America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

New York, Manhattan.

Ted, dressed in a jacket, turned into a cafe, walked towards a corner, and sat down opposite a black kid.

The black kid flashed him a smile, revealing two rows of white teeth, "Cola Cult Forever! Long live the Sect Hierarch!"

Ted replied, "Long live Master Martin!"

"I know you, you're the leader of a fan group." Once the code was confirmed, the black kid asked, "You can't get the merchandise either?"

"No choice, it's a total shortage on the North American market. I had several overseas clients who watched 'The Dark Knight' last weekend. They really liked the Joker and wanted to buy a handcrafted statue of the Joker but couldn't find any." For his job, Ted even gave his own statues to the clients.

The black kid exclaimed in admiration, "The Joker is too hot, the handcrafted statues are selling like crazy. It's hard to get the stock."

Ted asked bluntly, "Do you have any in stock?"

The black kid looked around, seemingly worried someone might come over to rob him, and cautiously lifted his jacket to pull out a black cloth bag from under his armpit, opening it and placing it in front of Ted.

Ted examined the merchandise closely; inside were limited edition hand-carved Joker figures and Cola Cult Joker statues.

The black kid kept a wary eye on the people in the cafe. Given the current market situation in North America, these limited edition Joker handcrafted statues and figures were hard currency, difficult to buy even with extra money.

Ted picked up a statue, a strange smell assaulting his nose, "What's this weird smell?"

The black kid was unembarrassed, "Special times, special ways of delivery. You think someone dares to walk around the streets of New York flaunting a Martin's Joker statue? They could get robbed at any moment!"

He quickly lowered his voice, "Just spray some perfume, and it should fix it."

Ted had no choice, he really couldn't find stock, and asked, "How much?"

The black kid said, "2200 US dollars for the figure, 5500 US dollars for the Cola Cult edition sculpture, firm price!"

Ted's eyes widened with feigned shock.

The black kid picked up a statue, allowing Ted to look at the bottom, "The Martin and Lily Carter signature edition, Warner Bros. released only a few thousand of these, in a country of over 300 million people in America."

Thinking of his clients' needs, Ted clenched his teeth, "Fine, I agree to the deal now."

The black kid received the money and added, "A piece of advice for you, hide the goods well before you leave."

Ted, regardless of the strong smell, wrapped up the goods in the black cloth, stuffed it under his jacket's armpit, and zipped up before walking out.

The statues were no longer just limited editions, they were now scented editions as well.

Ted hadn't left the alley when he noticed a man in an old suit approaching, his face painted with Joker makeup, who turned and entered a convenience store.

Connecting this to the recent frequent Joker robberies, Ted hurried across the street, towards the opposite sidewalk, staying away from the convenience store entrance.

As soon as the Joker pushed open the door of the convenience store, he pulled out a revolver and pointed it at the owner, who was also the cashier, and shouted, "Give me the money, all the money, I just want money, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

The owner, not one to value money over life, opened the cash register to hand over the money.

Seeing the owner cooperate, the Joker relaxed a bit, his gaze wandering all over the place. He spotted the Cola Cult edition Joker statue behind the counter and immediately lost interest in the money.

With one hand holding the gun on the owner, he pointed at the statue with the other, "Give me that!"

The owner hesitated, seeming quite reluctant.

The Joker shouted, "Hurry up, don't make me shoot!"

The owner very unwillingly picked up the limited edition handcrafted Joker statue, handing it over to the Joker while his other hand secretly reached under the counter.

The Joker took the statue, overjoyed in his heart, knowing that such an item could sell for thousands of dollars on the black market, much more than the small amount in the cash register.
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He was also good at verifying goods, flipping the Joker to look at the bottom. One foot bore the engraving Martin, and the other Lily Carter.

Yes, it was the real deal!

While the Joker was distracted verifying the item, the owner pulled out a handgun from under the counter and aimed at the Joker's largest target, his chest, and fired.

Bang, bang, bang!

In an instant, the handgun's magazine was empty, and the Joker was bleeding profusely, collapsing to the ground.

The owner reloaded, clutched the gun, and stepped out from behind the counter. He kicked the Joker's revolver away, making sure he was no threat, then called the police, and picked up his statue again, wiping the blood off it with a tissue.

He glanced at the Joker robber on the ground and said sharply, "You motherfucker can rob my money, but you can't rob my Martin Joker statue!"

The Joker robber made a strange gurgling sound in his throat, then lay motionless.

The owner dared not display the statue in the store any longer, quickly locking it away in the safe at the back. With NYPD on the way and his store equipped with surveillance, he wasn't too worried.

......

New York, Brooklyn Studio.

