As Luke and Taylor Swift walked into the movie theater, the first thing they saw was a massive poster for Pirates of the Caribbean.
Luke was standing front and center, holding a sword, clearly taking the A-list, center-stage spot. Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway were positioned on either side of him, with the other major characters lined up after them.
The poster made it obvious that Luke was the absolute star, with the largest space dedicated to emphasizing his presence.
The original poster wasn't like this. The previous design showed Luke and Depp facing each other, both holding swords, looking ready for a duel. At that time, they were being promoted as equals.
But who could have predicted how much noise Luke would make?
After his series of high-profile moves, Luke's popularity and public attention shot through the roof. At that point, it would have been totally foolish not to highlight Luke to maximize box office returns.
So, the distributors rushed to create a brand-new poster and fast-tracked its delivery to theaters all over the country. Apparently, for some of the more remote locations, they even used air freight to make sure the posters arrived before the premiere.
"You're everywhere! You're doing so well," Taylor nudged Luke gently with her elbow, whispering.
Luke followed Taylor's gaze, where a promotional poster for Hero was hanging—with Luke still dead center.
Hero was originally scheduled to leave theaters by the end of April, but because of its incredibly strong run and the added boost from Luke's ongoing buzz, its theatrical run was actually extended into the summer blockbusters. Even if it only added another week or two, it was a huge help for the box office. Luke couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Eisen had accidentally earned a few tens of millions more just from Hero.
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### The Box Office Showdown
Aside from Luke's films, Pirates of the Caribbean and Hero, the theater also had posters for a few other movies currently playing, most notably My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Luke knew the movie; it was a romantic comedy. If he remembered correctly, in the original timeline, it grossed \$368 million, landing it at No. 9 for the year's North American box office—a successful commercial film.
Among the current major releases, Pirates of the Caribbean was taking up almost half the screens, with a staggering 48% of showtimes. My Big Fat Greek Wedding was second with 25%. The resilient Hero was third with a 13% showtime share. Together, these three films accounted for a massive 86% of all showtimes, leaving only scraps for every other concurrent movie.
Seeing the numbers, Luke felt a little bad for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The movie, which could have done really well, was now in direct competition with his Pirates of the Caribbean.
If Pirates performs significantly better than My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the latter's showtimes will inevitably be eaten away. This is unavoidable. Pirates needs to hit better numbers, and theater owners, seeing its incredible draw, will naturally give it more screens.
Unfortunately, My Big Fat Greek Wedding will be the one to suffer. It looks like it won't be holding onto its original No. 9 box office spot for the year.
Interestingly, the movie that was originally supposed to be fighting for this May 3rd, 2002 slot was Spider-Man. However, due to Mr. Eisen's strong maneuvering, Spider-Man ended up delaying its release a bit. Spider-Man was also a huge film with massive box office ambitions, and when the odds weren't in its favor, it chose not to clash head-to-head. After all, nobody wants to needlessly lose money, and there were plenty of other good times to release it.
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### The Premier Crowd
The time was drawing close to midnight. The waiting area was packed with people getting ready for the midnight premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Unlike other movies, where the audience is usually under 40, Luke was surprised to see quite a few older people, even folks in their fifties and sixties with gray hair.
"Your appeal is pretty great! You're even getting people my dad's age to come out and support you. Oh, and my parents are huge fans too—remind me to get a few autographs later," Taylor said with a smile.
"It's probably the football game that brought in those fans. It's the national sport; every age group watches it," Luke replied, once again thinking about what a high-value move that friendly game was.
"Let's get closer and listen to what they're saying about your movie," Taylor said, pulling Luke's hand. They finally found the only empty seat.
"There's only one spot; you sit down," Luke offered.
"You sit. I'll sit on your lap."
Before Luke could answer, Taylor pushed him down into the seat. Then she turned around and sat sideways on his lap.
You have to hand it to American girls—they're certainly open about things.
"Put your arm around my waist, or I might accidentally fall backward," Taylor said, though her ears were clearly blushing.
Luke smiled, tempted to say, Then maybe you shouldn't sit there, but he wasn't that stupid. No man would pass up a chance like this to hold a beautiful woman. Still, since their relationship hadn't been clearly defined, and she was still a bit shy about it, he couldn't be too aggressive.
So, Luke gently placed his hand on her waist. The incredible firmness and warmth he felt, sent a pulse through his fingertips, and he couldn't help but give it a light squeeze or two.
"Stop moving your hand! Listen to what the audience is saying."
Taylor lightly smacked his hand, and when Luke took it away, she grabbed his hand and gently placed it back around her waist.
Seeing her actions, Luke thought of that classic line: When it comes to a guy she likes, a girl is afraid you'll move too much, but also afraid you won't move at all. Truer words were never spoken.
At that moment, two young men sitting to their left were talking. One was tall and muscular, the other a little shorter but also very strong. Their voices were low, but Luke and Taylor could hear them clearly.
"Man, tickets were hard to get. I had to pay extra for mine," the shorter, strong guy said.
"That's dumb. Why let a scalper make money? You should have just waited a few days," the tall guy grumbled.
"But after seeing those trailers, I couldn't wait! I had to see it immediately!"
"I get it. When I saw Luke's muscles in the trailer, I couldn't help but drool a little," the tall guy confessed.
"Getting ideas? Are you going to cheat on me?" the short guy teased.
"No way! You're the only one for me. Looking at Luke is just eye candy, and don't tell me you don't want to look, too."
"Fine, I admit I drooled a little, too. For a man, a nice set of muscles is the best outfit. Just look at that fat guy next to us; his gut is hanging out."
"He might be big, but his girlfriend is hot! If I wasn't into guys, I'd totally be stolen away by that woman!"
"So you're turning straight again?"
"You're blaming me again! I'm just saying it's nice to be rich. If I had that kind of money, I'd spend all day at the gym hitting on all the buff guys."
"And you said I'm the only one for you? See? Money ruins men!"
"Just joking, babe! Don't be mad!"
Hearing their highly informative conversation, Taylor was trying desperately to suppress her laughter, struggling to keep it in. Luke had to pat her on the back to keep her from choking.
After a moment, Taylor recovered and whispered, "Wow, you're so popular, you're appealing to everyone!"
"It's an outlier, just an outlier," Luke replied helplessly.
"Beware of large numbers of outliers!" the sly Taylor objected. "They were still calling you beautiful even though they were into guys."
While she knew Luke was trying to change the subject, Taylor couldn't help but ask, "Am I the most beautiful woman you've ever met?"
Luke avoided the question, smiling as he took her hand and stood up. "Come on, the movie's about to start. Let's head in."