Chapter 824: Dream Team

As one of the lucky first viewers to see The Avengers at its premiere, Yahoo Entertainment reporter Michel Kennett didn't head back to write his article immediately after the press conference. Instead, he hurried to the Hollywood Chinese Theater to interview audiences from the midnight screenings, hoping to gather more material for his piece tomorrow.

The audiences attending the midnight screenings were almost exclusively the most hardcore, veteran fans of the film, director Duke Rosenberg, or the cast. Their opinions would be a direct reflection of the movie's word-of-mouth reception.

Michel Kennett waited outside the Hollywood Chinese Theater for well over two hours before the audience began pouring out. He immediately intercepted the first fan to emerge.

"Hello, I'm a reporter for Yahoo Entertainment..." He introduced himself quickly before asking concisely, "Did you think The Avengers was a good movie?"

"It was innovative, visually stunning, and incredibly fun."

The fan, who looked around twenty years old, made no attempt to hide his excitement. "It felt absolutely epic! The climax had more action scenes than all of Marvel's previous movies combined. It was fantastic!"

After the fan left, Michel Kennett interviewed over a dozen more people as fast as he could.

"An amazing movie! It was even better than I expected!"

"I absolutely loved it. I was hyped from beginning to end."

"Duke has made Marvel Pictures' best movie yet!"

After finishing with the fans, Michel Kennett tracked down the night manager of the Hollywood Chinese Theater.

"The attendance for the midnight screening of The Avengers at the Chinese Grand Theater was one hundred percent. The tickets sold out more than a week ago in presales. Over the last few days, we still had massive numbers of fans asking about midnight tickets. We had to add three extra showtimes, and it still wasn't enough. But that was all we could do. This is going to be a phenomenal movie!"

Leaving the Hollywood Chinese Theater, Michel Kennett headed to the parking lot and got into his car. Instead of driving off right away, he took out his new Apple phone and made a post on Instant Sharing.

"Just got back from The Avengers premiere. Fans of comic book heroes, get ready for a feast! Director Duke Rosenberg almost flawlessly executed a task that could have easily been botched. The balance among all the heroes is handled perfectly, the dialogue retains its consistent humor, and the final battle is so breathtakingly gorgeous it leaves you breathless. You can't help but praise this master plan Duke orchestrated for Marvel."

After posting, he quickly scrolled through the Instant Sharing updates from his peers. Many of them had also attended the premiere last night.

"Just finished watching. Tons of action scenes, humorous punchlines, and surprises."

"If you like comic book movies, you will definitely fall in love with this film!"

"My body is still trembling with excitement as I post this short review. The movie was just too incredible!"

"I thought throwing all these Marvel freaks together would result in a mess, but their division of roles was incredibly clear and each character stood out sharply. Combined with a dizzying barrage of indiscriminate bombing and perfectly timed witty banter, these characters are even more lovable than they were in their standalone films."

Setting down his phone, Michel Kennett could easily imagine that Duke Rosenberg had truly produced yet another phenomenal film!

How much would the movie's final box office be?

As a veteran reporter in the industry, he knew very well that the final box office for this kind of fast-food comic book movie couldn't possibly compare to James Cameron's Avatar. But as a film with a massive, established core audience, The Avengers was highly likely to create a series of box office miracles in a very short amount of time.

He figured he had better get back and keep an eye on the film's midnight and opening day box office numbers.

With that thought in mind, Michel Kennett started his car and drove straight to the office to rush out his article. For him, this was going to be a sleepless night.

There were many people suffering from sleepless nights tonight, and Doug Walter, CEO of Warner Brothers, was one of them. Whenever Warner's super blockbusters hit the theaters, he habitually suffered from insomnia, and a midnight box office that exceeded estimates was the best sleeping pill.

Sitting in his home study, he quietly waited for the midnight box office numbers to come out.

At the same time, the Marvel Pictures headquarters in Burbank was brightly lit. Kevin Feige, Stan Lee, and many other Marvel Pictures employees hadn't slept either; they were waiting just the same.

Compared to Doug Walter, the people at Marvel Pictures appeared much more relaxed. They were brimming with confidence in a plan that had been nearly a decade in the making, all because Duke Rosenberg had brought nothing but success to Marvel. Under his leadership, Marvel had leaped from a company on the verge of bankruptcy to becoming the new royalty of Hollywood.

Who wouldn't want the adaptation rights to Marvel Comics' superheroes nowadays?

Setting everything else aside, from what they knew, Twentieth Century Fox also wanted to use X-Men to build an independent cinematic universe and realize their own X-Men crossover plan.

Duke Rosenberg had orchestrated this grand scheme for Marvel; Duke Rosenberg had led them down the path to success.

Of course, they also understood that with Duke holding the controlling stakes in Marvel Comics, the company essentially bore the Rosenberg surname now.

