The dinner lasted less than an hour. Despite understanding how rude it was to disturb someone while dining, people kept approaching Simon to greet him once they spotted him at the restaurant. Some even arrived after hearing that Simon Westeros was there, just to catch a glimpse of him.
Unable to endure the interruptions, Simon and Robert Iger had to cut the dinner short and pay the bill.
There were still many things to discuss, and Iger suggested they continue at a private club in the Upper West Side, where he had a membership. Simon agreed.
As they were walking toward the restaurant's entrance, they unexpectedly encountered three women, elegantly dressed in evening gowns, with a mix of grace and glamour.
One of them was familiar to Simon.
It was Kathy Hilton, wife of Richard Hilton from the Hilton family and mother of Paris Hilton.
The other two were also somewhat recognizable.
They were clearly Kathy Hilton's sisters, as the three women bore a strong resemblance to one another. In fact, in the past, Kathy Hilton's two sisters, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards, were often featured as Paris Hilton's aunts on the reality show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
This time around, the Richards sisters didn't appear on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, a show produced by Daenerys Entertainment. However, Kathy Hilton had made a guest appearance in the second half of The Real Housewives of New York's fourth season, which premiered this spring, and her presence, thanks to the Hilton name, had attracted considerable attention. The parties had already agreed to a contract for the next two seasons.
It may have been a coincidence that they were dining at the same restaurant, but the encounter as they left seemed more deliberate.
As they exchanged greetings and walked together toward the elevator, Kathy Hilton formally introduced her two sisters, whose eyes sparkled with excitement. She emphasized the surname "Richards," a subtle hint that was hard to miss. In this era, it wasn't common for Western women to keep their maiden names after marriage, so Kathy Hilton should have been Kathy Richards.
Once inside the elevator, the youngest of the three sisters, Kyle Richards, suggested going to a nearby bar in the building. It was a nice place, she said, where they could relax and have a drink.
Simon and Iger still had business to discuss and were not keen on being in a public space where they could be surrounded again. Simon was about to decline when Iger, who had been silently watching his boss flirt with the three women, interrupted. He mentioned the private club they were headed to and invited the three women to join them.
Kathy Hilton hesitated, but her two sisters immediately accepted the invitation, coaxing her to come along. Kyle Richards, perhaps teasingly, pointed out that Richard Hilton was out of town on business, so there was no rush to head home. With some nudging from her sisters, Kathy reluctantly agreed.
They headed to the underground parking garage. Simon's usual two black Mercedes were waiting, while the Richards sisters had driven themselves. They agreed to follow behind in their car.
After leaving Rockefeller Center, they followed Iger's directions and arrived at a building on West 70th Street in the Upper West Side, close to the Hudson River. They parked in the underground garage of a somewhat older building.
During the ride, Iger briefly explained the club's exclusivity. It catered specifically to top executives in the media industry. Members included heavyweights like Warner's Terry Semel and Viacom's Sumner Redstone. Iger mentioned that if Simon was interested, he could arrange for a membership right away, skipping the usual recommendation process required for most.
Over the years, many prestigious clubs had invited Simon to join, but he had never shown much interest.
This time was no different.
After hearing Iger's explanation, Simon smiled and remarked that it seemed like it would be anything but peaceful. Iger reassured him that he had made a call ahead, and everything would be taken care of.
True to his word, everything had been arranged by the time they arrived.
Simon, Iger, and the Richards sisters took a private elevator from the garage to the floor where the club was located. The young hostess was visibly surprised to see Simon Westeros but maintained her professionalism and led the group to a suite overlooking the Hudson River. The space resembled a large apartment, with a spacious living room of over 150 square meters, clearly designed for gatherings of 10 or more people. The suite featured elegant furniture, a pool table, a small bar, and a large poker table by the windows with a breathtaking view.
After making sure they were settled, the hostess left, leaving the five of them alone.
The Richards sisters had expected the club to be more lively, so they were a bit taken aback by the private setting. However, Kyle Richards quickly broke the ice by heading to the bar and offering to mix drinks for everyone, asking Simon what he would like.
Simon, casually ordering a cocktail, realized that discussing business was no longer feasible in this environment. He had wanted a quiet place but hadn't expected this turn of events. Internally, he couldn't help but laugh, thinking that Iger, despite his usually serious demeanor, clearly had a more playful side.
Still, a subordinate who observed his boss's behavior and sought to facilitate things wasn't someone to criticize.
