China’s first feature film marketed as fully generated by artificial intelligence has stumbled in its theatrical debut, struggling to recoup a fraction of its $1.5 million production budget while a rough-edged, handmade animated movie has surged to nearly $10 million at the Chinese box office.

The sci-fi thriller Sanxingdui: Future Past, backed by major studio Bona Film Group, opened across China on Friday, October 23, 2026. Despite securing more than 10,000 opening-day screenings, the film brought in an estimated RMB 1.21 million (about $181,000) through Monday, October 26, according to Cartoon Brew and Fortune. Meanwhile, City News Service reported a snapshot of just over RMB 1.18 million by 11 a.m. that same Monday. Both early estimates leave the high-tech project far short of its reported RMB 10 million ($1.5 million) price tag.

The sluggish start stands in stark contrast to the unexpected commercial run of Niu Lai, an independent animated feature created by director Xin Yumeng and his mother, screenwriter Sun Lifang. Despite crude modeling and stiff animation, the mother-and-son project caught fire on social media and has earned nearly $10 million Since its August debut, offering a pointed case study for studio executives and tech observers tracking audience appetite for generative AI in theaters.

A High-Tech Experiment Faces Empty Seats

Positioned by its producers as a milestone for Chinese cinema, Sanxingdui: Future Past explores the theme of humanity in a future shaped by artificial intelligence. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Bona Film Group stated that all the characters, voices, and backgrounds were AI-generated, though the production still required nearly 100 people working for more than two years. While Bona promoted the movie as China's first fully AI-generated feature, outlets such as Fortune more cautiously framed it as the country's first AI-generated movie to receive a theatrical release, as independent audits of the exact automated versus human workflow have not been disclosed.

Signs of commercial trouble appeared before the first reel rolled. On the morning of its October 23 release, ticketing platform Maoyan recorded presales of just RMB 80,000 ($11,980), with initial projections forecasting total box-office takings to remain below RMB 150,000, AFP reported. With ticket prices ranging from 20 to 90 yuan, those early advance figures represented only a few thousand seats sold nationwide. At one Friday evening screening in central Beijing attended by AFP journalists, only four audience members were present in the theater.

Bona Film Group CEO Jiang Defu acknowledged the weak initial demand prior to the weekend, telling the Chinese film industry outlet Yuli that pioneering a new production method comes with steep commercial hurdles. "We are the first to try it, the first to get a theatrical release permit and the first to be tested by the audience," Jiang said, as quoted by AFP. "I think that is not easy at all."

Why Moviegoers and Reviewers Rejected the AI Feature

Early attendees and online critics pointed to significant quality and storytelling gaps between generative AI visuals and traditional big-screen standards. According to City News Service, reviewers on the Chinese rating platform Douban praised portions of the film's music and imagery, but criticized inconsistent character appearances, mismatched lip movements, and a disjointed narrative. One reviewer compared the experience to stretching an online short-form drama into a feature-length runtime.

Firsthand reactions from early screenings echoed those online complaints. Iris Yang, who attended a free Thursday preview screening for industry workers and acquaintances of the production team, told AFP that she would not have paid for a ticket given the picture's quality. "If AI generation can match the theatrical experience of 'Avatar', I think I would be willing to pay for it," Yang said.

Lilian Gong, a 35-year-old moviegoer who bought a ticket in Beijing out of curiosity to see how AI visuals translated to a cinema screen, reached a similar conclusion. "In terms of quality, compared with human production, it still falls short," Gong told AFP, adding that while the technology might reach theatrical standards decades from now, "for the moment, I think there would be very few who would" pay to watch.

Beyond technical glitches, the film faces a broader market habit problem. AI-generated video is widely consumed in China, where AI short dramas on Douyin—the Chinese counterpart to TikTok—logged more than 200 billion views in September alone, according to AFP. However, a Chongqing cinema publicist noted to City News Service that viewers accustomed to watching AI animation for free on their phones may hesitate to buy cinema tickets for similar content. Independent AI director Zhang Jun also told AFP that "the audience won't automatically pay for the tickets just because it's an AI-generated film."

The Viral Rise of a Shoestring Competitor

The muted turnout for Sanxingdui: Future Past has drawn direct comparisons to Niu Lai, an eccentric animated feature that became an unlikely box-office phenomenon two months earlier. Released on August 5, Niu Lai initially struggled in obscurity, earning roughly RMB 7,700 (about $1,150) across its first ten days in theaters, according to Cartoon Brew.

The film's fortunes reversed when clips highlighting its wobbly animation, crude character modeling, and amateur voice performances went viral across Chinese social media. Rather than deterring viewers, the visible imperfections and the story of the mother-and-son team behind it turned the movie into an internet meme and a communal theatrical event. By late October, Niu Lai had grossed RMB 64.29 million (nearly $10 million) according to Cartoon Brew, while City News Service reported the tally at RMB 64.288 million.

Reports on Niu Lai's exact production cost vary significantly across outlets. According to Tech Times UK, the homemade project was reportedly made for about $200 (£150). In contrast, Cartoon Brew describes it broadly as a "shoestring feature," while City News Service reports that the movie was produced for less than RMB 100,000. Regardless of the exact budget figure, its multi-million-dollar theatrical return dwarfs the opening weekend of Bona Film Group's $1.5 million AI experiment.

What This Means for Studios and Moviegoers

For international film financiers and exhibitors watching China's theatrical market, the diverging trajectories of Sanxingdui: Future Past and Niu Lai highlight the limits of technological novelty as a box-office draw. While studios worldwide are testing generative AI to trim production timelines and visual effects budgets, Sanxingdui required over two years and nearly 100 staff members to complete, yet still suffered from continuity and lip-sync issues that broke immersion for paying customers.

At the same time, industry observers caution against reading the comparison as a permanent verdict on AI cinema, noting that Niu Lai benefited heavily from ironic viral mockery and meme culture before finding genuine affection. Still, the results demonstrate that theatrical audiences prioritize distinct human personality, narrative coherence, and shared cultural moments over automated technical milestones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much of Sanxingdui: Future Past was generated by AI, and what human work remained?

Producer Bona Film Group stated that all actors, voices, and backgrounds were generated using artificial intelligence. However, the studio also disclosed that nearly 100 people worked on the project for more than two years, though independent breakdowns of the exact human technical and creative tasks have not been released.

What is the verifiable production budget for Niu Lai?

The exact budget has not been independently audited, and media reports vary. While Tech Times UK cites reports that the film was made for roughly $200, City News Service puts the production cost at less than RMB 100,000, and Cartoon Brew characterizes it generally as a shoestring production.

Why did audiences criticize Sanxingdui: Future Past?

Viewers at early screenings and reviewers on the Chinese platform Douban pointed to inconsistent character designs between shots, mismatched lip movements, and a disjointed plot that felt more like an extended online short drama than a theatrical feature film.

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