The crew for "Shutter Island," the new project directed by Martin Scorsese, was officially established. In addition to Leonardo, the second male lead, Mark Ruffalo, also joined the crew early to experience life and prepare for his role.

Outside the studio, Ruffalo received a call from a friend: "I've been in the same crew with Martin before, but back then he was in Atlanta, just a temporary actor, and he didn't have the habit of giving gifts to the crew members, so I don't have any hand-carved Joker statues."

His friend said, "Find a way to get one for me, will you? All three of my kids are clamoring for the Joker, and even though I have money now, there's no way to buy one. I've heard that many of Lily Carter's handcrafted Joker statues on the black market come from members of Hollywood crews who have worked with Martin."

Hearing this, Ruffalo thought of his partner in this project and said, "I'll see what I can do."

The popularity of the Joker was simply too great; with several children at home who adored it, the person could only say, "Mark, please do me this favor."

Ruffalo hung up the phone, entered the studio, and found Leonardo, who was lost in thought by himself: "Hey Leo."

Leonardo nodded at him: "Running lines?"

"No," Ruffalo said with an embarrassed smile, "I need a favor."

He went straight to the point: "A few friends of mine want Martin's Joker statues, from The Dark Knight. They're not available on the market, and even with money, they can't find the right channel..."

Leonardo laughed: "That bastard Martin made a fortune! His sister made a killing too!"

Ruffalo, curious, asked, "You know Lily Carter?"

"I know her." Leonardo, having collected many art pieces, had developed some appraisal skills: "Her talent for carving... no, her talent for craftsmanship is excellent."

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

Ruffalo had looked into it; Joker statues were super popular. From the sound of it, Leonardo seemed to have a bunch? But he knew his place and didn't ask for too many: "Do you have four?"

Three for his friends, and one to keep for himself: "I'll pay for them..."

"Don't mention money to me, I've got plenty of Martin's little trinkets," Leonardo said, with some of them displayed in his New York house. "Tell you what, I'll bring them to you this afternoon."

Ruffalo quickly responded, "Thank you so much, Leo. You've solved a big problem for me."

"No problem." Leonardo thought to himself, the items he had collected could apparently be exchanged for quite a lot of money, but there was no need; he'd keep them.

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

He was shocked to discover the old man with a piece of cotton cloth, meticulously cleaning the Joker statue given by Martin.

Leonardo asked, "Do you also like the Joker?"

"The character Martin created is indeed excellent, a true classic," Scorsese pointed at the statue. "I never looked closely before, but now I realize the craftsmanship is really good."

Leonardo was resigned: "You've been influenced by the media."

"Don't you think that Martin and Nolan have simply nailed it with their promotion and marketing?" Scorsese implied something with his comment.

Leonardo, having worked with him for many years, clearly understood; he was being criticized here.

He said, "There aren't many like Martin in Hollywood! He's got thicker skin than Jack and me combined."

Thinking about his own married life, Scorsese, full of motivation, urged, "Leo, you need to work on that!"

"Is it just about causing a stir? I'm no worse than Martin in that regard," Leonardo decided to be bold once: "I came to ask for some time off, I'm planning a trip back to Los Angeles. Warner Bros. is throwing a celebration banquet for The Dark Knight. With such great commercial success for Martin, I can't skip it."

But that wasn't the main point. He went on, "Lately, I've been frequently encountering materials related to psychiatric hospital patients and I need to live that experience. If I don't take a break, in a few more months, Martin and Jack will really have to visit me at the Presbyterian Hospital."

"Sure, it's good to go back and relax," Scorsese suddenly changed his tone: "When you see Martin, help me get one of Lily Carter's latest carved Joker statues."

Leonardo was surprised: "How come I never realized you're a fan too?"

Scorsese coughed once: "Everyone has their youthful days; though I'm older now, my heart is still young."

Leonardo readily agreed.

That afternoon, he brought over the Joker statues and gave them to Ruffalo, then took a private flight back to Los Angeles that night, hoping to surprise Martin and Jack at the celebration banquet for The Dark Knight.

As The Dark Knight surpassed 300 million US dollars at the North American box office and broke through 500 million worldwide, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., as the producer and distributor, announced that they would hold a grand celebration party for the film, inviting many stars and celebrities.

In addition to box-office revenue, the film also brought in astonishing earnings from merchandise sales, with various related products accumulating more than 70 million US dollars.

Products related to the Joker have become the top sellers among the merchandise.

Compared to the box office, the profits from this segment were frighteningly high.

For all the merchandise that used Martin's image rights, he was able to get a twenty percent cut of the gross profits, with just this income alone likely to reach ten million US dollars by the end of the year.

Of course, movies that are more adult-oriented, like this one, can't compete with top children's titles from Disney; for instance, Elsa's dress once sold for several hundred million dollars, in US dollars.