As the Thanksgiving box office season kicked off, the full week from November 17 to November 23 saw Beauty and the Beast dominate the charts, earning $68.73 million in its opening week and easily securing the top spot.
This performance placed it third among Pixar's four animated films, behind Toy Story 2's $87.31 million and The Lion King's $70.31 million, though it surpassed Toy Story's $46.73 million from 1991. Even as the third-ranked Pixar film, Beauty and the Beast's first-week box office haul was still something most Hollywood films could only dream of.
In second place on the charts was The American President, which earned $13.49 million in its first week.
Even with a better-than-expected curve, the film's domestic box office was projected to hit around $50 million, meaning Sony would once again be paying a hefty tuition fee for a production with a $62 million budget.
Another film from Daenerys Entertainment, The Conjuring 2, took third place.
In its fourth week of release, despite Beauty and the Beast not being a competing genre, The Conjuring 2 still saw its weekly box office drop by 38%, adding another $10.39 million to its total, which crossed the $100 million mark to reach $105.12 million in domestic earnings.
The fourth-place film was an older release from October 20, titled Get Shorty, a dark comedy based on a novel. Produced by MGM, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring John Travolta and Rene Russo, the film had a production budget of $30 million.
With an impressive 8.7 media score, Get Shorty had a relatively modest opening of $16.78 million, but it maintained strong legs.
From November 17 to November 23, in its fifth week, Get Shorty saw a 36% drop, earning $6.09 million and bringing its cumulative total to $59.61 million.
Simon was aware of this project and had personally selected Rene Russo, whose striking beauty had caught his attention in the original film. However, MGM lacked confidence in the film's commercial prospects, opting for an October release, which Simon didn't interfere with. After all, the off-season suited niche films that relied on word-of-mouth.
The film's success was entirely within Simon's expectations.
What Simon was more interested in, though, was the film's director, Barry Sonnenfeld.
He was the same director behind the Men in Black series in the original timeline.
Coincidentally, the rights to Men in Black had long been acquired by Daenerys Entertainment.
Simon had no immediate plans to launch the Men in Black franchise, as Daenerys' release schedule was already packed until 1997.
The $100 million-budget Cutthroat Island finally scraped its way into fifth place for the week.
After its dismal opening, no miracles occurred. In its first full week, Cutthroat Island earned a cumulative total of $4.96 million, falling short of even the $5 million mark.
With 2,505 screens, the film's first-week per-theater average was just $1,980.
Hollywood studios and North American theaters typically sign two-week minimum screening contracts, sometimes extending to four weeks depending on the box office performance.
Now, with Cutthroat Island's per-theater average below $2,000, it had already hit the threshold for early removal. To put it in perspective, the top film, Beauty and the Beast, had a per-theater average of $25,600—over ten times that of Cutthroat Island. With such low attendance, continuing to screen the film would result in financial losses for theaters, as operating costs remained unchanged. Many theaters either negotiated with Paramount for early termination or outright broke contracts and paid penalties, opting to pull the film from most of their screens.
By the start of the next box office week, Cutthroat Island's screen count had plummeted from 2,505 to just 1,196.
On November 24, as the second week of the Thanksgiving box office season began, seven new films opened in North American theaters.
Four of these were major releases with over 1,000 screens: Warner Bros.' Casino, a new film by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro; MGM's family comedy It Takes Two; Paramount's Johnny Depp thriller Nick of Time; and Sony's The Fan, starring Black action star Wesley Snipes.
The remaining three were smaller limited releases, two of which were from Arclight Films: The Crossing Guard, directed by Sean Penn, and a French drama To the Stars. The final one was Paramount's Two Bits, a drama starring Al Pacino.
Among the seven new releases, only Martin Scorsese's Casino was considered a heavyweight, with a production budget of $52 million.
Initially, Daenerys Entertainment was in talks to co-produce the project, but Simon ultimately passed it to Warner Bros.
It wasn't that Simon didn't believe in the film—although he recalled its box office underperforming. The main reason was that Daenerys' release slate was already full, and there wasn't an available slot.
In recent years, Martin Scorsese's films had gradually fallen out of favor in Hollywood, but Simon had always admired the director. He firmly believed that Hollywood shouldn't focus solely on commercial blockbusters like superhero or animated films just for profit.
A lack of variety in film genres would ultimately harm Hollywood's interests. With Daenerys Entertainment essentially half of Hollywood now, this lack of variety would, in turn, hurt Daenerys' own interests.
If Warner Bros. hadn't picked up the project, Simon was prepared to take it on himself, even if it meant delaying its release.
MGM's It Takes Two adhered to Simon's strategy for the studio: a few major blockbusters supplemented by a focus on low-to-mid-budget films. The film, starring the Olsen twins—older sisters to Marvel's Scarlet Witch actress Elizabeth Olsen—had a modest budget of $10 million and opened in 1,545 theaters.
Johnny Depp's Nick of Time and Wesley Snipes' The Fan were both mid-range productions with budgets under $30 million.
As for the three award-season hopefuls, Simon had no strong impressions of them and found their quality lacking after viewing. They were all destined to be box office flops.
With Cutthroat Island's disastrous first-week numbers revealed, combined with the summer box office failure of Showgirls, a $50 million production, Carolco Pictures, the major investor behind both projects, was declared finished.
Simon had been thinking a lot about this in recent days.
In the 1990s, due to the continued opening of international film markets and the rapid recovery of the global economy, Hollywood's overall growth wasn't slowed by a single company's repeated failures.
Without intervention, more capital would undoubtedly enter the fray.
This, in a way, was an example of people seeking extravagance after their basic needs were met.
