The meeting between MCA and Matsushita on Tuesday, September 25th, 1990, ended in another disagreement. Daenerys Entertainment, which was being closely watched by the media, showed no movement either. The originally sensational acquisition case seemed to have fallen into a stalemate.
After the hype of the Forbes 400 richest Americans list at the beginning of the month passed, the Westeros System team restarted the preliminary preparations for the acquisition of Bell Atlantic this week. James Raybould also began quietly accumulating Bell Atlantic shares, intending to secure a 4.9% stake before the acquisition was exposed.
Although Forbes magazine would release the global billionaires list next month, Simon's ranking on this list was already a foregone conclusion, so it wouldn't cause much of a stir.
On the Daenerys Television side, the sitcom 'Seinfeld', which Simon personally selected at the beginning of the year, also officially premiered on the ABC Television Network this Tuesday. ABC gave it the 9:00 PM time slot, with who wants to be a millionaire as the lead-in.
After the official launch, the premiere episode of 'Seinfeld' garnered 15.6 million viewers, leading ABC to immediately announce a two-season renewal.
In terms of films, David Lynch's 'Wild At Heart', which previously won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, opened last Friday on 532 screens. This film, which had been controversial and polarized from Cannes to North America, earned $5.73 million in its first seven days from September 21st to September 27th. The per-theatre average exceeded the $10,000 blockbuster level, exceeding many people's expectations.
After seeing the opening weekend box office data for 'Wild At Heart', Highgate Film began urgently reallocating screens. It's estimated that the screen count for the second week will reach around 800, and the film is expected to challenge the $20 million North American box office mark. Although it was a profit-sharing distribution contract, with North American box office exceeding $20 million, and including subsequent video and television rights distribution, Daenerys Entertainment would still make a decent profit.
Compared to 'Wild At Heart', the earlier release on September 7th of Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore's new film, 'Everybody's Fine', failed to generate any audience response after several limited screenings, ultimately only grossing a meagre $170,000 in the North American market.
Highgate Film originally invested $1 million for the North American all-channel rights to 'Everybody's Fine'. Judging from the theatrical box office results, a loss is inevitable.
Including 'Cinema Paradiso', which was bought by Universal Pictures for a high price but failed due to distribution strategy errors, Tornatore's two films failed to make any impact in the North American market. This Italian director is destined to find it difficult to gain Hollywood's favour in the future.
Except for Simon, of course.
If Tornatore's future excellent films like 'The Legend Of 1900' and 'Malèna' still appear, Simon will definitely take action.
Los Angeles.
After a short day of rest in Seattle with his Female Assistant, Simon returned to Hollywood to start his week of work.
Upon learning that Simon intended to readjust the pace of the DC Cinematic Universe, Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel immediately expressed opposition. Subsequently, Steve Ross also called Simon's office.
The subsequent plans for Phase One of the DC Cinematic Universe had been a highlight project that Time Warner, which had been struggling since the merger, had been continuously promoting for the past six months.
Moreover, although most investors acknowledged the win-win situation between Daenerys Entertainment and the Time Warner Group on the DC Cinematic Universe plan, there was no shortage of shareholders criticizing Time Warner management for giving up too much profit and initiative to Daenerys Entertainment.
It was foreseeable that once the development cycle for Phase One of the DC Cinematic Universe, originally planned as ten films in five years, was suddenly stretched to seven to ten years, those shareholders who had been accusing Time Warner management of giving away too much profit would certainly be even more dissatisfied. Some investors who originally stood by management might also change their attitude.
More seriously, this would definitely affect the stock price of the Time Warner Group.
Since he had made up his mind, Simon would not easily change his mind.
After several arguments, Time Warner still had to compromise because control of the entire DC Cinematic Universe was actually completely in Simon's hands. If things really came to a head, Daenerys Entertainment certainly wasn't afraid of the project being shelved indefinitely, but Time Warner could not bear the consequences.
However, Simon also made appropriate compensation.
