America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 449 Don't Force Me to Shoot

New York, Manhattan.

Wearing a jacket, Ted turned into a coffee shop, walked to a corner, and sat down opposite a black boy.

The dark-skinned boy grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Cola Cult Forever! Long live the Cult Leader!"

Ted replied, "Long live Chief Martin!"

"I know you. You're the leader of a fan club." Having confirmed the code was correct, the dark-skinned young man asked, "You can't get your hands on the goods either?"

"There's nothing I can do. The North American market is completely out of stock. I have several overseas clients who watched The Dark Knight last weekend and really like the Joker. They want to buy handcrafted Joker statues but can't find any." Ted even gave away the statues he had to his clients for work.

The black boy exclaimed, "The clown is so popular, the handmade statues are selling like hotcakes, and they're hard to get."

Ted simply asked, "Do you have any goods on hand?"

The black boy looked around, seemingly worried that someone would rush over to rob him. He carefully lifted his coat, took out a black cloth bag from under his arm, opened it, and placed it in front of Ted.

Ted examined the goods carefully; inside were limited-edition hand-sculpted clown figurines and Cola Cult clown statues.

The black boy stared warily at the people in the coffee shop. Given the current market situation in North America, these limited-edition clown handmade statues and figurines were hard currency that were difficult to buy even with extra money.

Ted picked up a statue, and a strange smell made his nose sting: "Why does it smell so weird?"

The young man wasn't embarrassed at all: "These are special times, and we have special methods of delivery. Do you think anyone would dare to walk around the streets with a Martin Luther King Jr. statue right now? This is New York; you could get robbed at any moment!"

He quickly lowered his voice: "Just spraying more perfume will solve the problem."

Having exhausted all other options and unable to procure the goods, Ted asked, "How much?"

The young man said, "The figurine is $2200, and the Cola Cult cult-themed sculpture is $5500. No bargaining!"

Ted's eyes widened in disbelief.

The black boy picked up the statue and showed Ted the soles of his feet: "The Martin and Lily Carter collaboration edition, Warner Bros. only released a few thousand in total, for more than 3 million people in the United States."

Thinking of his client's needs, Ted gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I request the transaction be completed now."

After receiving the money, the dark-skinned boy said, "Here's a piece of advice: take good care of Dong XZ before you leave."

Ignoring the strong smell, Ted wrapped the bag in a black cloth, stuffed it under his coat arm, zipped it up, and then went out.

The statue is no longer just a limited edition; it's become an enhanced version.

Before he even left the alley, Ted saw a man in a worn-out suit coming towards him. The man had clown paint on his face and turned to go into the convenience store.

Thinking of the recent spate of clown robberies, he quickly crossed the street to the other side, away from the convenience store entrance.

The clown pushed open the convenience store door, pulled out a revolver, pointed it at the owner/cashier, and shouted, "Give me the money! Give me all the money! I just want the money, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

The boss wasn't the type to risk his life for money; he opened the cash register and started taking money out.

Seeing that the boss was cooperating, the clown relaxed a little and glanced around. He immediately spotted the Coca-Cola cult-themed clown statue behind the counter and lost interest in the money.

He pointed the gun at the boss with one hand and the statue with the other: "Give me that!"

The boss paused, seemingly reluctant.

The clown roared, "Hurry up, don't make me shoot!"

The shop owner reluctantly picked up the limited-edition handmade clown statue, handed it to the clown with one hand, and secretly reached under the counter with the other.

The clown took the statue, overjoyed. This thing could sell for several thousand dollars on the black market, much more than the little money in the cash register.

He also knew how to inspect goods; he turned the clown over and looked at the soles of his feet. One foot was engraved with Martin, and the other foot with Lily Carter.

Yes, it's genuine!

While the clown was distracted while inspecting the goods, the boss pulled out a pistol from under the counter and fired at the clown's chest, the largest target.

Bang bang bang!

In an instant, the pistol magazine was emptied, and the clown, covered in blood, collapsed to the ground.

The shopkeeper changed the magazine, took the gun and walked out from behind the counter, kicked the clown's revolver aside, and after confirming that he was no longer a threat, he first called the police, then picked up his own statue and took out a tissue to wipe the bloodstains on it.

He glanced at the clown robber on the ground and said sternly, "You can fucking steal my money, but you can't steal my Martin Clown statue!"

The clown robber made a strange gurgling sound in his throat, then fell silent.

The shop owner dared not display the statue in the store anymore and quickly put it in the safe at the back. He was not particularly worried when the NYPD came to the store, as he had security cameras in the store.

…………

Brooklyn Studios, New York.

The crew for Martin Scorsese's new project, "Shutter Island," has been officially formed. In addition to Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, the second male lead, has also joined the crew in advance to experience life on set and prepare for his role.