When people have money, they want fame, and Hollywood is the fastest way to achieve it. Even if someone doesn't personally get involved, holding a lot of cash and investing in projects, securing an executive producer credit, can easily open doors to this glamorous world, where they'll be courted by celebrities they once only saw on the big screen. It can also indirectly boost the visibility of their behind-the-scenes businesses worldwide, achieving multiple goals.
Therefore, the influx of external capital into Hollywood was inevitable.
If it couldn't be stopped, it needed to be guided.
The key was to create channels for external capital.
Even if some wanted to go it alone, they had to do so within the Westeros system's control.
If possible, it would be best to divert them into other industries.
For example, into new technology sectors.
This week, leading up to Thanksgiving, Simon frequently discussed countermeasures with core members of the Westeros system.
By the time Thanksgiving had passed, many ideas had taken shape.
One decision was that Daenerys Entertainment's three core labels would remain closed to external investors.
Hollywood's major studios had long been heavily dependent on external funding, primarily because restrictive media policies had hindered their ability to diversify and expand. With limited revenue channels, major studios struggled to generate sustainable cash flow, leaving them constantly seeking outside financing. When a project succeeded, most of the profits went to the investors, and when it failed, it often led to long-term debt.
MGM's near-collapse in the 1980s was a prime example of this vicious cycle.
Daenerys Entertainment had grown steadily from the ground up, with a series of highly profitable projects, making it the only major Hollywood studio to achieve financial self-sufficiency. Not even Warner Bros., backed by Time Warner, could claim this.
In Simon's memory, the only other company that managed this feat was Disney.
By generating sustainable internal cash flow and avoiding dependence on external funding, Daenerys Entertainment had positioned itself to bear its own risks. If it were just a single studio, the risks would still be high, and it might not last long before needing to return to outside financing. However, Daenerys' self-sufficiency coincided with the relaxation of U.S. media policies, allowing the company to diversify through acquisitions, significantly increasing its ability to withstand risk.
Now, Daenerys Entertainment was in a position where it would no longer need external financing unless something catastrophic happened.
That didn't mean external funds weren't welcome.
It just meant that Daenerys Entertainment could continue thriving without them.
By not giving up most of its profits and by using diversification to maximize
revenue streams, the company could maintain a healthy, sustainable cycle.
Having achieved this, Simon certainly had no intention of undoing it by reopening Hollywood to outside capital.
That said, MGM, which was controlled by the Westeros system due to its Australian backing but had no direct equity ties to Daenerys Entertainment, could serve as a useful platform. Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, both closely aligned with Daenerys, could also take on this role.
As for the other major studios, Simon's strategy was to relentlessly suppress them, with the ultimate goal of reducing Disney and Paramount to second-tier studios.
This was why the previous round of external collaborations had excluded these studios.
With Daenerys Entertainment now connected to a vast number of U.S. investors following its IPO, Simon had fewer concerns.
The method for guiding external capital was simple.
Offer certain projects for external investors to participate in.
To avoid the risk of a project failing and burdening the studio with debt, this time the financing would be direct investment with shared profits and losses, not debt financing.
Simon wasn't about to take advantage of anyone.
So, the projects offered would be quite attractive.
In the past few days, two films had already been selected.
First was Robert Zemeckis' new project, Contact.
With the success of Forrest Gump still fresh in people's minds, Contact was sure to draw attention. Simon, however, knew that the film wasn't as successful as people expected. With a $90 million budget, it grossed only $170 million worldwide, resulting in losses on the box office alone.
So Simon handed the project to MGM.
By bringing in external investors, MGM would only earn a distribution fee, minimizing its risk. After all, the studio still had a significant amount of debt to pay off.
The second project was Species 2.
The first Species had been a hit, largely thanks to Natasha Henstridge's stunning performance. A sequel was a natural next step. However, Henstridge wasn't too keen on reprising her role, given her relationship with Simon, and no one wanted to pressure her. So, the project had been shelved.
Recently, MGM's head, Sherry Lansing, personally approached Simon, asking if he could convince a certain actress to make a brief appearance in Species 2. Even if she didn't strip down, MGM could give that job to another actress. Simon agreed.
However, the cost of the sequel would significantly increase, and Henstridge would only have a cameo, raising the risk.
So Simon insisted that MGM cover no more than half the investment, with the rest coming from external sources.
In addition to these two enticing projects, there would undoubtedly be others.
Simon's plan was to package at least five films together for external investors, essentially creating another "external cooperation plan." To show their commitment, Daenerys Entertainment would invest some funds if necessary, and Warner Bros. and Fox could also participate.
On the other hand, for capital that wasn't necessarily determined to invest in Hollywood, Simon hoped to direct it toward Silicon Valley.
As a result, several of the Westeros system's incubated projects, such as eBay and iPets, would soon initiate funding rounds, including IPOs.
To ensure investors could gain fame from investing in these projects, just as they would by investing in Hollywood, the Westeros system would use its media resources to generate buzz. For example, a story could circulate about a wealthy Latin American tycoon pouring $100 million into eBay just for a small stake, and once that story spread, everyone involved would benefit.
These were all small, detailed moves, but Simon didn't mind overseeing them personally.
The entire Westeros system was now an enormous business empire. Simon couldn't manage every single aspect, so maintaining control over the big picture was a necessity.
However, if Simon only focused on the big picture, he might overlook various minor issues, which could eventually snowball into major problems. So, Simon often found himself acting as a micro-manager, getting involved in the finer details.
In some ways, this was even more important than managing the overall direction.
Running a large nation is like cooking a small fish.
Simon had seen countless examples of this over the years, and after reflecting on them, he realized that this ancient saying was, indeed, timeless wisdom.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]