The remaining two spots in Daenerys Entertainment's 10-film plan were both given to Warner Bros. Pictures, further tying the interests of both parties together. Moreover, Simon agreed not to officially announce this adjustment to the outside world, but would instead delay the plan through excuses such as poor project preparation during the execution process.
Having barely reached an agreement on this matter, Simon understood that a rift had certainly appeared in the cooperation between Daenerys Entertainment and the Time Warner Group.
However, such things were inevitable.
If Daenerys Entertainment and the entire Westeros System wanted to continue expanding, it was destined to harm the interests of more and more people.
September 28th, Friday, 1990.
Inside the office loft on the second floor of Daenerys Studios, the team specifically responsible for the DC Cinematic Universe plan occupied a dedicated office area next to Daenerys Effects in Loft 2. All aspects of the DC Cinematic Universe planning were generated here.
Furthermore, having the team stationed here made it easy to discuss the feasibility of various special effects scenes with Daenerys Effects at any time.
In the DC Cinematic Universe office area, in a common room of over 70 square meters, Simon, Amy, and Semel all appeared today. The common room had been used for auditions recently, and the walls were now covered with photos of various actors, mainly involving the three major series: Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash.
The core characters for Batman had long been decided and did not need discussion.
A series of lead creators for 'Wonder Woman' had also been finalized over this period, including Famke Janssen as Diana Prince, Joanna Cassidy as Queen Hippolyta, and Linda Hamilton as Queen Hippolyta's sister Antiope. During this week, various supporting roles for the series, such as Steve Trevor and Ares, God of War, were also finally decided.
Everyone was discussing the final candidates for the characters in 'The Flash' today. Of course, while it was called a discussion, the power of the final decision still rested in Simon's hands.
"Since everyone has no objections, the role of Barry Allen will be given to Jason Gedrick".
After carefully watching several screen tests and the actor's background information, and some discussion, Simon spoke.
Jason Gedrick, 25 years old, debuted in 1983. He had previously appeared in films such as 'Risky Business' starring Tom Cruise, 'Born On The Fourth Of July' directed by Oliver Stone, and 'Promised Land' by Michael Hoffman. His acting skills and experience were sufficient, and Simon also quite appreciated his performance in 'Promised Land'.
Moreover, on Wednesday night when Simon was invited by Robert Redford to watch his new film 'Havana', Redford had specifically recommended Jason Gedrick, who had already made the final list, to Simon. There wasn't much difference between the last few candidates anyway, and Jason Gedrick's conditions were sufficient in all aspects, so Simon went with the flow and did Redford a favour.
After everyone nodded, a staff member in the common room pinned Jason Gedrick's photo to the lead male position for 'The Flash' on the wall.
With that settled, Simon opened another file in front of him and said, "Next, the female lead. Tracy Pollan, Robin Wright, Amanda Wyss. Let's first re-watch some audition tapes of the three".
After Simon finished speaking, the staff in the common room closed the curtains without being told and turned on the projector.
A moment later, Tracy Pollan's audition tape appeared first on the projector screen on one side of the room.
Tracy Pollan is 30 years old this year and debuted even earlier than Jason Gedrick, also having rich acting experience. In addition, this actress is the wife of the popular Hollywood star Michael J. Fox, which was the most important factor in her reaching the final round of casting.
Robin Wright, 24 years old this year. She is not only the 'Jenny' from 'Forrest Gump' and 'Mrs. Underwood' from 'House Of Cards' in Simon's memory, but Robin Wright also happened to be the female lead in the hit series 'Santa Barbara', which was originally produced by New World Pictures and later taken over by Daenerys Entertainment.
'Santa Barbara' began airing in 1984 and only officially went off the air last year. During that time, Robin Wright also appeared in films like Rob Reiner's 'The Princess Bride'.
Amanda Pays, 31 years old, also came from a television background. Because she is the oldest, her acting experience is richer than the other two. Furthermore, Amanda Pays could be considered the most beautiful among the three candidate actresses.
After the audition tapes were played in sequence, Simon looked at the people around him.
