This past week, another unlikely film went viral in Chinese cinemas. On its August 5 debut, the animated film Niu Lai, or The Arrival of the Ox, only earned 3,420 yuan (US$507) at the box office. About 10 days later, it suddenly saw a spike in viewers and generated six figures of revenue.On Saturday, its box office climbed to 717,000 yuan and reached more than 11 million yuan on Monday. Its accumulated earnings placed it in the top 10 of China’s domestic animated film box office charts for this year.The trick to the film’s sudden popularity? It was so bad that people flocked to see it. The film has been criticised for its “rough” and “broken” style and confusing plot. The oxen characters look like piled up, colourful boxes and present a weird, almost humanlike smile. The Beijing News described the animation as “stiff and glitchy” and the voice acting as “jarring”.
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS152
ENT4
THU · 2026-08-20 · 01:30 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0820-104030
NSR-2026-0820-104030News Report·EN·Human Interest
Why Chinese film-goers are flocking to a movie they hate
The animated film "Niu Lai," or "The Arrival of the Ox," has experienced a surprising surge in popularity in Chinese cinemas despite widespread criticism of its poor quality. After a dismal opening on August 5, earning only 3,420 yuan, the film's box office revenue dramatically increased over the following ten days, reaching over 11 million yuan by Monday and placing it among the top domestic animated films of the year.
Phoebe ZhangSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-08-20 · 01:30 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
South China Morning PostFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
152words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
4entities
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100%
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Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
The animated film "Niu Lai," or "The Arrival of the Ox," has experienced a surprising surge in popularity in Chinese cinemas despite widespread criticism of its poor quality. After a dismal opening on August 5, earning only 3,420 yuan, the film's box office revenue dramatically increased over the following ten days, reaching over 11 million yuan by Monday and placing it among the top domestic animated films of the year. Reviewers have described the animation as "rough," "broken," "stiff," and "glitchy," with confusing plots and jarring voice acting. The film's unexpected success is attributed to its perceived badness, drawing viewers who flocked to see it due to its notoriety.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 5Entities 4
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Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Human Interest
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0.70 / 1.00
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Key claims
5 extracted01
The Beijing News described the animation as 'stiff and glitchy' and the voice acting as 'jarring'.
quoteThe Beijing News
Confidence
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The film's box office earnings rose from 3,420 yuan on August 5 to over 11 million yuan by Monday.
statistic
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The animated film Niu Lai, or The Arrival of the Ox, experienced a sudden spike in viewers and revenue after a poor initial debut.
factual
Confidence
1.00
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The film has been criticized for its 'rough' and 'broken' style and confusing plot.
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The film's popularity surge is attributed to its poor quality, leading people to watch it ironically.
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Full report
1 min read · 152 words§ 05
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Keywords & salience
8 termsviral film
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bad movie phenomenon
0.90
box office success
0.80
chinese cinema
0.70
animated film
0.60
audience reception
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niu lai
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film criticism
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