Chapter 44: "No More Bets" is releasing early!

Over the next few days, Cheng Cheng stayed at Jiang Nan's place.

While waiting for his film to pass review, he submitted the script for the first season of *iPartment* to the National Radio and Television Administration for review and record.

*First Love* had already passed the review, and so had *Rebirth* and *The Glory: Part 1*. They were just waiting for the revenue-sharing box office returns of *No More Bets* to recover the funds before officially kicking off production.

*No More Bets* had cost Cheng Cheng over thirty million, leaving him with only a little over one hundred thousand yuan in his hands. If *No More Bets* failed to achieve the box office results he wanted, he was afraid he would be completely finished.

Fortunately, a week later, good news arrived: *No More Bets* had passed the review!

This finally put Cheng Cheng's mind at ease.

He called Jiang Wang's secretary and asked, "Sister Niu, when is the film's release scheduled?"

The secretary replied, "Mr. Jiang's opinion is to avoid the National Day holiday slot, because several blockbuster films have already locked in their release dates for this year's National Day, making the competition extremely fierce. We are considering scheduling *No More Bets* for the week after the National Day holiday, which is mid-October. This way, we can avoid a direct collision with the blockbusters while also utilizing the residual heat of the National Day holiday to attract more audiences."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Cheng felt it was barely acceptable.

After all, he was a complete newcomer with zero box office appeal, and he had yet to prove himself. Even if the quality of *No More Bets* was top-notch, it would still be difficult to stand out during the National Day holiday.

Secondly, he had just arrived in this new world and had never tested the waters here before. Even though *No More Bets* had achieved a stellar box office success of 3.8 billion in his past life, it might experience a severe case of cultural maladjustment in this new world.

From Jiang Wang's perspective, such consideration was indeed very thorough. This scheduling strategy could minimize risks and secure more exposure opportunities for the film.

Cheng Cheng said, "Alright, let's go with that. When will the promotional campaign start?"

The secretary smiled and said, "The release date is not yet finalized, and we shouldn't launch the promotion campaign just yet, lest it clash with the blockbusters of the National Day holiday. Mr. Jiang's meaning is that once the release date is finalized, we will carry out the promotional work according to the specific schedule. This can avoid competition with other films and make our promotional work more targeted."

Cheng Cheng: "Alright, I'll await Mr. Jiang's good news."

With the release time basically finalized, Cheng Cheng subsequently announced the news in the group chat.

Cheng Cheng: "The release date is basically set: right after the National Day holiday, in mid-October."

As soon as Cheng Cheng sent this message, the main creators' group chat for *No More Bets* instantly exploded, followed by a wave of celebration.

Beret: "It has already passed the review?"

Cheng Cheng: "Yeah, it has passed the review."

Li Yang sighed with emotion: "Working with Director Cheng on a movie is just too awesome!!! The final cut was done just a week after wrapping up, the review passed just a week after the final cut, and now even the release date is set. All in all, it hasn't even been two months yet, right? This is amazing!"

Wen Lian also chimed in: "Yeah, unlike the movies I shot before, which were still unreleased two years down the line—I had even forgotten all about it until suddenly one day it was released, and then because it was made so terribly, I got dragged out and scolded all over again."

This truly was a sad story. As she spoke, Wen Lian's eyes welled up with tears.

Yan Gou'er laughed uncontrollably: "Hahahaha, Sister Lian is so miserable. She thought the storm had passed, only to find out there was still another movie waiting."

Wen Lian: "Who's to say otherwise? Might as well release them together and get it over with in one thorough scolding."

Yan Gou'er: "It's so great to be fast. I'm really looking forward to meeting the audience on the big screen!"

Li Yang: "This time, we will definitely bring a good movie to the audience!"

Qi Hao: "Definitely! I'm going to make everyone look at me in a completely new light!"

—

As the National Day holiday approached, a fierce promotional war officially began.

Three major blockbusters were scheduled for this National Day holiday: *Glorious Era*, *Flames of War*, and *Comedy Road*.

*Glorious Era* was a period drama directed by Lu Zhuofeng, one of the top three domestic directors. It mainly narrated the tremendous social changes that took place in Tianxia from the 1980s to the 1990s, and how ordinary people adapted to the trend, forged ahead courageously, and created their own glory amidst these changes.

From the very beginning of its preparation, this film attracted massive attention from the media and the audience. After all, Lu Zhuofeng's name was a guarantee of quality; no one in the industry could afford to ignore him, and looking down on him was entirely out of the question!

It was only in recent years that his influence had waned; if it had been a few years prior, the years when he had a film releasing were even dubbed the "Lu Zhuofeng Year" by insiders.

The director of *Flames of War* was Ma Qibin. It was a war-themed film based on historical prototypes, primarily telling the story of Tie Shengnan, the daughter of the Tie family, who united various sectors under the assistance of the guerrilla forces to jointly resist the invaders.

Ma Qibin could not be underestimated either. Although he was only 38 years old and a young director, he had already created one film grossing over 2 billion and another grossing over 10 billion, proving himself in the film market and possessing a certain level of market appeal.

Furthermore, the lead actress of *Flames of War* was a veteran action star from Movie Island, whose status was equivalent to Michelle Yeoh in his past life.

The combination of the two definitely produced an effect greater than one plus one.

*Comedy Road* was a comedy film created by the Coconut Mango team, starring their top actor and actress. Needless to say much about this film, its anticipation rating on domestic viewing platforms stood at 65%, surpassing the other two films by 10% and 15% respectively.

These three films each had their own advantages and completely matched the tone of the National Day holiday. For those who wanted a mainstream patriotic theme, there was the mainstream theme; for those who wanted grand war scenes, there was the war drama; for those who wanted comedy, there was the comedy. Their box office drawing power was overwhelmingly strong.

The promotional teams for these three movies also went all out, engaging in all sorts of overt and covert struggles.

Take *Glorious Era* for example: on social media platforms, the trailer for *Glorious Era* surpassed tens of millions of views within just a few days, and its lead actors also posted on Weibo calling for their fans to all go watch the movie.

Lu Zhuofeng also frequently appeared across major media and social platforms, recounting the tremendous effort and dedication he poured into the preparation and filming process, detailing how he deeply researched historical materials and meticulously selected the actors.

In short, he played the sympathy card by complaining about the hardships, but as it turned out, people actually bought into this routine, claiming that audiences should go to the cinema to buy tickets and support him precisely because of Lu Zhuofeng's serious and hardworking attitude.

Anyway, Cheng Cheng was just watching the spectacle. His movie was releasing in mid-October and had nothing to do with him; there was no need for him to engage in a direct battle with these "Big Three."

However, just as Cheng Cheng was preparing for the promotional matters, with ten days left before the National Day holiday, a piece of bad news arrived without any warning.

Cheng Cheng was the very first person to receive this news.

Beret, Naked Everywhere, Little Belly, Wen Lian, Yan Gou'er, and Li Yang learned about it one after another—

*No More Bets* was going to be released early!

Not only was it going to be released early, but it was also going to clash directly with the Big Three during the National Day holiday!

Everyone was dumbfounded.

What the hell, you've got to be kidding me?

Our promotional campaign hasn't even started yet!