Drinks in hand, they decided to sit at the poker table and play a few rounds of blackjack, using their drinks as bets. As they played and chatted about various topics, the atmosphere lightened. After about half an hour, Iger excused himself, saying he had other matters to attend to and leaving Simon with the Richards sisters.
By now, Kyle Richards was sitting right next to Simon, her arm draped over his shoulder.
Kathy Hilton, the oldest of the sisters, was 36, while Kyle Richards, the youngest, was 26, a few years younger than Simon. All three had started as child stars, and their beauty reflected this. In this era, the trend of extreme tanning hadn't yet fully taken hold among Western women. As a result, all three sisters had the fair complexion that Simon found especially attractive.
With Iger gone, Kyle Richards became even bolder, teasing Simon about raising the stakes with each hand, perhaps betting a full glass of vodka each time.
Simon chuckled, admitting he wasn't brave enough for that, which earned him a playful slap on the shoulder.
The four continued playing cards, drinking, and chatting. Kyle, sitting closer and closer to Simon, seemed to grow increasingly fond of him. At one point, she hinted that she would love a chance to perform, hoping Simon could give her an opportunity.
Simon was more than adept at deflecting such requests. He was well aware that all three sisters could handle their liquor, but his own drinking tolerance was impressive. He never made any rash promises while under the influence and smoothly navigated their advances.
However, being in a public setting where he didn't have full control made Simon feel uneasy. After another half-hour, he suggested they leave.
Back in the underground garage, Kyle Richards had linked her arm through Simon's, making it clear that, should Simon be interested, anything was possible that night. Since they had all been drinking, Simon offered to send them home in one of his cars. Kyle, however, boldly asked if they could come back to Simon's place instead.
Typically, Simon preferred not to get involved with women he had just met.
But tonight, perhaps due to the alcohol, he agreed.
Kathy Hilton, seeing her youngest sister get close to Simon Westeros, felt that the evening had gone quite well for them. She was about to leave with her other sister, Kim, when she noticed Simon ushering both Kyle and Kim into the back seat with him.
Simon's custom-built, bulletproof Mercedes had a spacious back seat, but it wasn't designed to comfortably fit four people. Kyle Richards solved the problem by sitting on Simon's lap.
Then, things escalated.
At Simon's Fifth Avenue apartment, the three sisters awoke the next morning to find themselves all in the same bed.
A heated argument nearly broke out between the sisters, but it was cut short when the bedroom door opened. The housekeeper, Andrea Davis, entered with a tray, prompting the women to settle down. After all, they had been raised as debutantes and knew how to maintain their composure in front of outsiders.
Simon had left the Fifth Avenue apartment early that morning.
It wasn't because he was avoiding the Richards sisters. He had arranged to have breakfast with Iger to continue discussing the topics they hadn't covered the night before. Although Simon and Iger, as core executives of Daenerys Entertainment, frequently communicated via phone and email, face-to-face discussions in a relaxed setting often proved more productive.
Over breakfast, Iger didn't mention the events of the previous night, returning to his usual image as a dignified and professional manager.
After breakfast, the two headed to Daenerys Entertainment's East Coast headquarters in Greenwich.
They had their respective tasks for the day.
Simon's schedule for the morning included listening to presentations from the television department's production teams about the new projects planned for the year.
Two of these projects had been greenlit by Simon himself.
One was a brand-new reality show concept.
Simon had personally come up with the idea and had tasked the production team with refining it. The show was American Idol.
In the original timeline, American Idol debuted around 2000 and quickly became a global phenomenon, with various countries launching their own versions. Simon planned to launch the show as a centerpiece for the fall season once the ABC acquisition was finalized. Additionally, the show would be integrated with Igret and Tinkerbell.
If successful, ABC would gain a top-rated show, Daenerys Records would acquire a roster of popular singers, and both Igret and Tinkerbell would benefit from an expanded music
catalog. It was a win-win for everyone involved.
The other project was equally well-known: Sex and the City.
This was based on a series of columns written by New York author Candace Bushnell, which began publication last year. The columns were inspired by her own experiences in New York's social scene. Simon had come across the project while reviewing the East Coast team's list of potential acquisitions and had immediately secured the rights.
With the success of the Real Housewives franchise and Desperate Housewives, Daenerys Entertainment's female-focused network, USA, had grown significantly in recent years. It was time to inject some fresh content.
Aside from these two cornerstone shows, Daenerys Television had a total of 21 projects lined up for the year, either signed with the four major networks or reserved for its own channels, USA and Fashion-TV. Simon had already reviewed the details of each project. Over the next three days, he would spend time discussing and negotiating the specifics with the production teams and project leaders.