The folks at Marvel Pictures were waiting, but their actual boss was holding a beautiful woman in his arms, sleeping soundly.

Feeling the steady breathing against the top of her head, Scarlett grabbed the phone that had lit up by her pillow. She looked at the numbers on the screen and smiled in satisfaction. Gently touching Duke's forehead, she shrank deeper into his warm embrace, trying to gather her own sleepiness.

'No wonder he's sleeping so soundly. He already anticipated these midnight box office numbers, didn't he?'

With that thought in mind, Scarlett also drifted off to sleep.

There was a soft knock on the study door. Doug Walter's wife walked in carrying a cup of coffee, her eyes filled with inquiry.

"They're here!"

Doug Walter refreshed his email one more time and let out a long sigh of relief.

"How much?" his wife asked.

"4,280 theaters, 33.8 million dollars!"

Even someone as composed as the CEO of Warner Brothers carried an uncontrollable excitement in his tone.

"This..." His wife also had some understanding of the film industry. "Is this real?"

"Of course!"

Pushing aside the coffee his wife had set in front of him, Doug Walter grabbed a bottle of champagne and two glasses from the side. "We can celebrate now."

This was Doug Walter's traditional celebratory routine. They still had children in the house, so any celebration had to be done quietly.

Compared to the Walter family, Marvel Pictures over in Burbank had already devolved into a boiling frenzy of excitement. This bunch of guys—who were usually full of imagination and unconstrained in their actions—let out bursts of thrilled, bizarre howls as they crowded into the Marvel Pictures lobby. The champagne that had been prepared well in advance was popped open, and countless sprays of alcohol splashed everywhere amidst the colorful confetti falling from the ceiling...

For Marvel Pictures, this was a moment of sheer ecstasy.

"33.8 million dollars!" people kept shouting and cheering in excitement. "What a beautiful number!"

This was an absolutely maddening number!

Such an outstanding midnight box office performance practically guaranteed that The Avengers would be a super blockbuster in its opening week!

The only thing that could stop the film from being a super hit now was if the audience simply didn't buy into it.

After eating breakfast and taking a stroll in the garden, Scarlett had been fiddling with her phone non-stop. She scrolled through Instant Sharing, Twitter, and other community websites for the latest audience opinions on The Avengers, occasionally reading a few out loud to Duke beside her.

"The Avengers truly has everything, while also bringing something completely different. You buy one ticket and get to see six superheroes all at once. If I want to watch an incredible movie that gathers all the idols of the Marvel universe into one place, this film is the most successful and sensational one in my memory. It's way more fun than Transformers 3. In comparison, Michael Bay is extremely weak."

Hearing Scarlett's words, Duke shook his head with a smile. "Poor Michael."

Scarlett ignored Duke and continued reading a new post.

"Just finished watching The Avengers, and it's better than all the previous superhero movies! Every character shines, and a lot of the dialogue and plot points are incredibly humorous. The final battle is gorgeous and gets your blood pumping, and Captain America's line—'Hulk, smash!'—triggered cheers and applause in the theater! This is a summer blockbuster with immense entertainment value, and the 3D effects are outstanding. Everyone, get ready to welcome The Avengers on the big screen!"

"It's definitely not the best movie I've ever seen, but it's absolutely the most thrilling one! Amazing tech, amazing pacing, amazing action, amazing sound effects! Every superhero has distinct characteristics and is portrayed perfectly! The audience was hyped to the core! The witty banter is brilliant; when Stark called Hawkeye 'Legolas,' as a hardcore fan of The Lord of the Rings, I simply died!"

"I never expected The Avengers to be this good! Iron Man fighting Captain America, the Hulk beating the crap out of Thor... Honestly, watching these superheroes brawl with each other is way more fun than watching them unite! Iron Man handles the clowning around, the Captain handles looking cool, Black Widow flaunts her charm, the Hulk acts cute, and add in a lovable big bad villain like Loki, and it's an absolute dream team. Completely perfect!"

"Should I keep going?"

Walking over to a park bench, Scarlett pulled Duke along, and the two of them sat down together. She waved her phone. "I have even funnier ones here."

"Let's skip it," Duke said, shaking his head as he leaned back against the bench. "We'd better just wait to welcome a new record."

"The opening day box office record?" Scarlett naturally understood what Duke meant.

"Opening day, opening week..." Duke nodded. "Strictly speaking, you could call this movie a fan-oriented film. The opening week box office is incredibly important for The Avengers."

Comic book movies are thrilling to watch, but there is no denying that their theatrical staying power is relatively short. They can't maintain a highly stable box office trend over a long period. For this genre of film, a successful opening week box office is absolutely crucial.

Perhaps this kind of movie—one that always erupts in its opening week—would go on to create an entirely new record.