The BBC reports, in
"Movie that went viral for terrible animation becomes China box office hit."Niu Lai, a low-budget animation film about a cow in a dream sequence has seen a huge jump in ticket sales after going viral for its confusing plot and terrible graphics.
It grossed just 7,705 yuan ($1,140; £843) in the first 10 days after its release, but has now made more than 11.4 million yuan, according to movie tracking site Mao Yan. That means it is holding ground against Hollywood blockbusters like The Odyssey and Spider Man: Brand New Day.
"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.
@chinaminutes How did a film like this actually make it into cinemas? 😭 Chinese animated film Niu Lai has become an unexpected viral sensation — not for its stunning visuals, but because viewers couldn’t believe just how rough the animation looked. Released on August 5 with virtually no promotion, the film made just ¥342 on its first day and only ¥7,169 ($1,000) after nine days, with just 236 people having watched it. Then the internet discovered it. Clips of its crude 3D models, unusual animation and bizarre scenes began circulating across Chinese social media, with viewers joking that it looked like something “even AI couldn’t generate.” Others admitted they knew it was bad but still wanted to see just how bad it could possibly be. The result? Its box office exploded to around ¥14.9 million ($2.1M) as cinemas added more screenings to meet the sudden demand. But the story gets even stranger. Niu Lai was made almost entirely by director Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifang, who reportedly spent around five years creating it without a conventional production team. Its distributor later revealed that Xin was an acquaintance and that they had actually tried to persuade him not to release the film after seeing it. Xin insisted, so they ultimately helped bring it to cinemas. 💭 Would you pay to watch a movie just to see how bad it really is?👇🏼 #viralmovie #failed #animation #chinesemovie #cinema ♬ original sound - China Minutes
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22 comments:
I wonder if we can think of something that's so good it's bad? Is there something a bit too perfect or too beautiful?
That's just masochism.
The only bad film that is actually cool is Buckaroo Banzai.
And I thought "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" couldn't be worsed.
“That means it is holding ground against Hollywood blockbusters like The Odyssey and Spider Man: Brand New Day. ”
Another example of the decline of British education.
"The only bad film that is actually cool is Buckaroo Banzai."
I'm still pissed they never made "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League."
Napolean Dynamite succeeded for similar reasons.
That was a very weird one
At one time (maybe still true, maybe not), Napoleon Dynamite was famous for breaking the Netflix algorithm. It was the only movie that it was completely unable to predict whether a person would like it based on their viewing history.
What other movies you like say nothing about whether you would like Napoleon Dynamite.
Wherever you go, there you are.
I still want to know about the watermelon!
It might be boobytrapped.
Character ... is who you are in the dark.
Boo-TAY!
“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.”
Sounds like the promo for Chairman Xi’s daughters piano concert.
Holding ground against "The Odyssey" is a paradigm case of damning with faint praise. Many things hold their ground against Christopher Nolan's libel against Western Civilization, including a dose of ptomaine.
Like most "so bad it's good" material, the enjoyment potential depends largely on the presentation, which explains the success of MST3K completely. Sans the rapier-point mockery, bad movies are just tedious.
There's no accounting for taste. Or what sparks communal, cultural, collective fads. Some people really enjoyed this, and some fewer people made a lot of money as a result.
That's pretty much it.
What demographic is it 'popular' with? my guess, rebellious young adults/teens. It'll be one of those 15 minutes of fame events.
That film is worthy of the Riff Trax gang next door in Minnesota.
The U.S. has a bunch of those straight-to-video knockoffs.
Everyone who has watched "Plan 9 from Outer Space" please raise their hand. (then we can talk about "so bad it's good" movies)
Also, plug Niu Lai into your You Tube search. Your welcome.
I'd probably enjoy a bunch of Kijitora Nyan film shorts than most of the slop from Hollywood. . . . .
Two words - Chicken Jockey
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