The Chinese animated film Niu Lai was released on August 5 with virtually no marketing and initially attracted almost no attention. During its first 10 days in theaters, it grossed just RMB 7,000 (about US$1,000). It then unexpectedly went viral after viewers began mocking its rough animation, rudimentary 3D modeling, stiff and choppy motion, and bizarre storyline, turning it into a “so bad you have to see it” internet sensation. As the buzz spread, cinemas added screenings and audiences flocked to see it, sending its box office soaring to more than RMB 26 million (about US$3.7 million) by August 19, with current industry forecasts suggesting that its final box office could exceed RMB 100 million (about US$14 million). The film was produced and promoted so minimally that it did not even have a proper official poster, prompting cinemas and netizens to make their own homemade posters to promote it. The phenomenon has sparked a broader debate over low-budget filmmaking, the power of social-media-driven word of mouth, and why audiences can turn an ostensibly “bad movie” into a cultural phenomenon.

Editor: LQQ