The small-budget animation film Niu Lai has become a major hit at the box office in China. The film opened in theatres on August 05 to negative reviews and struggled to draw in audiences in the first ten days, according to reports. However, it has overcome the initial struggle to go on and gross an amount that comes up to around 20 crore from theatres in China, according to data from the box office tracker Maoyan. Interestingly, the film has surpassed the domestic collections of Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
Reportedly, the film is made on a small budget that amounts to about 1 lakh INR.
It is worth noting that critics and even initial audiences panned Niu Lai after its release on August 05, but viewers' curiosity to know how bad the film is has been cited as a reason for its box office success. Initial viewers described its visuals as being "disaster-level," according to historian Tong Bingxue. Apparently, it has used the ridicule from viewers to its advantage, raking in millions at the China box office and even becoming a viral trend on social networking website.
According to reports, a distributor with close ties to the makers told them not to bring the film to theatres, citing its quality, but they still went ahead with the planned release. Despite the criticism from all corners, there are people who appreciate its unique making style. According to them, the film's hand-drawn animation offers an intriguing, albeit incomplete, cinematic experience.
Directed by Xin Yumeng from a screenplay by Sun Lifang, Niu Lai stars Yumeng and Lifang themselves in the lead roles.
