Chapter 542: The Right Choice

Bright moonlight washed over Santa Monica Commercial Square, seeming to outshine even the streetlamps. After parking their car, Delph and Adrian walked into the plaza and headed straight into one of the theaters without hesitation. As student film fans with no work the next day, they had boundless energy to burn at the midnight screening.

Among film fans, Delph and Adrian were mere novices. Although they had grown up in North America's strong moviegoing culture and had seen plenty of films, they were barely seventeen and had only recently gained true independence over their viewing choices, no longer passively watching whatever their parents or older friends picked for them.

Since they were here for a midnight screening, their goal was crystal clear: the newly released Summer Season blockbusters.

But as they walked into the theater and looked at the two massive posters standing side by side at the main entrance, they hesitated.

On the left was the poster for Kingdom of Heaven. Orlando Bloom was one of their absolute favorite stars—thanks, naturally, to his incredibly dashing turn as the Elf Prince.

On the right was the poster for Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne stood proudly atop the new Batmobile. The formidable design of man and machine captivated the teenage boys' hearts just like a blonde beauty would.

Standing before the posters, Delph asked Adrian, "Which one should we choose?"

Adrian scratched his head. "Remember when we watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy with our families? Epic movies really have charm, plus it stars Orlando..."

"Yeah, epic films are incredibly captivating." Delph looked at Orlando Bloom holding a longsword. "Then let's pick Kingdom of Heaven."

With that, he prepared to head toward the ticket window.

"Wait!"

Before Delph could get far, Adrian called out to stop him. "We overlooked an important piece of information."

"What?" Delph turned to look at Adrian in confusion.

Adrian strode over to the Batman Begins poster and pointed at a striking headline they had just missed. "The director of this movie is Duke Rosenberg!"

Delph looked at where Adrian was pointing. "The Duke Rosenberg who directed The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? The Duke Rosenberg who directed The Matrix? That explosion maniac?"

"Exactly. It's him!"

Though the two barely counted as fledglings among film fans, the resounding name of Duke Rosenberg had long reached their ears through various channels. The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in particular—those films were simply reaching the absolute pinnacle of cinema!

"To hell with Kingdom of Heaven."

Delph, who usually lacked strong opinions, suddenly made up his mind. "We're going to see Duke Rosenberg's movie," he said directly. "I've watched his films the most, and they are all works of true quality."

Adrian had no intention of objecting. "Out of all the movies I've seen, his works are my favorites, too."

They bought their tickets and headed into the auditorium, finding a considerable turnout for the Batman Begins midnight screening. The theater, which held over three hundred people, was at least half full. Since there was still time before the movie started, Adrian jogged over to the adjacent auditorium showing Kingdom of Heaven to take a look.

"There's barely anyone over there."

Upon returning, he told Delph, "Looks like fewer than twenty people. Most of them are teenage girls, obviously there just to see Orlando Bloom."

The two exchanged a glance. They had initially wanted to pick Kingdom of Heaven partly because it starred Orlando Bloom.

But when it came to cinematic achievements, how could Orlando Bloom compare to Duke Rosenberg in any aspect? He might be more handsome than Duke Rosenberg, and maybe his acting was better too.

Except neither of those things was of any use to a director making a movie.

The movie that followed proved exactly that. Although Batman Begins wasn't quite as spectacular as they had expected compared to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy or The Matrix, it was absolutely worth the ticket price. The action choreography, in particular, was eye-catching.

It wasn't the flashy, irritatingly overused fighting style that had flooded action movies in recent years. Instead, it was fierce, power-packed combat that looked far more direct and lethal, giving off a strong sense of real-world practicality.

Then there was the Batmobile, which was simply the ultimate dream for anyone who loved cars.

Perhaps by coincidence, when the screenings ended, Delph and Adrian exited a little late and bumped right into the crowd leaving Kingdom of Heaven next door. Just as audiences were excitedly discussing the Batman Begins they had just watched, the people walking out of the other auditorium were also discussing Kingdom of Heaven.

The difference was that the voices discussing Batman Begins were full of praise, while the people talking about Kingdom of Heaven were essentially tearing it apart.

"I guess only people who like that period of history could sit through it. Orlando Bloom was completely wooden; take away The Lord of the Rings and Legolas, and his acting is worthless. And Eva Green—if she wasn't going to strip or show anything, why even cast her?"

"The plot progression was incredibly dull, and the war scenes didn't have a single blood-pumping moment. Forget comparing it to the battles in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it isn't even as good as Troy."

"The pacing was so slow. It was exhausting to watch, and I just wanted to sleep the whole time."