Time flew by, and another week had passed in the blink of an eye.
The North American summer movie season had officially kicked off.
From May 12 to May 18, two major releases from the previous week had reached their opening weekend box office results. Disney's Crimson Tide grossed $25.54 million in its first week, achieving an impressive per-theater average of over $10,000 across 2,382 screens, indicating a big hit.
In contrast, The Basketball Diaries, produced by New World Pictures, was a box office flop.
Despite starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, two rising Hollywood stars, the film only managed to bring in $2.87 million from 516 screens, with a per-theater average of just over $5,000. The total North American box office was projected to only reach around $5 million.
With a budget of $7 million and an additional $3 million spent on marketing, even with other revenue streams, New World Pictures would have to absorb at least half of the losses.
Simon had reviewed every Daenerys Entertainment production in advance, and The Basketball Diaries was no exception.
He hadn't been particularly impressed with the project from the start.
However, he hadn't opposed the New World Pictures team's desire to take a chance on the summer season, hoping to replicate the success of Midnight Cowboy.
Now that the project had failed, it wasn't surprising.
Simon simply instructed the team to carefully analyze and learn from the experience to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
If the two releases on May 12 were just a warm-up for the summer season, the three major films set to debut on May 19 were all heavyweights: Fox's action sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance, DreamWorks' Casper, distributed by Paramount, and Sony's romantic comedy Forget Paris, directed by and starring Billy Crystal.
Bruce Willis, whose career had been in decline after a series of box office flops, had voluntarily lowered his asking price to work with Fox on the latest Die Hard sequel, which had a production budget of $90 million and was set to open on 2,525 screens.
Historically, Bruce Willis had been considered one of the luckier stars in Hollywood. After finding success as an action star, his career might have faded following the Die Hard trilogy. However, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction had revived interest in him, and later, The Sixth Sense had been an unexpected smash hit. Disney, not anticipating the film's success, had even sold the project to an independent production company. Ultimately, The Sixth Sense grossed over $600 million worldwide, with Bruce Willis, who had accepted a reduced fee in exchange for a profit-sharing deal, walking away with both financial success and renewed fame. Hits like Armageddon and Sin City further cemented his status.
But this time, both Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense had been preemptively acquired by Simon and handed over to other actors. It remained to be seen whether Bruce Willis would have the same luck with Die Hard with a Vengeance or if he would find another surprise hit down the line.
As for Casper, it was even more intriguing.
Historically, Casper had been a collaboration between Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and it was a massive success.
However, after Spielberg founded DreamWorks, the studio split with Universal due to disagreements over Jurassic Park. Although Amblin owed Universal one more film under their existing contract, the terms were flexible enough that Spielberg's team ultimately decided to produce Casper under DreamWorks, with Paramount handling distribution. The film had a $50 million budget and was set to be DreamWorks' first major box office hit.
But there was more to the story.
Word around Hollywood was that Spielberg had originally wanted Casper to open in mid-June, during the prime summer box office window, to avoid going head-to-head with Jurassic Park 2 in early June.
However, in the end, Paramount chose to reserve the June 16 release date for Braveheart, a film produced in-house by the studio. Directed by and starring Mel Gibson, Braveheart was another heavyweight that would reignite Hollywood's love for epic films. This forced Casper to move up to May 19, two weeks before Jurassic Park 2.
While two weeks might seem like a long time, the timing made all the difference.
Had Casper opened two weeks after Jurassic Park 2, the latter's momentum would have waned, leaving room for Casper to thrive. But by releasing Casper two weeks earlier, even if it opened strong, Jurassic Park 2 would crush the box office for every other film in its path. The massive drop in audience interest would be irreversible, severely impacting Casper's overall box office performance.
Additionally, family films like Casper tend to have longer box office legs compared to action blockbusters like Die Hard with a Vengeance, which can rake in most of their earnings within the first two weeks. This made Casper even more vulnerable to being overshadowed by Jurassic Park 2.
Clearly, even with their first major project, cracks were already appearing in the relationship between DreamWorks and Paramount.
This was almost inevitable.
Finally, there was Billy Crystal's romantic comedy Forget Paris, which had been promoted as having a similar vibe to When Harry Met Sally. With a $25 million production budget, Sony had given it a modest 1,069-screen release, suggesting they didn't have much confidence in the film. The initial reviews on its release day were also mediocre, making it unlikely to replicate the success of When Harry Met Sally unless a miracle happened.
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