Due to the lack of truly buzzworthy titles in this year's summer box office, audiences in Xia Nation had begun shifting their attention to the rest of the mid- and low-budget films scheduled for the season.
Among them, thanks to Su Yan's massive following in the drama world and the push from its distribution company, 'The Garden of Words' was steadily gaining traction as its release date approached.
A large wave of Su Yan's TV drama fans was primed and ready.
At the same time…
Among the six films premiering on July 31st, the competition for opening-day theater slots had already reached fever pitch.
Before a drama can succeed, it needs a good broadcast platform. Likewise, for a film, nothing matters more than securing strong first-day screening slots.
A movie screened ten times a day at one theater versus just once a day at the same theater—would their box office earnings be the same?
It's the film that must accommodate the audience's schedule, not the other way around.
Most viewers won't wait around if the movie they want isn't available at a convenient time. They'll just go watch something else, and box office numbers will take a direct hit.
Sure, box office doesn't always equal quality. A blockbuster isn't necessarily a good film.
But a low-grossing film, no matter how good, is destined to remain niche. Most viewers simply won't go out of their way to give it a chance.
The first day's box office performance and early word-of-mouth basically determine a film's future.
The strong get stronger, and the weak... stay weak.
With just three days left until 'The Garden of Words' premiered, the July 31st screening slot allocations were finalized.
"9% screen share," Su Yan frowned.
"That feels a bit too low... Didn't Tianxing say they'd aim for 11%?"
With a 20-million yuan production budget and another 20 million on marketing, 'The Garden of Words' might not be a mega-production, but it certainly wasn't insignificant either. It shouldn't be struggling this badly.
The distributor Skybound Pictures had confidently promised just days earlier that they could lock down at least 11%.
"One of the films releasing on the 31st is a romance called 'Cape'," Shinozaki Ikumi explained with a sigh.
Its investor is Fuying Pictures, the second-largest cinema chain in Xia Nation. With support from their own theaters and influence over other chains, they muscled 'Cape' into 16% of total screen share."
She continued, "Meanwhile, 'Gun Grave' and 'Firefly' are still in theaters. Even though it's been more than two weeks and their box office has slowed, they're still getting around 8%."
"And all the other movies that released earlier this month—even the underperformers—are still occupying about 20–30% total."
"So, for the six new films releasing on the 31st, once it's averaged out, each gets around 10% by default. But 'Cape' hogged extra share, which squeezed the rest of us even lower."
"Alright," Su Yan thought it over and nodded.
"That's… acceptable."
He wasn't someone unreasonable—as long as Skybound Pictures was actually doing its job and not phoning it in, that was enough.
As for being outmaneuvered by films with better industry connections? There was no helping that.
Even if people wanted to support 'The Garden of Words', it still needed to prove itself worthy. Only then would others fight to give it a bigger screen share.
And the truth was, in the film industry, Su Yan still didn't carry much weight. Distributors weren't omnipotent either.
Uncomfortable as it was, he had to face reality.
Shinozaki Ikumi glanced at his calm expression and nodded slightly in approval.
Don't be fooled by the numbers. A drop from 11% to 9% might seem minor, but for 'The Garden of Words', it meant a 20% cut in first-day screenings.
That directly translated into roughly 20% less first-day box office potential—at a time when most viewers still didn't know the movie, its quality, or story.
Most investors would've exploded by now.
Su Yan's composure was rare.
"Skybound Pictures really did do their best," she said carefully. "Some of the other films releasing the same day got their screen share cut by 3% or even 4%."
"You don't have to be so cautious." Su Yan smiled.
"I'm not blaming you."
"The film industry and TV industry... they're not so different. At the end of the day, it just means we're not important enough yet in the eyes of the theater chains."
"We don't have a name in film. When stuff like this happens, we have to accept it."
"But..." He paused. "Let's hope 'Cape' is actually a good film."
"What do you mean?" Shinozaki Ikumi asked, puzzled.
"It's a romance film too, right?" Su Yan said.
"It's in the same genre, going head-to-head with 'The Garden of Words', and releasing on the same day. If its quality doesn't hold up—if it flops in audience turnout and word-of-mouth—then by day two, theaters will start reallocating slots."
"You're saying..." Shinozaki Ikumi looked at him.
"We'll take the hit on day one. 'The Garden of Words' was never meant to be a box office bombshell on launch. It's not that kind of movie, and it doesn't have the external hype for that. But I believe this film will have long legs. If 'Cape' underperforms, our movie will gradually take over its screen share."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked.
"Instinct," Su Yan smiled.
"I always make projections for how my work will perform in the Xia Nation market before it premieres."
In truth, he was basing it on his memories from his past life—how well these films had performed then.
"So that's just a guess?" Shinozaki Ikumi frowned.
"Could be wrong, right?"
Su Yan chuckled.
"How do you think we've made it this far?"
"If my guesses were wrong, we would've crashed and burned long ago."