Terry Semel spoke first, "I think Tracy Pollan is quite good. As Michael J. Fox's wife, that can also serve as a very good promotional point".
Although the 'Back To The Future' series starring Michael J. Fox had concluded, it wouldn't be a problem for this popular Hollywood star to maintain his A-list popularity for a few more years. As Fox's wife, much like Demi Moore, Tracy Pollan indeed had an inherent advantage.
However, as soon as Semel finished speaking, Amy said, "I think the advantage of being Michael J. Fox's wife isn't that significant. Amanda Pays should be better; her acting experience is richer than the other two. Moreover, her image and temperament are more in line with the setting of Iris West as a news reporter".
The director of 'The Flash' recommended by Warner, George P. Cosmatos, spoke up at this point, "But Amy, Amanda Pays is already 31 years old".
George P. Cosmatos had previously served as the director for big-budget films like 'Rambo: First Blood Part II' and 'Cobra'. Although he didn't fit Simon's criteria for selecting directors for the DC Cinematic Universe series, Warner ultimately wasn't as bold as Simon and therefore hoped for a more experienced director to helm the flash series.
The budget for 'The Flash' was borne by Warner, and Cosmatos couldn't interfere with crossover films like 'Justice League'. After several rounds of communication and confirming that the other party's production ideas didn't conflict much with his own, Simon agreed.
Hearing Cosmatos say this, Amy picked up a photo and showed it to him, saying, "George, if I said Amanda was 20 years old today, people would probably believe it, wouldn't they?"
Amanda Pays has a soft, somewhat Asian-style face. Although she is 31 years old, she is extremely well-maintained; some would believe it if she were said to be 20.
Since it had come down to the final three, Simon was actually satisfied with each actor, and any one of them would be fine as the female lead for the flash. The others only discussed it seriously because they knew Simon's attitude. Otherwise, they could just wait for Simon to decide for himself; there would be no need to waste words.
"But, Amy", Cosmatos added, "Amanda Pays is indeed very beautiful now, but if the flash series continues for ten years, can you imagine if she can still maintain her current appearance ten years from now when she's 41?".
Simon hadn't originally noticed this issue, but Cosmatos's words suddenly woke him up.
Thinking of the friends series in his memory that lasted for ten years, the lead actresses were all very good when the show started, but by the end, even Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, who had the highest beauty levels, gave off a strong sense that time is a cruel mistress.
Moreover, even without using friends as an analogy, in the Iron Man series, Gwyneth Paltrow as 'Pepper Potts', who was originally quite easy on the eyes, also ended up difficult to look at when she appeared after the series had lasted for ten years.
Amy then said, "According to your logic, George, Amanda Wyss and Tracy Pollan should be out immediately".
Simon ignored their argument and looked back at the materials in front of him.
Although any of the three candidates would be fine to play Iris West, Simon naturally had some preferences, and he had originally favoured Amanda Pays a bit more. This actress didn't lack the intellect of a female reporter and also had another kind of capable temperament.
Furthermore, in the plot of the flash, Iris West is definitely not a decorative presence; because of her profession as a reporter, she would trigger many plot points, including plots in the DC Cinematic Universe crossover episodes.
In the original timeline, Amanda Pays wasn't very famous, and Simon couldn't remember what she would look like ten years later. Moreover, Simon could also see that this woman had likely had plastic surgery. He hadn't cared much about this point originally, but it was obvious that women who have had surgery are actually more susceptible to the ravages of time.
Considering all this, Simon directly drew an X on Amanda Pays's information page, then looked up and interrupted Amy and George's argument, saying, "Amy, George's words just reminded me. Age is indeed a very important issue. I remember considering this before; if George hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten. Amanda Pays is indeed unsuitable. Pass her".
Amy paused, nodded, and asked, "Then, what about Tracy Pollan?"
Simon didn't hesitate much and said, "Cut her too".
With two out of three gone, the female lead for 'The Flash' was already apparent.
Everyone in the office also realized that a certain young woman who was only 24 this year had unknowingly benefited from her age.