Premiere

Jim quickly found the film distributor.

With the Jameson family's background, Jim's experience as a former top-tier producer, and the connections he had built over so many years in the industry, arranging a theatrical release was no difficult task. Even securing opening screens—that was merely a matter of screening allocation, and could be easily handled.

It had to be said that in Batman Begins, the biggest name was not any of the actors, but the investor.

Tony Stark.

Playboy, genius inventor, billionaire, and more.

With so many titles attached to him, he presented himself to the public as arrogant and attention-seeking.

Whether anyone genuinely liked him aside, the fact was that plenty of people paid attention to him.

Whenever Tony Stark opened his mouth, he became a billboard worth hundreds of millions.

Because across the entire United States, no one was unfamiliar with Tony Stark.

The guy was universally acknowledged as a born winner.

Just putting Tony Stark's name out there was worth twenty percent of the screenings for this movie.

On top of that, Jim had confidence in the film's quality.

Forty percent would not be difficult.

But Jim's confidence was soaring, and he was aiming for sixty percent of the screenings.

First, the production itself had to squeeze out every other film releasing in the same period.

Second, after lying low for so many years, Jim had finally seen a chance to make a comeback. Naturally, he gave it everything he had and would not let such a fleeting opportunity slip away.

He pulled out every trick in the book.

In the end, they set a release date and even held a premiere.

The promotional campaign began at the same time.

Batman Begins was considered a fairly well-known new novel in New York recently.

Anton's earlier preparations had paid off.

When people learned that a film adapted from the novel was about to be released, many readers gathered on the forum the Daily Bugle had specially created for the novel, chatting nonsense every day.

At the same time, news that Tony Stark had thrown down fifty million dollars to invest in a movie spread widely among the public.

A group of elite rich kids finally remembered the bet Anton and Tony Stark had made that day.

Rumors spread everywhere.

This movie had actually come from a bet between two rich kids!

Some grew curious.

Others immediately declared that it was definitely trash and that they would never watch it.

However, Anton released another piece of news: the idea for Batman had actually come from Tony Stark.

His parents had died in an accident, leaving him an inheritance worth billions. On the surface, he was a playboy, but in private, he was quite serious and spent every day thinking about saving the world.

People agreed with the first half of that statement, but opinions varied on the latter half.

Saying that a weapons manufacturer spent every day thinking about saving the world had to be some kind of bad joke.

It would be more in line with people's image of an arms tycoon if he spent every day thinking about starting wars.

In any case, under the successive bombardment of this information, the Batman movie attracted a great deal of attention, and its exposure surged.

Anton checked the system space. Batman's fan points had risen to eight hundred thousand.

The movie had not even been released yet. These were all fans brought in by the novel.

In a sense, if he published another ten novels, he would barely have enough fan points to buy the Batman suit.

However, with the movie's release imminent, Anton could not be bothered to think about that.

As long as Batman's name became known, he would not have to worry about people falling into the fandom. Gathering 9.98 million fan points should not be difficult.

He took out his phone and called Tony Stark, receiving a few sarcastic remarks in return.

In the end, Tony agreed to attend the premiere.

Tony loved making trouble more than anything, and people like that were always intensely curious.

In other words, he was very interested in this movie.

Of course, that interest did not mean Tony wanted to see what the movie was about. It meant he wanted to figure out how to mock Anton through it.

Tony believed he knew exactly what sort of person Anton was.

He truly had not expected Anton to spend three months actually making a movie.

And a superhero movie at that!

A genre Anton had created himself, one nobody had ever heard of.

"JARVIS, put me through to Pepper."

Thinking of the bet, Tony chuckled. "Hey, sweetheart, push back my trip to Afghanistan. You know, there's something really fun waiting for me lately... Oh, right. I might need a date for the premiere. Would you be my date?"

That day.

The premiere began.

Jonah Jameson arrived.

"I'll be looking forward to it."

Jameson smiled. "I hope this movie won't put me to sleep."

"Then you definitely won't be disappointed."

Anton patted his chest, brimming with confidence.

