Chapter 21

As the premiere came to a close and fans began to leave the theater, the air was still thick with excitement and disbelief. The final moments of the question-and-answer session, featuring Xu Can's incredible display of acrobatic prowess, had left everyone stunned.

Even director Marc Webb was taken aback. He had expected Xu Can to show off a few moves, but he never imagined that Xu would take it so seriously.

Performing stunts that usually require tight-fitting costumes—while wearing a suit, no less—was nothing short of impressive. Chinese kung-fu truly is something special!

After finishing his performance without so much as a deep breath, Xu Can calmly addressed the room, asking the reporter, "So, any more questions?"

The female reporter from The New York Times quickly sat down, wishing she could disappear. Her earlier aggressive questioning had lost all its bite. It was clear to everyone now: with Xu Can's skill, who could possibly stand in as his double?

The audience left the premiere still buzzing with energy. Once outside, their shock turned into lively discussions about the movie they had just seen.

"Spider-Man was amazing! He's exactly like he is in the comics!"

"I'm so relieved. The last few movies were such poor adaptations!"

"Even though this one made some changes, it felt right. It was so satisfying!"

"Yeah, and the casting of Spider-Man is genius. The actor is incredible!"

Leonard was especially enthusiastic. "This is the best live-action Spider-Man movie ever made."

"What do you think, guys?" he asked.

"Why even ask? Let's go!" Howard responded, leading the way.

They didn't head home. Instead, they marched straight back to the ticket office to buy more tickets—they hadn't had enough of the movie yet!

But they weren't the only ones with this idea. By the time they arrived, the line at the ticket window was already a mile long.

"Damn, how did everyone get here so fast?"

"This is ridiculous!"

"It's your fault for making us stop for a bathroom break!" Leonard grumbled at Sheldon for wasting time.

"Uh, I go to the bathroom on a strict schedule every day. Besides, why didn't you go ahead and line up if you were in such a hurry?"

"Whatever. Let's just grab tickets for tomorrow."

Just then, an older man walked by and said, "Don't bother. All the tickets for next week are sold out. Try another theater."

"What?!" Leonard was stunned.

Back then, online ticketing wasn't common, and most people bought their tickets at physical locations. With no widespread mobile internet or social media, news spread slowly, and people had no idea what kind of phenomenon Spider-Man was becoming.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away from the Galaxy Theater, in a quieter part of town, a young couple was deciding what movie to watch.

"How about The Pursuit of Happyness? I've heard it's a good drama," the man suggested.

"I want something with more action," the woman replied.

"How about Casino Royale? It's not out yet, but it looks great."

"We saw that last time, remember?"

"Okay, then…Happy Feet? Or wait, there's a new Spider-Man movie?"

"An Asian Spider-Man? Seriously? I wouldn't watch that if you paid me."

Before they could make a decision, a crowd burst through the theater doors, rushing toward the ticket window.

The man was startled, thinking it might be a robbery. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy!"

But the crowd wasn't there to rob the place. They were clamoring for Spider-Man tickets.

"Three tickets for the midnight show!"

"I'll take two for Spider-Man!"

"Six for Spider-Man!"

The man was dumbfounded. "Are you guys serious? You really want to see an Asian Spider-Man?"

"It's amazing!" one of the moviegoers replied, pushing past him. "Best movie in years! Now move, you're in my way!"

The man hesitated, then decided to queue up as well. But by the time he got in line, it was already stretching out the door.

"Jessica, maybe we should just go home."

Jessica scoffed, "I just bought us tickets. If you don't want to see it, go home by yourself."

"What?!" He immediately regretted his earlier dismissal of the movie. If only he had bought the tickets sooner, he might have scored major points with Jessica tonight. Now he was likely in trouble.

He couldn't help but wonder: Could an Asian Spider-Man really be that good? Why was everyone going crazy for tickets?

It wasn't just the theaters in Los Angeles that were filling up. Across the country, more and more fans were snatching up tickets for the midnight screening of Spider-Man.

At the Time Warner headquarters, CEO Dick Parsons was getting updates from his team.

"So, what's the buzz in the media?" he asked.

"Mr. Parsons, it looks like we're going to have a tough time with Superman Returns."

Unlike Marvel, which had sold off many of its rights, DC's IPs were all under Warner's control. This had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that Warner had the resources to develop its IPs on a large scale. The downside was that it required careful management. If the management wasn't up to the task, the entire DC universe could falter.

In the late '80s and '90s, Warner had successfully sparked a superhero movie craze with live-action films like Superman and Batman. Michael Keaton's Batman was the last great superhero film of that era.

But a series of flops—Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, and Catwoman—nearly destroyed DC's cinematic reputation and the live-action superhero movie market.

Despite these setbacks, Warner wasn't idle while Sony was developing Spider-Man. They were putting the finishing touches on Superman Returns, hoping to reignite interest in live-action comic book adaptations.

But while Spider-Man was grabbing headlines with the buzz about an Asian lead, Superman Returns had stayed relatively quiet.

The filming of Superman Returns was complete, and the quality was decent. If Spider-Man hadn't turned into such a phenomenon, Superman Returns might have made it into the year's top 10 at the box office.

But with Spider-Man stealing the spotlight, Warner was caught off guard.

CEO Dick Parsons could only hope that Spider-Man would get mixed reviews, giving Superman a chance to reclaim some attention.

"Don't worry," one of his subordinates reassured him. "According to our reports, Spider-Man's pre-sale box office isn't very high. It probably won't even break into the top five in North America. Superman should still have a fighting chance."

"Let's keep an eye on the attendance rates from the premiere night," Parsons instructed, though he couldn't shake the feeling that this battle between Superman and Spider-Man might not end well for DC.

Over at Sony's North American headquarters, Chairman Howard Stringer was also concerned.

"What's going on? The reviews are fantastic, so why aren't we seeing higher attendance on the first day?"

"It's the early skepticism, mainly. An Asian Spider-Man and the mixed track record of live-action adaptations—people need time to come around."

"Fine. Let's not worry too much about the first weekend's box office. We'll focus on driving growth afterward."

Stringer took charge, directing his team, "Ramp up our efforts. Push out more ads in malls and on TV. Collect the media reviews and launch another wave of publicity!"

While Sony's executives were anxiously monitoring Spider-Man's box office performance, the first wave of audiences from the premiere had already made it home.

The first thing they did? Rush to the bathroom. The movie had been so engaging that no one wanted to miss a second, and the theater bathrooms had been packed.

The second thing? Log onto social media, open Facebook, fire up their blogs, dive into online chat rooms, post on comic book fan forums, and jump into movie discussions.

These early viewers of Spider-Man had a lot to say. When you've just seen a super, super good movie, you can't help but share your excitement!

By the time the clock struck midnight, Spider-Man's reputation was already skyrocketing.

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