Outside the studio, Ruffalo received a call from a friend: "I was in the same crew as Martin, but he was still in Atlanta at the time, just an extra, and didn't have the habit of giving gifts to the crew, so I don't have a hand-carved Joker statue."

The friend said, "Try to get me one. I have three kids, and they all want a clown. I have the money but no way to buy one. I've heard that there are many handmade Lily Carter clown statues on the black market, which came from Hollywood crew members who worked with Martin.

Hearing this, Ruffalo thought of his partner on the project and said, "I'll give it a try."

The Joker was so popular that the kids in the family absolutely adored him, so all the man could do was say, "Mark, please."

Ruffalo hung up the phone, went into the studio, and found Leonardo, who was standing alone in a daze: "Hi, Leonardo."

Leonardo nodded to him: "Rehearsing a scene?"

"No," Ruffalo smiled sheepishly, "I need your help with something."

He said directly, "I have a few friends who want a statue of Martin, the Joker from The Dark Knight, but they can't buy it on the market. Even if they have the money, they can't find a suitable channel..."

Leonardo laughed: "That bastard Martin's struck it rich! And his little sister's struck it rich too!"

Ruffalo asked curiously, "Do you know Lily Carter?"

"I know her." Leonardo had collected a lot of art and had some appreciation skills: "Her sculpting talent... no, I should say her craftsmanship talent is exceptional."

He was quite generous: "How many do you want?"

Ruffalo had heard that Joker statues were incredibly popular, and judging from Leonardo's tone, it seemed like he had a whole bunch. But he knew what he was doing and didn't ask for more: "Do you have four?"

Three were for friends, and one was for myself: "I'll pay..."

"Don't mention money to me. I have quite a few of Martin's trinkets." Leonardo kept some in his New York house. "Here, I'll bring them over to you this afternoon."

Ruffalo quickly said, "Thank you so much, Leo, you've solved a huge problem for me."

"You're welcome." Leonardo thought to himself that he could probably get a lot of money by taking out his collection, but there was no need for that, so he would keep it.

After Ruffalo left in high spirits, Leonardo found Martin Scorsese.

To his astonishment, he discovered that the old man was holding a cotton cloth and wiping the clown statue that bastard Martin had given him.

Leonardo asked, "You like the Joker too?"

"Martin's character is truly excellent, a classic." Scorsese pointed to the statue: "I hadn't looked closely before, but now I realize the craftsmanship is truly superb."

Leonardo sighed, "You've been influenced by the media."

"Don't you think Martin Garnett's marketing and publicity have reached an extreme?" Scorsese said pointedly.

Leonardo DiCaprio had worked with him for many years, so he understood perfectly well that he was being looked down upon.

He said, "There aren't many like Martin in Hollywood! He's more shameless than Jack and I combined."

Scorsese, brimming with motivation as he thought about his own married life, urged, "Leo, you need to work harder in that area!"

"So what if I'm causing trouble? I'm no less capable than Martin." Leonardo decided to stand up for himself this time. "I came to see you to ask for leave. I'm going back to Los Angeles. Warner Bros. is throwing a celebration party for The Dark Knight. Martin has achieved such great commercial success this time; it wouldn't be right for me not to go."

That's not the point. He continued, "Recently, I've been frequently dealing with information related to patients in mental hospitals and experiencing their lives firsthand. If I don't go back and relax, Martin and Jack will really have to visit me at the Presbyterian Hospital in a few months."

"Sure, it's good for you to go back and rest and relax." Scorsese's tone suddenly changed: "When you see Martin, ask me for a clown statue that Lily Carter just sculpted."

Leonardo DiCaprio was surprised: "How come I didn't realize you were a fan of celebrities?"

Scorsese coughed. "Everyone has a youthful time. I may be old, but I'm still young at heart."

Leonardo readily agreed.

In the afternoon, he brought the clown statue over and gave it to Ruffalo. That evening, he took a private flight back to Los Angeles so that he could surprise Martin and Jack at the Dark Knight's victory celebration.

As The Dark Knight surpassed $3 million at the North American box office and $5 million worldwide, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., the film's producers and distributors, announced a grand celebration party and invited numerous celebrities to attend.

In addition to box office revenue, the film has also generated astonishing revenue from merchandise, with total revenue from various related products exceeding $7000 million.

In particular, clown-themed products have become the top sellers in the merchandise market.

Compared to box office revenue, the profits from this part are frighteningly high.

He earns a 20% gross profit from all merchandise that uses Martin's image rights, and this income alone could reach tens of millions of dollars by the end of the year.

Of course, this kind of more adult-oriented film cannot compare with Diana's top-notch children's works. Elsa's dress once sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

(End of this chapter)