Chapter 542: Chapter 542: The Right Choice
The bright moonlight shone over the Santa Monica commercial plaza, seemingly overshadowing even the glow of the streetlights. Delph and Adrian parked their car, and after entering the plaza, they didn't hesitate and walked directly into one of the theaters. As student film fans who didn't have work the next day, they could pour out their energy at the midnight screening.
As for the fan community, Delph and Adrian could only be considered newbies. Although they had grown up in North America's strong movie-watching atmosphere and had seen many films, it was only recently just after turning seventeen that they truly gained independent viewing rights, rather than passively watching movies chosen by parents or older friends.
Since they came for a midnight screening, their goal was very clear: the just-released summer blockbuster.
But when they walked into the theater and saw the two massive posters standing side-by-side at the entrance, they hesitated.
On the left was the poster for Kingdom of Heaven, featuring Orlando Bloom, one of their favorite stars. As for the reason, of course it was the impossibly elegant and handsome Elven Prince.
On the right was the poster for Batman: Begins, with Bruce Wayne standing proudly atop the new Batmobile. Both the vehicle and the man had such a powerful design it stirred a young man's heart like a blonde beauty.
Standing in front of the posters, Delph asked Adrian, "Which one should we choose?"
Adrian scratched his head and said, "Remember when we watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy with our families? Epic films are really charming, and the lead actor is Orlando..."
"Yeah, epic films are really fascinating." Delph looked at Orlando Bloom, sword in hand. "Then let's pick Kingdom of Heaven."
With that, he was ready to head to the ticket counter.
"Wait!"
Before Delph could walk far, Adrian called him back. "We overlooked something important."
"What?" Delph turned around to look at Adrian, confused.
Adrian strode to the poster for Batman: Begins and pointed to a prominent line that they had just missed. "This film's director is Duke Rosenberg!"
Delph looked at where Adrian was pointing. "The Duke Rosenberg who directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy? The one who directed The Matrix? That explosion maniac?"
"That's right. It's him!"
Although they were still novices among movie buffs, the name Duke Rosenberg had long reached their ears through various channels especially The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Those films were practically cinematic pinnacles!
"Screw Kingdom of Heaven."
Delph, usually indecisive, suddenly made up his mind and said directly to Adrian, "Let's go see Duke Rosenberg's film. I've watched the most of his movies, and they're all quality productions."
Adrian had no objections. "Of all the movies I've seen, his are also my favorites."
The two bought their tickets and entered the theater. They found that the midnight screening of Batman: Begins had quite a turnout. The hall, which could hold more than three hundred people, was at least half full. Since there was still some time before the movie started, Adrian deliberately went next door to check the theater showing Kingdom of Heaven.
"Very few people over there."
When he returned, he said to Delph, "There were fewer than twenty people, most of them young girls clearly all there to see Orlando Bloom."
The two exchanged glances. Part of the reason they initially wanted to pick Kingdom of Heaven was indeed because it starred Orlando Bloom.
But in terms of movie achievements, could Orlando Bloom compare to Duke Rosenberg in any way? Maybe he looked better than Duke Rosenberg, maybe his acting was better.
But those two qualities were completely useless when it came to directing a movie.
The film that followed proved this point. Although Batman: Begins wasn't as stunning as they had expected like The Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Matrix it was definitely worth the ticket price. Especially the action choreography it was eye-catching.
It wasn't the overly flashy fighting that had become annoyingly common in recent years. Instead, it was a kind of fierce, powerful combat that looked more direct and deadly, giving a strong sense of realism.
And that Batmobile—every car enthusiast's dream.
Perhaps by coincidence, Delph and Adrian left the theater a bit late after the movie ended. They happened to bump into the crowd exiting the Kingdom of Heaven screening. Just as many people were discussing Batman: Begins, those coming out from the other hall were also talking about Kingdom of Heaven.
The difference was that the discussions about Batman: Begins were mostly filled with praise, while those about Kingdom of Heaven were almost entirely criticisms.
"Probably only people interested in that history can sit through it. Orlando Bloom had a deadpan face the whole time. Once he's away from The Lord of the Rings and Legolas, his performance is completely worthless. And Eva Green if she's not going to strip or show anything, what's the point of casting her?"
"The plot progresses in a very dull way, and the battle scenes have nothing that gets your blood pumping. Don't even compare it to the battles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy—it doesn't even match up to Troy."
"The pacing is so slow, I felt exhausted watching it. I kept wanting to fall asleep."
