Chapter 615

"JOKER! JOKER! JOKER!!"

"Batman! Batman! Batman!"

At the entrance of a theater in New York, the crowd that had just watched the movie immediately split into two groups after coming out of the screening room.

One group shouted the name "Joker," and the other shouted "Batman," competing against each other without backing down.

"Come on, Batman is so cowardly. Tyler, you should be on our side," Michael persuaded.

"No way, Michael, you traitor! Weren't you a fan of Batman before?" Tyler glared at his friend.

Michael sneered and said, "Sorry, I rebelled. You can't blame me. The Joker is really too charming."

"Bastard, you worship a villain!"

"No, no, no, I just admire the Joker charm, not his evil deeds."

...

At the entrance of Donald's cinema, a group of black boys surrounded several vendors. These small vendors, also blacks, were selling "clown masks."

At this moment, Donald rushed out with the theater's bodyguards. "Asshole! Who's selling pirated merchandise? Is it that bastard?"

"Old Donald is here!"

Boom!

The black boys scattered around the vendors in a hurry, and some didn't forget to snatch a few "clown masks."

The vendor cursed and ran away quickly, clutching a box full of "clown masks." These locals didn't want to be called by their parents' names by Donald.

"A bunch of bastards!"

Donald cursed, bent down, picked up a clown mask that had fallen on the ground, took a look at it, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the nearby trash can.

"Even with rough craftsmanship, people would still buy it?" He muttered.

A big black bodyguard on the side said, "Sir, although this thing is rough, it's cheap. It only costs two dollars. In stores, it costs 9.99."

"Well, Did you buy one too?" Donald looked at him suspiciously.

"No, absolutely not, sir. I just... I just heard from my neighbor's kid that he bought one." The big black bodyguard explained, cold sweat running down his head.

"Huh, that's the best. If I find out you're wearing a mask and working part-time as a robber at night, I'll definitely fire you!" Donald said sternly.

"Yes, yes, absolutely not, sir." The bodyguard nodded hastily, planning to give the pirated mask to his neighbor's child later.

...

Miami, West Palm Beach.

This is a neighborhood where rich people gather in Miami, and it's also the safest place in the city.

In an AMG chain cinema, manager Cook squeezed through the crowds in the theater and approached his assistant. "How are the movie ticket sales today? Are the three theaters for The Dark Knight sold out?"

"Yes, auditoriums 1, 2, and 3 showing The Dark Knight are our largest auditoriums, and they are already sold out." The female assistant replied quickly. "Less than one-third of the tickets for Mission: Impossible 3 in Hall 4 and Hall 5 have been sold."

"Mission: Impossible 3 was released in November, right? How come the attendance of a Tom Cruise movie dropped so quickly?"

This weekend, not only The Dark Knight was released, but also Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible 3 was released in November. The female assistant said, "Moviegoers are drawn to The Dark Knight. Mission: Impossible 3 has dropped in attendance, and we also found that some people bought tickets for Mission: Impossible 3 but went to see The Dark Knight instead."

"Go check it out. This kind of box office stealing must be stopped!" Manager Cook said.

After chatting with the assistant for a few more words, the crowd in the cinema lobby had already entered the screening rooms, and it wasn't as crowded anymore.

Cook, a little worried, told the assistant to keep an eye on the ticket counter while he personally visited auditoriums 1, 2, and 3. He first checked the safety doors and emergency exits, then inspected the firefighting equipment, and finally walked into auditorium 3 through the front door.

The lights in the hall were turned off. Under the light of the big screen, Cook could only see the densely packed heads of people in the theater, all standing still.

These heads didn't move, whisper to each other, or lower their heads to eat. They were just quietly staring at the big screen, clearly captivated by the plot.

Cook understood the situation of these people.

He had seen this movie, and it was indeed gripping in the beginning!

Next, he went to Cinema No. 1. It was said that this auditorium was reserved by the "Meyers Gang" formed by Martin's fans.

As soon as he entered the theater, the explosion scene was playing on the big screen, with orange-red light slightly illuminating the theater.

Cook glanced at the audience, almost screaming in fright.

It turned out that when he looked, the entire theater was full of people wearing strange masks. Good heavens, those pale and blood-red faces—this was clearly the work of the Joker!

"Crazy fans!" Cook muttered to himself.

He quickly exited the theater, shook his head, and sighed, feeling very satisfied.

Because the money was in his pocket!

...

"Fuck!"

Tom Cruise's phone broke again.

The situation with Mission: Impossible 3 made him extremely dissatisfied.

At first, things were looking good when the movie came out.

It grossed 17 million dollars on the day of its premiere, and it seemed promising to break the 50 million mark in its first four days.

But things didn't go as expected.

After four days of screening on its first weekend, Mission: Impossible 3 easily topped the box office, but it didn't receive the expected earnings from the 4,054 theaters it was released in. The film opened the winter Christmas season with less than half a billion dollars in box office revenue.

Although Tom Cruise worked hard to promote the movie worldwide, the premiere ticket sales in North America were less than 48 million dollars. This was disappointing, as box office analysts had predicted the film would gross at least 60 million dollars in North America, potentially even exceeding 70 million.

However, distributor Paramount Pictures stated that the numbers were still within their expectations.

Obviously, Paramount, which had already split from Tom Cruise, was adding insult to injury. Due to the contract, they couldn't make much money from this movie.

Not only was the premiere weak, but the subsequent box office decline was staggering.

Nearly two months after the film's release, the box office for Mission: Impossible 3 was only 99.4 million dollars, failing to surpass 100 million.

In other words, after its premiere, the film's average weekly box office was just over 8 million dollars.

For Tom Cruise, such an outcome was a failure.

You know, the production cost of Mission: Impossible 3 was 150 million dollars!

And that wasn't the end of it.

After The Dark Knight was released on December 22, the box office for Mission: Impossible 3 plummeted even further. The daily revenue was slashed by half, then halved again, with daily earnings of less than half a million dollars.

Now, Tom Cruise couldn't sit still.