its first 10 days, it only brought in around 10,000 yuan, which equates to roughly $1,480. This included some days when the revenue for the film stood at a mere 200 yuan.
But the numbers changed from Monday, when Niu Lai made 8.2 million yuan, or $1.2 million, with close to 300,000 viewers. The total earnings of the film were 17.1 million yuan, or $2.5 million. Theatre managers started increasing the number of showings as demand increased.
According to sources, the entire movie was produced by Xin Yumeng, its director, and his mother, Sun Lifan. The movie, Niu Lai, had very little publicity prior to its release. The movie’s posters depicted an uncoloured, hand-drawn calf accompanied by handwritten catch phrases such as “Come on over if you’re into the bizarre” and “No refunds.” As there was no promotional poster for the movie, the movie theatre made its own posters.