Daenerys Entertainment's Burbank branch.
After two weeks of drawn-out negotiations, New World Pictures President Danny Morris finally secured the film rights to a thriller novel titled 'The Silence of the Lambs'.
'The Silence of the Lambs', published two years ago, is a sequel written by author and screenwriter Thomas Harris, based on his other novel, 'Red Dragon'.
'Red Dragon' was published in 1981 and was adapted into a film in 1986 under the title 'Manhunter'.
However, 'Manhunter' had a budget of $15 million but only recouped over $8 million at the box office, making it an extreme failure. Consequently, although the novel 'The Silence of the Lambs' was a bestseller, Hollywood was not particularly keen on adapting it for film and television. The project circulated among various filmmakers for the past two years without successfully entering production.
That was until Daenerys Entertainment expressed interest.
Prior to this, only Orion Pictures, which had just received a $200 million capital injection from Canada's Seagram Group to overcome its bankruptcy crisis, had been intermittently in contact with the project.
As the news spread, various Hollywood studios immediately expressed interest and made tentative offers.
When Daenerys Entertainment did not withdraw decisively, as it usually did when faced with competition, a bidding war erupted.
According to Daenerys Entertainment's practice of purchasing copyrights in the past two years, when a project is highly sought after, the company typically does not participate in bidding wars.
However, 'The Silence of the Lambs' was an exception.
Because Simon insisted on securing the rights.
And so, they were secured.
The final transaction price was $1 million plus 5% of the global box office net profit sharing.
Just the basic $1 million copyright transaction price far exceeded the initial asking price for the adaptation rights of 'The Silence of the Lambs'.
According to Hollywood accounting standards, net profit sharing usually does not exist.
However, Thomas Harris's agent was not an amateur and stipulated in the contract that the project's cost figure would be capped at $30 million. This means that no matter how much Daenerys Entertainment invests in the project in the future, it will only be calculated based on a fixed cost of $30 million.
Such a cost cap is actually quite high.
It's important to note that to receive a share of the profits, 'The Silence of the Lambs' would need to achieve at least $70 million in global box office revenue.
However, even if he doesn't receive a share, the $1 million advance payment far exceeded Thomas Harris's expectations.
Moreover, Danny Morris felt that if 'The Silence of the Lambs' truly had the value Simon placed on it, its global box office would at least be around $200 million.
With a global box office of $200 million and a fixed cost of $30 million, Thomas Harris would then receive an additional $3 million in profit sharing.
Of course, if calculated based on a global box office of $200 million, Daenerys Entertainment would also make a significant profit, making such an expenditure worthwhile.
However, Danny Morris still didn't quite understand why Simon suddenly showed such strong interest in this project, even breaking his own rules for it. If such a precedent was set, more copyright holders would surely make exorbitant demands once Daenerys Entertainment expressed interest.
Santa Monica.
Simon ended his call with Danny Morris, feeling a sense of helplessness.
The reason for making an exception for 'The Silence of the Lambs' wasn't just because it was a box office hit in the original timeline, but also to thwart Orion Pictures.
Speaking of which, this was also an oversight on Simon's part.
He should have remembered this project much earlier.
As the second horror film after 'The Exorcist' to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, it created an Oscar-winning actor with just 15 minutes of screen time, and its box office performance was also outstanding. These factors alone meant Simon couldn't miss it.
However, before he accidentally saw a batch of copyright materials sent by New World Pictures, he had still overlooked this film.
If another Hollywood studio had already acquired or was trying to acquire the rights to this project, Simon might have cooperated with them, making 'The Silence of the Lambs' one of the ten films planned at the time.
However, Orion Pictures was an exception.
In the original timeline, 'The Silence of the Lambs' could be said to be Orion Pictures' last major box office hit.
Now, due to Simon's appearance, many things have changed.
Influenced by Simon's series of huge successes in Hollywood, many investors became more interested in the North American film and television industry.
Consequently, Australia's Qintex successfully acquired MGM, and Canada's Seagram Group also tested the waters in Hollywood earlier than expected, injecting $200 million into the already bankrupt Orion Pictures at the beginning of this year, acquiring a 25% stake in the company from Orion's original major shareholder, John Kluge.
With financial support, Orion Pictures weathered the storm and was preparing to regroup.