"The story starts strong and ends weak, the character relationships are a mess, the war scenes are neither here nor there, and the pacing makes you drowsy. The only remotely memorable thing is the soundtrack."
Hearing all these opinions, Delph and Adrian couldn't help but feel a bit relieved it was undoubtedly a very correct decision not to go watch Kingdom of Heaven.
Though the Santa Monica commercial plaza hadn't closed in the early hours, most stores had either already stopped operating or were completely empty. However, a gift shop located in the cinema district was on high alert, as if the hottest sales peak of the night was just about to begin.
"Vos, you're in charge of Display Cabinet No. 2. Restock immediately if any Batman product sells more than one-third!"
Standing in front of the glass wall of the manager's office, George Zhou looked at the store filled with Batman merchandise and other products related to Duke Rosenberg's movies. He continued giving orders through the walkie-talkie, "Michael, you and Norlin, maintain order. David, tidy up the warehouse passage…"
The midnight screening of Batman:Begins had already ended. Based on past years of experience, every time a Duke Rosenberg film finished showing, there would be a sales peak of its merchandise.
As a veteran in this industry, George Zhou had witnessed this countless times it had practically become a law in Hollywood.
Would this time be an exception?
This shop was situated along the main thoroughfare leading to and from the cinema district. When footsteps and the buzz of chatter rang out at the entrance, and silhouettes began flooding in, a smile slowly appeared on George Zhou's face a season of harvest was beginning once again.
People naturally follow the crowd. Seeing many people enter the store, Delph and Adrian followed as well, and soon they realized that they seemed to have entered Batman's world. The store's front door was designed like the Batcave, decorated with Batarangs—so finely crafted they triggered an instant buying urge.
Going deeper inside, it was as if they'd stepped into Bruce Wayne's gear room: the Batsuit, Bat-mask, Bat-cape, Bat-belt…
Every prop Bruce Wayne used in the film was there.
There were also figurines, dolls, toys, keychains, kaleidoscopes… Among all of these, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the Batmobile displayed at the center of the store. Upon hearing the related explanation, the two of them found out that this was an actual, drivable Batmobile—one that was also for sale.
Like many others, Delph and Adrian couldn't help but walk up to the Batmobile. Like Muslim pilgrims on a sacred journey, they gently reached out and touched the captivating war machine. The solid, heavy feel of it was so intoxicating, it made them almost unwilling to let go.
How they longed to have a car like that!
However, facing the hefty $320,000 price tag, they could only sigh and step away, heading to the other side, where they pooled all their pocket money and each bought a scaled-down model of the Batmobile…
Customers were checking out non-stop. The cashier counter was a hive of activity. From behind the glass wall, George Zhou watched the real-time sales data come in, and his smile grew even wider. Merchandise from Duke Rosenberg's movies truly was a sales guarantee!
This weekend, both Batman:Begins and Kingdom of Heaven were released, yet he had unhesitatingly reserved the store's prime positions for the Batman series merchandise. Even the less prominent spaces were used for merchandise from Duke Rosenberg's past films. As for Kingdom of Heaven, not only was it relegated to the farthest corner, its display shelf was the smallest of all thirty-five shelves.
From the current situation, this strategy was absolutely correct. The merchandise from Kingdom of Heaven except for a few little girls who bought Orlando Bloom figurines—was completely ignored.
Suddenly, a voice came through the headset: "Manager, someone wants to buy that Batmobile!"
"What?" George Zhou was slightly surprised.
After all, this Batmobile had only basic specs. Despite its eye-catching design, its actual practicality was low. The $320,000 price tag had been personally set by the owner, Peter.
Although Warner Bros. and Lamborghini jointly launched the Batmobile, production was limited and only a small number existed on the market.
This car had been placed in the store mainly as an attention-grabber to attract customers. When it came to actually selling it, George Zhou couldn't make the final decision, so he had to call the boss Peter for approval.
Soon, the customer interested in buying the Batmobile was invited into the manager's office. Business is always about profit—when the buyer agreed to raise the price to $380,000, the deal went through smoothly.
As the busy night gradually wound down, Peter received the final sales report and, like the other staff members, burst into a happy smile.
Even excluding that Batmobile, the merchandise sales for Batman:Begins exceeded $100,000, and the film also boosted sales for other Duke Rosenberg movie merchandise those items alone sold more than $20,000.
Letting out a soft breath, Peter knew very well—when the merchandise sells this well, the box office definitely won't be bad either.