Niu Lai, a Chinese animated film centered around a cattle dream sequence made for $200, has reportedly become the most profitable movie of all time after making over $6.7 million at the box office as of Sunday.
Wild story. Chinese mom (in her 60s) and son (30s) duo spend 5 years making 86-minute animated animal film “Niu Lai”.
Budget of $200. Hustle to get theatre distribution. Flops with $1,000 in first week. So bad it’s good. Goes viral.
Now made $4m on $200 and 20,000x return… https://t.co/LKHHkaKtaw pic.twitter.com/b8nOhBY6vU
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) August 20, 2026