'The Silence of the Lambs' wasn't originally a key project for Orion Pictures. Firstly, its predecessor, 'Manhunter', was a box office failure, which largely influenced producers' judgment of the film's box office prospects. In memory, the film was released in the unpopular month of February, almost as if it had been abandoned.
However, it just happened to be that successful.
If Daenerys Entertainment had, as usual, backed off immediately after initial contact due to industry attention and competition, the project would likely have still ended up in Orion Pictures' hands.
To acquire Orion's film library, and to reduce Daenerys Entertainment's competitors in Hollywood, Simon would not allow Orion to have such a success again.
Having already taken 'Dances with Wolves', which originally belonged to Orion, and now taking 'The Silence of the Lambs', the last two successful films of Orion in Simon's memory had now all fallen into his hands.
The Seagram Group was actually just testing the waters; the Bronfman family of Canada's ambition in Hollywood was not limited to this, and they would not continue to inject capital into a small pond like Orion.
As soon as these $200 million were spent and performance failed to recover, Orion's time in Hollywood would come to an end.
Having intercepted 'The Silence of the Lambs', the next step was naturally to greenlight and start production.
This time, Simon decided without hesitation to abandon the idea of Anthony Hopkins playing the male lead.
As the actor playing Alfred, the butler in the 'Batman' series, if Hopkins suddenly became an Oscar winner, it would only add more variables to the project's progression. Therefore, Simon would rather 'The Silence of the Lambs' suffer a reduction in box office or even fail due to a change in cast than allow the DC cinematic universe plan, which Daenerys Entertainment was heavily invested in, to encounter any complications.
Speaking of which, if the actors participating in the DC cinematic universe series could steadily fulfil their contracts, Simon wouldn't mind giving them a boost. But because of what happened after the release of 'Batman Begins', Simon directly abandoned that idea.
People's hearts are always fickle.
Simon was not a person who trusted people's hearts too much to begin with.
Amidst the busyness, the first week of the 1990 Easter holiday season quietly passed.
This year's Easter was April 15th, 1990.
During the Easter week from April 13th to April 19th, Hollywood saw the release of two films: 'Children of the Corn II' from New World Pictures, a subsidiary of Daenerys Entertainment, and 'Crazy People', a family comedy starring Daryl Hannah from Paramount Pictures. Both films opened on around 1,300 screens.
'Children of the Corn II' did not receive strong critical acclaim and did not show potential as a dark horse. In its opening week, the box office was only $7.13 million. With the box office momentum of 'Pretty Woman' slowing down in its 11th week, it barely managed to take the box office crown for the week, with an estimated total North American box office of around $25 million.
Compared to the film's $3 million budget, an anticipated box office of $25 million is naturally a great success.
Paramount Pictures' 'Crazy People' took in $5.76 million in its opening week. If the decline can be controlled, the domestic total box office is expected to exceed $15 million, which is not too bad. However, this film's budget was also $15 million, so Paramount will have to rely on overseas and other distribution channels to recoup its costs.
'Batman Begins' and 'Driving Miss Daisy' from late last year, and 'Pretty Woman' from the Valentine's Day slot in February, are all entering their final stages.
With the box office champion of Easter week failing to break ten million in its opening week, this Easter seemed a bit quiet.
By the end of April, Hollywood was generally beginning to prepare for the summer blockbuster season, which was a month away.
Daenerys Entertainment has recently started airing TV trailers for 'Ghost' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. These are Daenerys Entertainment's key summer projects this year, scheduled for release on June 1st and July 6th, respectively. Additionally, there's 'Hellraiser III', confirmed for release at the end of the summer season on August 10th, with a promotional and distribution scale naturally incomparable to the first two films.
'Sleeping with the Enemy', a collaboration with Fox, and 'The Hand That Rocks the Cradle', a collaboration with Disney, are scheduled for June 15th and July 27th, respectively. Daenerys Entertainment does not need to invest too much effort in the promotion and distribution of these two films.
However, when tallied, the number of projects related to Daenerys Entertainment this summer reaches five, which is more than any other Hollywood studio.
Simon subconsciously always wanted to keep a low profile, but in reality, it was difficult to avoid.
Saturday, April 21st, 1990.
There was too much to do recently, so I was still working overtime on the weekend.
Around two in the afternoon, while on the phone with Terry Semel of Warner Bros. discussing the preparations for 'The Fugitive', Jennifer pushed open the door. Sandra followed the female assistant, and seeing Simon on the phone, she unceremoniously walked in and sat down opposite him.