"The plot started strong but ended weakly, the character relationships were an absolute mess, the war scenes were awkwardly misplaced, and the pacing made me drowsy. The only thing that left even a tiny impression was the score."

Hearing these discussions, Delph and Adrian couldn't help feeling a little relieved. Skipping Kingdom of Heaven had undoubtedly been the right choice.

Although Santa Monica Commercial Square had not closed for the night, most of the storefronts had either ended their business hours or were completely deserted. Yet one gift shop located in the theater district stood in full readiness, as if the hottest sales peak was about to arrive.

"Voss, you're in charge of shelf unit number two. If any Batman merchandise sells more than a third of its stock, restock it immediately!"

Standing behind the manager's office glass wall, George Zhou looked out at the store filled with merchandise related to Batman and Duke Rosenberg's other films. He constantly issued orders through his walkie-talkie. "Michael, you and Norin focus on maintaining order. David, clear up the warehouse aisles..."

The midnight screening of Batman Begins had ended. According to the experience of the past few years, whenever a Duke Rosenberg film finished its screening, the movie's merchandise would welcome a massive spike in sales.

As a veteran in this industry, George Zhou had witnessed this far too many times. It had almost become a law of Hollywood.

Would this time be an exception?

This store was located directly on the mandatory path in and out of the theater district. When a flurry of footsteps and clamor echoed at the entrance, and swaying figures began walking in one after another, a faint smile crept onto George Zhou's lips. Another season of harvest was about to begin.

People tend to follow the crowd. Seeing so many people entering the store, Delph and Adrian followed them inside, only to discover that they seemed to have stepped into the world of Batman. The store's entrance was shaped like the Batcave, with a finely crafted Batarang on display. Just looking at it gave them the urge to buy it.

Walking further inside felt like stepping into Bruce Wayne's equipment room: the Batsuit, Batcowl, Batcape, Batbelt...

Every prop Bruce Wayne had used in the movie was available here.

There were also plushies, action figures, toys, keychains, kaleidoscopes... Among them, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the Batmobile parked right in the center of the store. Listening to the sales pitch, the two learned that it was a truly drivable Batmobile, and it was also up for sale.

Delph and Adrian, like many others, couldn't help but walk up to the Batmobile. Like Muslims on a pilgrimage, they reached out and gently stroked the incredibly heart-stirring war machine. Its solid, heavy feel was so intoxicating they could hardly pull themselves away.

How much they wished they had a car like this!

However, faced with the steep price tag of 320,000 dollars, the two could only shrink back in dismay. They turned and walked over to the other side, pulled out all their saved-up pocket money, and each bought a scaled-down Batmobile model...

Customers checked out nonstop, leaving the registers in a flurry of activity. Standing behind the glass wall, George Zhou watched the real-time sales data trickle in, and the smile on his lips deepened. Merchandise for Duke Rosenberg's movies was indeed a guarantee of sales!

This weekend, two major blockbusters had been released: Batman Begins and Kingdom of Heaven. Yet he hadn't hesitated to reserve the most prominent locations in the store for Batman Series products. The slightly less ideal spots went to merchandise from Duke Rosenberg's past films. As for Kingdom of Heaven, not only was it shoved into the deepest corner, but its shelf was the smallest out of all thirty-five.

Judging from the current situation, this strategy was absolutely correct. Aside from a few teenage girls who bought Orlando Bloom plushies, the merchandise for Kingdom of Heaven was completely ignored.

A voice suddenly came over his earpiece. "Manager, someone wants to buy the Batmobile!"

"What?" George Zhou was slightly surprised.

After all, this Batmobile was a vehicle with relatively standard specs. Even though its exterior was incredibly alluring, its practical value was not high. The 320,000-dollar price tag had also been set personally by his boss, Peter Coe.

Although Warner Brothers and Lamborghini had jointly launched the Batmobile, production capacity was limited, so there weren't many available on the market.

The car was placed in the store more to attract attention and draw in customers. If it was going to be sold, George Zhou couldn't make the final decision alone, so he called his boss, Peter Coe, for instructions.

Afterward, the customer who wanted to buy the Batmobile was invited into the manager's office. A businessman's primary concern was profit, so when the buyer raised their offer to 380,000 dollars, the deal went through smoothly.

The busy night gradually came to an end. After Peter Coe received the final sales data, he smiled happily, just like the other employees.

Even excluding that Batmobile, the merchandise sales for Batman Begins exceeded 100,000 dollars. The film had also driven the sales of merchandise from Duke Rosenberg's other movies, with those products bringing in over 20,000 dollars.

Heaving a soft sigh of relief, Peter Coe knew very well that with the film's merchandise selling so outstandingly, the box office would certainly not be bad either.