A mother and son learning their way through image and sound.
2026 · CHINESE ANIMATED FEATURE
NIULAI
Made largely by a mother and son over five years, the film earned only ¥7,705 in its first ten days—then everyone seemed to notice.
Independent, unofficial guide · box-office figures are dated public snapshots
NO. 01A CALF'S DREAM
A dream stepping into view.
GROWTH / COURAGE / DEVOTION86 MIN
- RELEASE
- 05 AUG 2026
- DIRECTOR
- Xin Yumeng
- WRITER
- Sun Lifang
- RUNTIME
- 86 minutes
BOX-OFFICE TRACKER
The live curve, with a visible timestamp.
CHECKING LIVE DATAUpdated 19 Aug, 14:56
- CUMULATIVE BOX OFFICE
- ¥25.56M
- TODAY
- ¥3.67M
- LIVE RANK
- #8
Release day 15 · Timestamped repository fallback shown when the live endpoint is unavailable.
Hourly reported figure
Release day 15
- BOX-OFFICE SHARE
- 2.3%
- SCREENING SHARE
- 5.2%
- SEAT OCCUPANCY
- 4.2%
- FROM FIRST 10 DAYS
- ≈3,317×
01
THE FILM
BEYOND THE MEME
Set the trending topic aside. Niu Lai is first a coming-of-age story about acting while afraid.
A young calf follows a lark into a dreamlike journey of snakes, rivers, a leopard and wolves. Protection, loss and choice gradually force him to carry responsibility for himself.
The execution has sharply divided viewers. This site keeps that argument separate from the film’s simple thematic line—and from the extraordinary story of how it was made and seen.
02
MADE BY TWO
REPORTED CONTEXT
BEHIND THE ROUGH EDGES
Roughness is real.
So is the will to finish.
Press reports describe Xin Yumeng and his mother Sun Lifang as the core production team: direction, images and post-production on one side; story, music, voices and songs on the other.
A long home-scale process using household and second-hand equipment.
Almost no ordinary publicity before the theatrical release.
These details come mainly from press retellings and earlier interviews rather than a complete primary production archive.
03
THE TURN
ATTENTION ARRIVES
¥7,705
FIRST TEN DAYS · FIGURE CITED BY PUBLIC REPORTS
WHY IT SPREAD
Contrast became participation.
A visual gap caught attention
Polished publicity and rough on-screen imagery produced a contrast made for screenshots and clips.
Curiosity moved into cinemas
Watching became a way to verify the phenomenon—and to join it.
The making-of story changed the mood
Once viewers learned about the mother-and-son production, ridicule mixed with empathy, respect and argument.
04
READING ROOM
SOURCE-LINKED ESSAYS
ORIGINAL STORIES
Keep a record after the feed moves on.
Box office, production and critical judgment are kept separate so that none of them has to stand in for the others.
Browse all stories →From ¥7,705 to ¥13.24 Million: Niu Lai's Ten-Day Reversal
A dated reconstruction of Niu Lai's sudden box-office reversal, with clear limits on what each public snapshot can prove.
Two People, Five Years: Reading Niu Lai's Making-of Story
A careful reading of the mother-and-son production story, including what remains unverified without a complete primary archive.
Watching Niu Lai Beyond the Meme
Three lenses for watching Niu Lai—coming of age, production context and theatrical standards—without deciding your verdict in advance.