The viewing experience of the Batman Begins was excellent, whether for Chloe's family or for Durant and James.
Even the part that online reviews had said was a bit dull, Chloe found quite enjoyable. He had watched enough movies to not be a superficial fan, and he felt this part of the story was necessary.
His son Paul even recognized Jet Li, and the martial arts sequence left him thrilled.
Durant and James, on the other hand, enjoyed the car chases and action scenes the most, along with the process of Bruce Wayne creating his own equipment.
When they saw the Batmobile rampaging through the city, with police cars looking like weaklings in front of it, they were ecstatic.
The fighting style of the action scenes was fast and fierce—unflashy yet visually stunning, extremely satisfying.
In recent years, Hong Kong kung fu films had over-the-top fight scenes, which had caused some aesthetic fatigue among audiences. Seeing a different style of action was refreshing.
They didn't know how Kingdom of Heaven had fared, but both Chloe's family and the two brothers, Durant and James, agreed that the Batman Begins was a quality summer blockbuster.
When Chloe's family came out, they saw that Kingdom of Heaven had also finished screening, but only a few people emerged.
"Looks like the midnight audience for Kingdom of Heaven isn't very big," Chloe said.
Anna listened closely and noticed that most of the Kingdom of Heaven viewers were complaining. A few female fans praised Orlando Bloom's looks, but there wasn't much else.
A few moviegoers exiting Kingdom of Heaven were still cursing. One bearded man exclaimed, "F***, what a waste of time. I shouldn't have listened to you and watched this movie."
His companion added, "I really didn't expect Orlando Bloom to perform so poorly after leaving Gilbert."
"Exactly. And Eva Green—neither revealing nor restrained. Why even include her?"
"The plot was too dull, nothing like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I kept wanting to fall asleep."
The bearded man sighed: "Forget it. This movie isn't worth our anger—let's just consider two hours wasted. Tomorrow we'll watch the Batman:Begins !"
"Agreed…"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Everyone agreed to watch Batman: Begins the next day. Indeed, the director mattered—Gilbert-directed films were still worth watching.
Meanwhile, having enjoyed a pleasant viewing experience in the cinema, Durant and James walked out of the theater, laughing and discussing the plot.
Of course, two high school athletes couldn't provide any profound analysis, but just watching Batman's action scenes and the Batmobile was worth the ticket price.
They went to the merchandise area, where unsurprisingly dozens of people were already browsing.
James was immediately attracted by the life-sized Batman figure at the entrance and the Batmobile model in the display case, and he froze on the spot.
"Durant, maybe we should buy this," James said.
Durant saw the Batmobile priced at $399 and immediately backed off: "Buddy, that's too expensive. We can't afford it."
"Oh man, but this car is so cool!" James encouraged him. "Imagine if you had a car like this and showed it to Lilyan from the cheerleading squad—you'd totally impress her."
"This…" Durant felt tempted.
Lilyan, the cheerleader, looked like the Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson and was very popular at school. Durant had once publicly stated he wanted to drink Lilyan's bathwater, but she ignored him.
If the Batmobile could win Lilyan's heart, Durant thought it would be worth it.
So Durant decided without hesitation that he and James would each come back the next day with their saved allowance to buy a model.
As for why James encouraged Durant to buy it, the reason was simple: he wanted one himself but feared parental scolding. By involving Durant, he could argue, "Durant got one too."
Also, the Lilyan story was purely to tease Durant—after all, what girl would really care about a Batmobile?
Unable to buy the Batmobile for now, Durant and James still spent about ten dollars each on Batman keychains before heading home together.
This merchandise store experienced a sales peak.
Stuffed figures, keychains, interactive toys, branded sunglasses, phone watches, headphones—products were countless.
Prices ranged from tens to over a thousand dollars, allowing selection according to personal preference.
Outside, the life-sized Batman model was bought by a collector for $3,888, while a wealthy kid clutched two models and asked the store manager,
"I want to know if the Batmobile has a collectible version, one that actually works."
The manager, realizing a big sale was coming, immediately smiled broadly: "Of course! Which version do you need? Our store has channels. Prices range from $100,000 to several hundred thousand dollars."
"I want the most expensive one," the heir declared boldly.
The manager hurriedly said, "Sir, please don't rush. Could you leave your contact information? Once it's in stock, I can notify you so you can see it in person."
"Sure," the heir quickly provided his contact, then had the two models carry a pile of merchandise, paid, and left.
At 2 a.m. at Los Angeles International Airport, Gilbert's private jet finally returned from Istanbul and landed.
The butler, Yahui, had already arranged for a driver to wait at the airport. Once Gilbert and Ivanka disembarked, they immediately got into the car to return to the Melon Estate.
"Do you want to go back with me, or should I arrange a car for you?" Gilbert asked.
Ivanka rolled her eyes: "What do you think?"
"Then come back with me!" Gilbert said without giving her a choice, wrapping his arm around Ivanka's waist.
Ivanka struggled slightly but didn't break free, and instead rested against Gilbert, closing her eyes to relax.
Back at the Melon Estate, the only other woman present was Cameron Diaz.
Seeing Ivanka follow, Cameron Diaz looked on with a "just as expected" expression.
After Ivanka went to take a shower, Cameron Diaz said to Gilbert, "I knew she couldn't escape your grasp."
"Don't say it like that. It's mutual affection."
"And what about me?"
"Also mutual affection."
"And the others?"
"Same for all of them. I'm quite generous in my affections."
Cameron Diaz rolled her eyes in silent exasperation but didn't delay the business at hand: "The midnight box office numbers from Warner are in, and they're very good—$7.73 million."
Gilbert raised an eyebrow: "Not bad! This film isn't The Return of the King, but a reboot after failure. To get such high midnight numbers is quite impressive."
"Warner agrees. Mr. Walter also said it's mainly due to your personal box office pull," Cameron Diaz explained.
Gilbert was already used to this. He asked, "What about the merchandise?"
"The specific data is still being tallied by each distributor, but fifty-three Batmobiles have already sold across the U.S.," Cameron Diaz replied.
Gilbert was momentarily stunned: "Models?"
"Actual cars."
"Wow, looks like rich people are abundant. These fifty-three cars have already generated five to six million in merchandise sales," Gilbert remarked appreciatively.
It was getting late, and returning from Istanbul had been tiring.
....
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