Next, aside from Tony Stark, who loved being late, nearly everyone had arrived.

After the usual speeches and the reporters' photos, the movie was about to begin.

Just then.

Tony Stark finally arrived fashionably late.

His date was Pepper Potts, better known as Little Pepper.

Anton was no stranger to her.

At many previous parties, Pepper Potts had often been the capable assistant cleaning up Tony's messes.

Over all these years, the only person who could keep Tony in line was probably his little assistant.

"You really do love being late, Tony."

Anton went to greet him.

"Anton, I'll be looking forward to you becoming my bag-carrying lackey after the movie ends."

Tony burst into laughter.

Over the past three months, he had nearly forgotten about the bet.

Tony never kept everyday matters in mind. That included the fifty million he had thrown out this time; to him, it was not much money at all.

But with the movie about to be released, the frenzied promotion and the rumors about the bet reminded him of his grudge with Anton.

"After watching the movie, I hope you'll still be able to say that."

Anton shrugged.

"You don't seriously think you can make some kind of classic, do you?"

Tony curled his lip and took Pepper to their seats, thinking that if the movie did not interest him, he would get up and leave immediately. He could estimate the timing and come back later. Either way, he would not let Anton slip away under his nose.

Meanwhile.

San Francisco.

Life Foundation headquarters.

Carlton Drake sat in his spacious office, staring at the bright view outside. His face was dark as storm clouds.

He hurled the documents in his hand into the face of the head bodyguard standing before him.

"How many days has it been already?"

Drake flew into a rage, spittle spraying everywhere. "For one insignificant Eddie, how many days have you chased him? How many people have you lost? And you still can't catch him? What am I keeping you around for?"

"Boss, we're not the only ones after him."

The head bodyguard did not dare argue, speaking in a low voice. "Their equipment is very good, and very unusual. They look like people from Osborn Company."

"Osborn... Norman Osborn, that bastard..."

Drake clenched his fists.

With the Life Foundation's power, it was still somewhat lacking if they wanted to confront Osborn Company head-on.

But Osborn Company was based in New York after all.

Norman Osborn might be able to extend his reach into San Francisco, but the principle that even a powerful dragon could not suppress a local snake had long been proven.

Otherwise, the Life Foundation would have long since become Osborn Company's possession.

But the key was that, given the current situation, the Life Foundation could only swallow its pride and take this loss.

Their only chance to turn things around was to capture Eddie, turn the research results into documentation, and place it on the San Francisco city government's desk. At that point, those bastard politicians who only cared about profit would naturally welcome the Life Foundation back with open arms.

The symbiotes were absolutely the future.

It was instinct, and it was destiny. Carlton Drake firmly believed it.

"What else?"

Drake glanced at the head bodyguard. "Tell me in detail about the Daily Bugle."

"The Daily Bugle's current actual controller is Anton Jameson, the grandson of its founder, Jonah Jameson. When Eddie served as editor-in-chief at the Daily Bugle, he had been close to Anton."

The head bodyguard said, "The online public-opinion attacks have everything to do with Anton."

"Teach him a lesson."

Drake gave the order coldly.

The head bodyguard cautiously spoke up. "Boss, Jonah Jameson is a distinguished guest of the New York city government. If we make a move against them, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to get away cleanly. It will inevitably be traced back to us... The San Francisco city government is already very dissatisfied with us. If we completely offend them over this matter, then I'm afraid..."

Drake's face darkened, and he clenched his teeth so hard they nearly bled.

He felt trapped between advancing and retreating.

Everything he did was obstructed!

"Shit!!"

Drake was beside himself with rage. "In any case, I want you to teach him a lesson. Make sure he understands the consequences of offending our Life Foundation."

"Yes!"

The head bodyguard did not dare argue further. He lowered his head in agreement, then left the office.

It took Drake a long time to calm down.

He thought of Osborn Company.

"Norman, you want to acquire my company? Never!"

A deep chill filled Drake's eyes. "Anton Jameson, don't think you're safe just because you're hiding in New York. No matter what, I will make you pay the price!"