Simon chatted a few more words with Terry Semel, then put down the phone and casually marked a name on an actor's profile in front of him.
This was the candidate list for Harrison Ford's murdered wife in 'The Fugitive', a very minor role originally played by Sela Ward.
This time, Sela Ward also submitted her resume.
After all, she was a woman he had spent a night with, and the original choice, so Simon decided to give her the role directly without an audition.
He put the material aside, looked up, and caught Sandra peeking. Simon put down his pencil and smiled, "Don't look around, this is a trade secret".
Sandra pouted, "I'm not interested. Tell me, why did you call me? I'm very busy; I've made plans with everyone to go to Palm Springs for the weekend, and we're leaving soon".
Simon handed her the script for 'The Silence of the Lambs' and said, "See if you're interested. I've already had a copy of the script sent to Bob. If you're also interested, you and your senior brother can star in this movie together".
The Bob Simon referred to was Robert Duvall, also a client of Jonathan's. Because they had both studied under the same acting coach at one point, he and Sandra, despite a thirty-plus year age difference, were considered senior and junior siblings. When Sandra first entered Hollywood, Duvall had even helped his junior sister.
Since he didn't plan to use Anthony Hopkins, Simon no longer insisted on the original cast for the main creators of 'The Silence of the Lambs'. He wasn't too familiar with the original female lead, Jodie Foster, so he might as well let Sandra try. Aside from not having an Oscar-winning title, Sandra's personal fame and box office appeal in the past two years were actually stronger than Jodie Foster's.
Moreover, if the project is still successful, it might help Sandra get an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
If it failed, then it failed.
Sandra picked up the script, flipped through a few pages, and then put it in her shoulder bag, saying, "I'll read it when I have time this weekend. Anything else?"
Simon feigned sadness and said, "You're in such a hurry to leave? Am I that unlikable to you now?"
Sandra rolled her eyes, "You're a married man now, Mr. Westeros. I don't want any more rumours about us".
"I understand, you're worried about Janette coming after you".
"Think whatever you want".
As Sandra said this, she was clearly still provoked by Simon. She stood up as if to leave, but suddenly leaned across the desk, grabbed Simon's collar, and pulled him towards her.
Simon thought she wanted to kiss him forcefully, but then saw Sandra open her small white teeth and make a sudden biting motion towards his nose, startling Simon. By the time he reacted, the girl was already walking out of the office, laughing.
Touching his nose, which had almost been bitten, Simon shook his head helplessly.
The female assistant pushed open the door again to remind him, and Simon got up and left the office, walking towards a conference room inside the office building.
James Raybould and Leon Black from Apollo Management had both rushed to Los Angeles for the weekend. Today, they were to discuss the acquisition of MCA, primarily focusing on funding issues after officially launching the acquisition.
Although operations had begun quite early, and he knew that Japan's Panasonic Corporation was also secretly preparing to acquire MCA, Simon still decided to launch the acquisition offer in the second half of the year.
In memory, while negotiations for Panasonic's acquisition of MCA started very early, due to the outbreak of the Iraq invasion of Kuwait war during that period, the North American stock market suffered a severe blow. The acquisition of MCA by Panasonic was not completely settled until early 1991, so Simon still had enough time.
After the war broke out, MCA's stock price fell due to the stock market's setback, which also happened to be the best time for Daenerys Entertainment to enter the market.
However, the earlier the preliminary preparations, the better.
The more thoroughly prepared, the greater the chances of success in the future.
After this period of private contact with some banks in North America and overseas, James Raybould had basically resolved the funding issue. Some large banks in Europe, Australia, and even Japan were very interested in Daenerys Entertainment's financing plan.
Because of Daenerys Entertainment's excellent publicly disclosed financial data and the substantial assets accumulated by the entire Westeros system in recent years, these banks were not at all concerned that the enormous funds Simon borrowed would be unpayable.
For the planned massive sum of over $3 billion, Simon would naturally not choose just one bank, although he might very well succeed even if he did. However, diversifying loans actually amounted to recruiting potential allies for Daenerys Entertainment.
In this world, if you borrow enough money, you can always be a bit more assertive.
Continuously using interconnected interests to weave a large network for Daenerys Entertainment and the entire Westeros system has been a key focus for Simon in recent years.