After Duke finalized the arrangements for filming at the actual location of the Pentagon, he returned to Los Angeles and deliberately took a day off. While staying at home bored, Scarlett Johansson specifically checked on the release performance of The Man from Earth. She sat in the lounge in front of a computer, sipping juice while saying to Duke, "These numbers are so dismal that even I feel bad for David Ellison." The source of this content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱 Sitting on a high-back armchair, Duke was flipping through a Transformers comic book. Hearing Scarlett say that, he couldn’t help but look up and ask, "Tell me the specific numbers." After all, this was a film that David Ellison had snatched from him. If Duke said he hoped The Man from Earth would be a big hit, that would definitely be a lie. "The Man from Earth has been in release for ten days now, and in 126 theaters across North America, it’s made a total of $28,521. The ten-day per-theater average hasn’t even exceeded $3,000..." At this point, Scarlett Johansson shook her head and added, "The IMDb rating is pretty high, though—8.4—but that’s just because too few people rated it, not even five hundred." The fewer people rate a film, the higher its IMDb rating tends to be. This is a simple principle and the main reason why The Man from Earth has such a high score. Duke was a bit curious. "With such low per-theater earnings, the theaters haven’t been forced to pull it yet?" "I’ll ask someone." Scarlett picked up her phone, dialed a number, exchanged a few words, and then hung up. She turned to Duke and said, "Warner’s distribution department said that if The Man from Earth doesn’t show a significant rebound this weekend, it’ll be pulled by the theaters." She switched to an expert tone. "There’s absolutely no way it’ll rebound. There are only a few days left until the weekend. The film’s total North American gross won’t even surpass $50,000." "Hmm..." Duke nodded and looked back down at the comic book. "The box office is that bad..." Now it was Scarlett’s turn to be curious. She closed the computer and pulled up a chair next to Duke, asking, "Why were you interested in it in the first place?" "I read the original novel. The premise is absurd but kind of interesting." Duke thought for a moment and added, "I figured it might find a niche in the DVD and rental market. You know, some cult films find their audiences there and often earn quite a bit." "Like Quentin Tarantino’s movies?" Scarlett immediately thought of the famous cult director. Without looking up, Duke turned to the next page and said, "Something like that. Some films just aren’t suited to a theater environment. A lot of Tarantino’s movies make far more from DVDs and VHS than they do at the North American box office. That could be one of the reasons." If you only look at Quentin Tarantino’s box office numbers, you’d wonder how he always gets funding and why the Weinstein brothers support him so much. But once you look at his films’ earnings in the home video market, it all makes perfect sense. Just as Scarlett Johansson had learned, two full weeks after its release, The Man from Earth was forcibly pulled by all the theater chains in North America, ending its short-lived theatrical run. What remained in front of David Ellison were the dismal numbers of 126 theaters and $32,567 half of which would be taken by the theaters. Compared to his investment, that was barely better than nothing. Putting down the data report, David Ellison frowned. The more he thought about it, the more it felt off. His mind involuntarily drifted toward conspiracy theories, suspecting that he had fallen into Duke Rosenberg’s trap by buying a film that had no value whatsoever. He slammed the table hard, venting a bit of the frustration in his chest. He didn’t really care about the loss it wasn’t a big deal. After all, I Am Legend was about to break the $200 million mark in North America, and its global box office had already exceeded $400 million. The profits from that more than made up for this flop. But just knowing that he had inexplicably lost to Duke Rosenberg again was something he couldn’t stand. He even felt irritated just seeing The Man from Earth. As if he understood David Ellison’s mindset perfectly, the head of the distribution department sitting across from him spoke up at the right time. "Mr. Ellison, a DVD distribution company has contacted Sky Films. They want to buy the home video rights for The Man from Earth outright." "Oh?" David Ellison looked up and asked, "How much are they offering?" In the executive’s opinion, this was a reasonable price. Given the film’s box office performance, it couldn’t fetch a high amount. "I think it’s a fair deal—it’ll help recover part of our losses." Ever since a few days ago, David Ellison hadn’t wanted to hear another word about the film that had brought him nothing but shame. He thought for less than ten seconds before waving his hand and saying, "Go ahead and sell it to them." "I’ll handle it right away." A few days later, Duke