Shinozaki Ikumi opened her mouth to argue... but couldn't find the words.
Because it was true—Su Yan hadn't had a single flop yet.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was July 30th.
'Tokyo Love Story' had entered an intense shooting phase.
Promotional stills of Su Yan as Nagao Kanji, Shen Liqian as Akana Rika, and Gu Qingyuan as Sekiguchi Satomi were released on the Dimensional Pictures website, sparking excitement among Su Yan's fans.
As for the script—
Shen Liqian and Gu Qingyuan had already started studying it two weeks ago.
In this story, Sekiguchi Satomi's character was no match for the irresistible charm of Akana Rika. In fact, in the original work, the actress who played Satomi was so disliked by fans after the show aired that someone even threw a rock at her on the subway.
Gu Qingyuan quickly realized her role was not going to be well-liked.
From a modern perspective, Satomi's character was seen as a bit of a "green tea" type.
Still, she had no complaints about being cast as the second female lead.
She knew very well that her current status in Xia Nation's entertainment industry was thanks to Su Yan.
Even though she recognized how unlikable her character might be, she was still putting in great effort to find a way to make Satomi shine on screen.
After all, people only call a character "green tea" when they're not pretty enough.
If she were really beautiful, she'd just be called "a sweet, considerate little sister."
Su Yan himself admitted that between Akana Rika and Sekiguchi Satomi, no matter how skilled the actress, the latter could never surpass the former in popularity.
But at the very least, it shouldn't be a total blowout. There should be a bit of a love triangle, some drama—that's what boosts ratings.
As for Shen Liqian, the moment she received the script, she was all in.
She'd only seen the first three episodes and didn't yet know how the story unfolded.
But just from those three, the charisma of Akana Rika was already bursting off the page.
She had a strong feeling...
This show could, like 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners', cause a huge stir in the Xia Nation drama industry.
Of course, the trio of Su Yan, Shen Liqian, and Gu Qingyuan had collaborated on several dramas already and had strong chemistry. Filming was smooth, with very few NGs.
The only one still adjusting was Sato Shunsuke, the second-tier male actor from Xia Nation who was cast as Mikami Kenichi.
During filming, he had to constantly be aware of Su Yan's emotions—after all, Su Yan was the screenwriter, investor, and lead actor all in one.
He was incredibly handsome, and when standing next to Su Yan, actually looked more striking—which was exactly as the original intended.
In the source material, Mikami was always meant to be the attractive Playboy type.
Plus, he was the only Sakura Island actor in the main cast—a fitting nod to the title 'Tokyo Love Story'.
Having zero local actors in a story set in Tokyo would've felt odd.
This was also one of the reasons why Shinozaki Ikumi and Su Yan had chosen him.
On the 30th, after that day's filming wrapped, Su Yan uploaded a video he'd prepared in advance to the Dimensional Pictures website and his official creator accounts on the three major streaming platforms.
Why three?
Because his SakuraNet account had already been banned.
The video was simple: a reminder to fans.
Tomorrow—July 31st—
His debut film, 'The Garden of Words', would premiere nationwide.
"This film stars Gu Qingyuan. And I promise—there's no death, no heartbreak, no gut punches. This is a heartwarming, healing story about redemption!"
That was how Su Yan ended the video—on a subtly misleading note.
A romance movie? Not quite.
Even at the end, the male lead confesses, but the female lead never accepts.
How could that be called a love story?
So technically, there were no tragic romance tropes.
Naturally, many fans would subconsciously assume this was a feel-good story with a happy ending.
And with both Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan starring, all the CP fans were already bubbling with excitement.
The comment section on Su Yan's post blew up instantly:
["Wait, are we finally getting a happy ending with Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan?"]
["I'm in. First showing tomorrow at 7 PM! Who's coming with me?"]
["Same here! 7 PM sharp!"]
["I'm choosing to trust Su Yan the Sadist one more time."]
["I thought he'd completely switched gears after going to Sakura Island, but turns out he never forgot about 'The Garden of Words'!"]
["Of course not! It's his first film—how could he not care?"]
["Everyone, go support this movie! We must win!"]
["But 9% screen share is kind of low... Can it even break 30 million on day one?"]
["Doubt it. With so many films releasing the same day, the audience will be split."]
["Doesn't matter. As long as word-of-mouth is good, even a 10-million first day can still lead to a total box office of 700–800 million. We've seen that happen before."]
["Yeah! Look at 'Gun Grave'—huge first-day numbers, but struggling to hit 500 million. What's the point?"]
["Exactly!"]
["I believe in Su Yan. Whether it's TV or film, his talent is undeniable. If 'The Garden of Words' is written with the same quality as his dramas, both ratings and box office will be solid!"]
Though July 31st was the official release date for all six films, it was also a Friday.
As per industry tradition, all premieres were scheduled for 7 PM that evening.
The night passed swiftly.
As the sun rose...
It was July 31st.
The premiere day of 'The Garden of Words' had arrived.