Chinese film mocked for ‘disaster-level’ animation now challenges Nolan's ‘The Odyssey’

Chinese low-budget animated film Niu Lai once mocked for its terrible visuals and animations, driving cumulative earnings past 2.5 million yuan after a dismal start.

The movie was released on August 5 with no marketing. Throughout this period, the film earned just 7,705 yuan ($1,140) and drew fewer than 300 viewers over its first 10 days.

But its disaster-level visuals and poor production quality went viral on social media on August 14. Such virality proved a turning point for this movie. Now, it is experiencing an explosive surge in ticket sales after going viral for its pathetic graphics and confusing plot.

Now, the movie has surpassed 11.4 million yuan, according to the movie tracking platform Mo Yan. It means the film is competing against major Hollywood blockbusters such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day at the Chinese box office. 

The movie was made by two people including director Xin Yumeng and writer Sun Lifang. The team also acted as crew members and voice actors.

Netizens on social media dubbed it "the most basic theatrical film" and photoshopped its cartoon bull into classic movie posters.

"You may regret for 80 minutes if you watch it, but if you don't, you'll regret it for life," one popular social media post about the film said.

“The reason this movie is so popular is precisely because it's so bad - that's why so many people watch it, because these days you rarely see movies this bad,” another one quipped.

“COME ON ！！ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS?? It’s just absolute shit…Even worse than AI, at least AI can be changed,” the third one commented.

“That's how low the bar is. People will take anything as long as it's not an AI produced slop even if it's the shittiest thing ever,” the fourth one commented.