heard the latest news from Scarlett Johansson The Man from Earth had been bought outright for $300,000 by Netflix from David Ellison... Though he slightly regretted that Netflix might have just scored a massive bargain, Duke didn’t dwell on it. While he was busy preparing for Transformers, most of his attention in the film market was still focused on The Dark Knight, which hadn’t been pulled yet. Since July, both the number of theaters and the box office numbers for The Dark Knight had been gradually shrinking in North America. The cumulative gross for all of July was $14.19 million, and it dropped to $7.65 million in August. By early September, the North American box office had reached $567.66 million. Although it was getting closer and closer to the $600 million mark, the growth rate was slowing significantly. Even before it was pulled, it was uncertain whether it could surpass The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for second place on the all-time North American box office list even Duke and Warner Bros. couldn’t say for sure. However, when it came to global box office, The Dark Knight definitely couldn’t surpass The Return of the King. This dark-toned film had never performed as well overseas as it had in North America, and that trend continued into September. The overseas gross hadn’t even come close to The Return of the King As of today, The Dark Knight’s overseas gross stood at $561.22 million still less than its domestic take. But combined, the two had reached a staggering $1.12888 billion, enough to satisfy both Duke and Warner Bros. On the other hand, the film’s word-of-mouth remains overwhelmingly positive. Audience approval ratings have consistently stayed above 90%, and it continues to rank first on IMDB’s TOP250 list. Of course, this is partly due to IMDB still not opening up rating and comment sections for the two films. The war between The Dark Knight fans and The Godfather fans has long since spilled over from IMDB to every corner of the internet. On virtually every film-related website, you can spot skirmishes between the two camps. Moreover, the conflict is showing signs of escalating. Over time, more Duke fans who aren’t necessarily The Dark Knight fans have joined the fray. It must be said that Duke’s fanbase is massive, and when facing The Godfather fans, they hold an overwhelming advantage. Often, a single post or comment criticizing Duke or The Dark Knight will be followed by a dozen or more retaliatory replies attacking the critic. "Duke-Blowers" has gradually spread from North America to moviegoers around the world. It can be said that no director in history not even James Cameron or Steven Spielberg has ever managed to earn such wholehearted support from fans purely as a director. This phenomenon is virtually unprecedented in the history of cinema. Even on the other side of the Pacific, Duke has gradually acquired a nickname among fans—"Duke God." Of course, with fans come haters. The war sparked by The Dark Knight inevitably spread to their side of the web as well. However, a news release from China Film Group soon drew all fan attention elsewhere. In mid-September, China Film Group officially announced to the public that Duke’s new film Transformers would hold its global premiere next June in Shanghai. Furthermore, China Film Group had reached an agreement with Warner Bros. and Duke himself: two Chinese actors would appear in this massive production. The post-1980s generation has already risen to become a central force in society. The animated series Transformers, which was hugely popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s, holds a place in the hearts of many from that era. Add to that the global premiere in China and the inclusion of two homegrown actors, and public excitement was instantly ignited. This was only the first step in China Film Group and Warner Bros.’ promotion efforts for Greater China. Since they value this market, Warner naturally would spare no effort in pushing its flagship product. Duke’s films are undeniably the hallmark of Warner Bros. On the other side of the Pacific, no one understands the power and appeal of Transformers better than Duke. To exaggerate a little: as long as the special effects are solid, and Optimus Prime and Megatron appear on screen, the post-1980s generation will gladly pay to watch a Transformers movie. The inclusion of Chinese actors was both Warner’s suggestion and a market-driven decision. Duke did not oppose it. However, while the two Chinese actors wouldn’t be reduced to mere extras, their roles wouldn’t be particularly significant either—their screen time would be quite limited. In truth, their inclusion is more symbolic than anything else. As for the selection of actors, Duke’s requirements were simple: the male actor must be handsome, the female actor must be beautiful, neither should have too many scandals, and preferably, they should speak fluent English. In this regard, he only put forward the requirements; the specifics would be handled by China Film Group and Warner’s China division.