At this moment, the first batch of audience members emerging from the cinema remained completely unaware of the online turmoil.
When they excitedly opened their phones, ready to share their thoughts across various platforms, the news about the vicious competition between the two films had already reached its conclusion.
Even though some accounts wanted to express their views and feelings about the recent Hot Search topic to attract traffic and attention, they couldn't immediately produce related short videos and copy within a short time frame. So by the time these viewers reached the frontlines of the internet, everything appeared normal.
They focused solely on posting their viewing experiences and evaluations of "Law of the Jungle," completely oblivious to the public opinion clash that had just occurred.
Thus, in the blink of an eye, related Hot Search topics about [Law of the Jungle Preview Screening Event] reclaimed the headlines, as if nothing had happened before. Even the comment section audience had been replaced by a new batch of people, who began passionately discussing their viewing experience of Law of the Jungle.
The first to receive feedback was Douyin.
There was no helping it—proper videos might still require writing some copy and editing, but for Douyin short videos, viewers only needed to step out of the screening room, find any spot to record a clip, speak a few intuitive thoughts, and then post it online.
So when clicking into Douyin, one could scroll through numerous impressions.
The most liked one came from a roasting zone blogger. To avoid being beaten by others in claiming the traffic, he directly squatted in a corner and started recording: "Brothers, just finished watching the movie. My verdict: worth watching. If you're interested in battle royale genre themes, you must watch it. If you want some fantasy adventure or suspenseful mystery elements, you can also come watch. And if you want to see handsome guys, then you definitely need to check it out."
"Xiao He's skills with the Tang sword were absolutely incredible! He even performed a segment for us live—I can only say he's this good."
The blogger gave a thumbs-up.
"There are also plenty of fight scenes—Xiao He's moves are genuinely handsome! The violent elements people want to see are present too, but it's not scary at all, with no horror segments whatsoever. Plus, Lin Yu'an is truly a high-intelligence character, first-class abilities, and the ending is super satisfying—different from many current battle royale plots! Interested folks must come watch—this movie ticket is absolutely worth it!"
Following this blogger, ordinary people and other on-site bloggers gradually posted their evaluations, mostly sharing their perspectives on "Law of the Jungle."
The majority consisted of praise and recommendations.
Particularly the grand finale and the extra scene were must-see content recommended by viewers who had watched it.
Xiao He sat in the break room, watching the online evaluations, and breathed a sigh of relief internally.
"There's another preview screening this afternoon. Let's go eat lunch first," Liu Rulan said.
"Okay."
Just as Xiao He responded, Ren Changwen also walked in from outside.
"Director Ren."
Xiao He stood up to greet him.
"It's fine, sit."
Ren Changwen casually waved his hand, then looked at Liu Rulan with a somewhat serious expression. "I've already contacted people about the Silent Search side—their attitude was very poor. Moreover, I heard that 'Silent Search' seems to be planning to move up its release date."
"Planning to move up the release date?"
Xiao He and Liu Rulan exchanged glances.
They'd heard of movies being postponed, but suddenly moving up the release date was quite rare.
"Why would they suddenly move up the release date?" Liu Rulan asked, somewhat puzzled.
Xiao He, however, roughly guessed the reason.
It was probably because of Xu Youyou's case.
Xu Youyou died from homicide, and the Silent Search production team's director Feng Zhengyang, producer Dong Zeng, lead actor Tong Junhui, and others would inevitably be implicated.
Although the sole survivor, Cheng Hongwen, remained unconscious to this day and couldn't identify the perpetrator, the ring that Xu Youyou desperately left for Cheng Hongwen before her death could very well become key evidence in this murder case.
Now these people could barely protect themselves, so wanting to move up the release date and make a run for it was quite normal.
"When are they moving it to?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Liu Rulan raised her voice.
She genuinely hadn't expected the "Silent Search" side to be in such a hurry!
"Yeah." Ren Changwen gave a cold laugh. "It's essentially a surprise drop. I expect they'll announce this news soon."
"They're determined to fight us over today's Hot Search after all," Liu Rulan said coldly.
Today should have been their preview screening Hot Search day, but now, that side insisted on inserting themselves, announcing tomorrow's surprise drop news.
This public opinion battle would have to continue.
But Liu Rulan wasn't someone to be trifled with either.
"Since they want to play it this way, we won't hold back either." Liu Rulan's tone was particularly serious, then she looked at Ren Changwen. "Director Ren, we handled this morning's incident. Now that their production team is moving up the release date, you should contribute some effort, right?"
Ren Changwen smiled wryly: "Alright, I understand. Whatever you plan to do, I'll fully cooperate with you."
"Good."
Having secured Ren Changwen's commitment, Liu Rulan looked at Xiao He: "You go eat first. We'll handle the online matters."
Seeing Liu Rulan's confident and determined expression, Xiao He felt no more worries. He directly stood up: "Okay, Xiao Chen and I will head out first."
Then he nodded to Ren Changwen and left with Xiao Chen.
Xiao He truly didn't get involved in these subsequent matters.
After eating and resting awhile, Xiao He met up with Liu Zehang to review the afternoon's preview screening process, then each rested a bit, freshened up their styling, and once again engaged in viewing and interaction with a new batch of audience members.
Since the production team had arranged "plants" in advance, the entire interaction proceeded without any awkward moments, and no one raised inappropriate questions or issues. Thus, the afternoon's preview screening event also concluded smoothly.
By evening, when everyone had the most time for Munching on Melon Seeds, the morning's events slowly began to ferment, along with news of "Silent Search" suddenly dropping and releasing tomorrow.
The bystanders hadn't even caught up on the morning's drama when they were stunned by the "Silent Search" production team's move.
[Seriously, are you okay? Are you all right? A surprise drop? And a completely unexpected sudden drop to tomorrow?]
[Huh? Then what about the pre-sale tickets we fans bought in advance? Does that make us clowns?]
[Yeah, what about us who worked hard to get tickets for April 4th, the original release date, specifically to see our idol as soon as possible? And now you pull this?]
[I'm breaking down, truly breaking down. Can we refund these pre-sale tickets?]
[What about those of us who got tickets for the original release date? Can you exchange our times? I got center seats!]
[I have an exam tomorrow! I'm going crazy—what crap timing did you choose.]
[I originally had shifts next week and was planning to watch "Silent Search" then, so I specifically swapped shifts with someone, thinking I'd work this week and watch the movie next week. And now you change the timing? I'm shattered...]
As soon as the news of "Silent Search" moving up its release date came out, the comment section became a scene of widespread lamentation.
Generally speaking, movie Box Office pre-sales don't open for too long—usually about 1-2 weeks, with popular slot films opening pre-sales a bit earlier. But "Silent Search" was different—it had opened pre-sales over a month in advance.
And because "Silent Search" featured many traffic stars in various roles, their fans naturally showed strong support, pushing its Box Office to ten million long before its release.
For the niche Qingming Festival slot, this was already quite impressive, as many Qingming slot films might only reach ten million in total Box Office.
However, now that "Silent Search" had suddenly moved up its release date, with no option to change tickets—only refunds—and refunds only processed automatically by the system after April 4th ended... this series of messy operations felt like a total betray to them.
Soon, the "Silent Search" production team's name appeared on Hot Search again, but this time the irony was absolutely maxed out—
[Shocking! The "Silent Search" production team can't wait until Festival!]