Rolling Wealth

The street where the TCL Chinese Theatre stood.

It was nearly two in the morning. Aside from entertainment venues still teeming with people, only a few convenience stores remained open, and the streets would normally have been nearly empty. But today, a crowd had gathered outside the flagship SpongeBob House store.

Nearly a hundred people.

"Wow, they really have a Sheriff Woody figurine!"

"This puffer jacket is so pretty. It even has Cowgirl Jessie printed on it."

"Buzz Lightyear is the coolest, okay?!"

"Look, look, look! They even have limited-edition full sets of Toy Story characters here!"

The nearly hundred moviegoers who had just finished the film were still caught up in a frenzy. Impulse buying was impossible to stop. American young people especially had no concept of financial planning. When they saw something they liked, of course they bought it.

Holy shit!!!

What was going on?!

James and Charlize, who had just been complaining, were dumbfounded when they saw so many people flooding into the store. James reacted quickly, though. The moment he heard the customers' excited discussion, he understood.

"Hey, hey, hey, everyone! Welcome to the flagship SpongeBob House store!"

James enthusiastically introduced the merchandise. "You're seeing this right. You can find Toy Story movie merchandise here—toys, figurines, keychains, clothing, stationery, books, everything. And SpongeBob House has exclusive rights throughout California! If you want something, you'd better buy it fast. Hesitate, and it'll be gone!"

Exclusive sales rights?

First come, first served?

It would have been better not to hear that. The instant they did, a brown-haired beauty who looked under twenty shouted, "I want a Buzz Lightyear toy and a Sheriff Woody figurine."

"I want to buy something too," another voice called out.

"Certainly, ma'am. The Buzz Lightyear toy is thirty-eight dollars, and the Sheriff Woody figurine is forty-two dollars. That comes to eighty dollars."

James hurriedly said.

The smile on his face was incredibly warm.

How could it not be? Today was shaping up to be a massive blowout!

"Zucker is fucking awesome!"

"And fucking ruthless!"

"The Buzz Lightyear toy costs less than three dollars to make, yet he dares to sell it for thirty-eight! That two-meter Sheriff Woody figurine only costs six dollars, yet he sells it for forty-two. He made seventy-one dollars from that one sale alone!"

At that moment, James felt utterly outclassed. He had thought he was already enough of a swindler, but who would have thought Zucker was even more ruthless than him?

What movie merchandise store dared to charge prices like that?

There was nothing to be done about it. Zucker had exclusive rights now!

Not just exclusive rights in Los Angeles, but in four entire states!

"Sir, you want this puffer jacket, correct? Certainly. That'll be two hundred and eighty-eight dollars."

"Ma'am, the keychains, toys, and books you bought come to one hundred and twenty dollars."

"You want the Buzz Lightyear flight suit, right? This one is a limited edition, and the price... Ah, you'll buy it no matter the price, and you want two sets? Certainly. The total is three thousand seven hundred and eighty dollars."

James and Charlize instantly became busy.

The enthusiasm of nearly a hundred customers in the store instantly sent SpongeBob House's revenue soaring.

The boss was awesome!

The boss was invincible—and black-hearted!

Charlize Theron could not help becoming excited.

"James, you goddamn bastard, hurry up and drive that Chevrolet sports car we prepared to the front of the store!" Zucker and Lasseter arrived at the store at that moment, and naturally, it was Zucker who shouted.

A Chevrolet sports car!

That was right, it was also a piece of movie merchandise!

Zucker was notoriously stingy. He normally drove a used car himself, yet he had now prepared a sports car as movie merchandise in advance.

It cost eighty thousand dollars and was priced at two hundred thousand!

That was right. Zucker was just that insane!

Do not think Zucker's asking price was too high. Sometimes there really were plenty of brain-dead Americans. In the original timeline, a limited-edition Bumblebee toy that cost less than five dollars to make had been sold for five thousand dollars—a hundredfold markup—and the damn things still could not stay in stock.

"If a monk can touch it, why can't I? We all have one nose and two eyes. If they dare sell it that expensive, so can I." That was Zucker's logic.

Half an hour passed.

All the customers had left the store.

A great many Toy Story merchandise items had been sold, along with more than twenty items of merchandise from other films. Well, that Chevrolet sports car still had not sold in the end. That left Zucker slightly displeased.

"Zucker, you're incredible! Toy Story merchandise is insanely popular. Tonight's sales broke sixteen thousand five hundred dollars."

James could no longer suppress his excitement!

After all, this was only Toy Story's midnight screening, and they had already sold so much. Wouldn't daytime sales tomorrow explode even more?!

The more Zucker earned, the more secure James's job would be, and he also received a sales commission. Though the commission was not much—only seventy dollars—it would add up to a considerable amount.

"That's right, Boss. Look at how good business was tonight. You have to pay me overtime," Charlize chimed in as well.

Overtime pay?

You were dreaming.

"No overtime pay, but there's a late-night meal. Well, if you don't want it, forget it." Zucker curled his lip.

Hearing that, Charlize hurriedly said, "I'll eat. Why wouldn't I? I'm going to eat you bankrupt, you vampire."

Eat me bankrupt? You were dreaming.

If I pay her overtime, it'll probably cost sixty dollars. But if I just take her to some cheap restaurant, she can eat thirty dollars' worth at most, probably even less. Hehe, I'm such a clever little genius! Zucker thought, unable to stop himself from grinning.

[You're doomed to die single, Host!]

Suppressing his joy, Zucker immediately instructed James to contact the other six SpongeBob House stores and ask about their sales.

Very soon.

The sales figures from the other six stores came in as well.

Their total sales exceeded ninety thousand dollars.

"Zucker, I'm starting to regret this. In a few days, I bet Jobs will want to tear you apart alive."

At that moment, John Lasseter, who had been playing the role of a transparent bystander all along, suddenly spoke up. As he looked at Zucker, he grew increasingly sour.

Shameless!

How had this bastard determined months ago that Toy Story would be a massive hit? And at such a cheap price, he had secured the merchandise rights for four entire states!

"Pixar Animation Studios got completely screwed over!"

Lasseter screamed inwardly, staring straight at Zucker as though he wanted to see through him.

But who was Zucker?

Could his thick skin really be pierced by a pair of eyes?

The next morning.

Toy Story lived up to expectations, pulling in 4.2 million dollars from midnight screenings, while its word of mouth exploded. As a result, more and more people went to see it during the day.

With the movie becoming a huge hit, Zucker's SpongeBob House stores were packed with customers.

Business was booming!

On November 23, the previous day's box office numbers came out.

Toy Story was firmly in first place, earning 29.14 million dollars without including midnight screenings.

Casino, produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and released on the same day, earned only 9.94 million dollars in its opening and ranked second. GoldenEye, released a week earlier, took in only 6.2 million dollars that day and ranked third. The American President, distributed by Columbia Pictures, made 5.11 million dollars that day and ranked fourth. None of the other films in theaters earned more than four million dollars.

There was no doubt that during the 1995 Thanksgiving season, not a single film could compete with Toy Story.

Toy Story's explosive success undoubtedly shook all of Hollywood.

As a result, Pixar Animation Studios' phones did not stop ringing that day. Countless owners of movie merchandise chains even called personally, hoping to secure merchandise licenses.

However, they were quickly dumbfounded.

"Holy shit!"

"Zucker Wald? Who the hell is this bastard?!"

"That damned bastard secured the rights to four entire states two months in advance?!"

The owners of those movie merchandise chains cursed loudly, feeling extremely unhappy—especially those in the four states where Zucker had secured the rights.

Unhappy as they were, they still swallowed their pride and called Zucker.