Night fell, but the bedroom of a penthouse apartment on Lexington Avenue remained unlit.
Faint city lights filtered through the window, scattering across the dishevelled king-sized bed in the bedroom. In the dim light, a faint, hazy aura seemed to linger in the air, but there was no one on the bed.
In the corner by the window, a woman, clad only in a bath towel, was softly curled up in a single armchair. Her voluminous, slightly damp, messy hair obscured half of her flushed face. Her head was tilted, one hand propped against her lips, as she dared not look at the man sitting cross-legged on the carpet, massaging her calves.
It was clearly his fault.
At one point, she felt like she was going to die.
However, despite her attempts to discreetly hide the fact that her calves, overtaxed, were cramping, he discovered it before she showered. She felt a strong urge to flee in disarray.
A moment later, her gaze cautiously flickered over again.
The man was looking down, appearing very serious and patient. So, she lightly tapped his knee with her toes, signalling that she was fine.
Simon looked up and softly asked, "Do you want me to rub the other one too?"
No!
She screamed inwardly, still avoiding his gaze, and softly said, "My left leg is fine. You… you should go back to Greenwich".
Simon nodded and said, "I'll have someone send some food over first".
The woman froze for a moment.
Then what?
Then he would leave.
Although she didn't want to, and didn't dare to, contend with Janette, this was her first time being intimate with this young man. Even if he had just feigned a little resistance, just to humour her, it would have been nice.
A wave of self-pity washed over her.
She pulled her calf back from his hands and completely curled up in the sofa.
Seeing Sophia like this, Simon reached out. The woman felt his touch and flinched away, even turning her back to him.
But his hand didn't give up. It reached under her and pulled with a little force. Sophia was dragged down, letting out a soft gasp as she landed on the carpet, her bath towel coming undone.
Her body lay exposed.
She twisted, trying to move away from Simon, but she couldn't resist the large hand that effortlessly seized her.
She could only look at him with a wronged expression, her eyes feeling moist, as she fought back tears.
Simon saw that the woman was no longer trying to escape. He stroked her face and softly said, "I can't give you much, but what I can give you, I will".
She knew his words were only half-spoken.
What he couldn't give, there was no point in fighting or snatching for it.
She confronted him for a brief moment longer, knowing he was waiting for her response, and finally gave a submissive hum.
Putting those thoughts aside, she suddenly felt that her earlier little tantrum was uncalled for. Worried that he might think her response lacked sincerity, she actively pressed her cheek against the man's palm and said, "I… I brought food over this afternoon. It's in the kitchen. Just heat it up".
Simon picked the woman up and placed her on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, saying, "Then you wait a moment".
After they had a simple dinner together, Simon returned to Greenwich.
Sophia had been staying in Manhattan for the past few days, and given her condition tonight, it was even less likely for her to return to Greenwich to see the children.
The next day was Saturday.
Simon and Janette attended a Gucci party at the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan that evening. After spending the weekend on the East Coast, they returned to Los Angeles.
At Daenerys Entertainment, three films were released in October: Jane Campion's 'An Angel At My Table' on October 12th, 'Ju Dou', which was acquired from the Cannes Film Festival, on October 19th, and 'Misery' for the Halloween slot on October 26th.
'An Angel At My Table' and 'Ju Dou' were both distributed by Highgate Film and didn't have high box office ambitions. However, Ira Deutchman had already submitted 'Ju Dou' for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The main focus was 'Misery', a collaboration with Universal Pictures.
Previously, during the summer, 'Sleeping With The Enemy', a collaboration with Fox, and 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle', a collaboration with Disney, both achieved excellent box office results. Therefore, Universal was also confident in 'Misery', which also belonged to the crime thriller genre.
'Misery' was adapted from an original novel by the famous horror novelist Stephen King, and its reputation was arguably greater than the previous two. The two protagonists, Don Johnson and Susan Sarandon, were also well-known Hollywood stars.
Simon had seen the rough cut of this version of 'Misery' more than once before and had participated in the production of the trailer.
Compared to the version starring Kathy Bates, Simon preferred the new version.
Both were Oscar-winning actresses, and Susan Sarandon's performance was in no way inferior to Kathy Bates'. Moreover, due to their looks, the obvious sexual tension between the two protagonists added a few more layers of unusual contrast and suspense to the film.
When Simon returned to Los Angeles, 'Misery' was already in the final, intensive trailer release phase of its promotion.
As one of Daenerys Entertainment's 10-film plan, and because the two previously released films had achieved high box office and attention, this new film naturally garnered a lot of media attention, indirectly saving Universal Pictures, the distributor, millions of dollars in marketing expenses.
In addition, promotional work for a series of films in the year-end slot had already begun.
Daenerys Entertainment would primarily release four films during the major Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday slots at the end of the year.
These were Kevin Costner's 'Dances With Wolves' on November 2nd, 'A League Of Their Own', a collaboration with Columbia Pictures, on November 23rd, Robert Altman's 'The Player' on December 7th, and 'Home Alone' on December 21st.
Speaking of which, 'Dances with Wolves', which had already received good internal reviews after several test screenings, would be Daenerys Entertainment's Oscar lobbying focus this year. Logically, the film's release date would have been more suitable in December.
However, Simon also had box office ambitions for this film. In his memory, 'Dances with Wolves' was also a blockbuster with a North American box office of over $180 million. Therefore, to avoid conflict with 'Home Alone', Simon still released the film in November.
As for 'The Player' in December, this film would, of course, also pursue Oscar nominations. However, it was well-known that Robert Altman's works had never pleased Oscar judges. Having already won the Golden Lion at Venice, it was considered a success. The goal of this film was merely to accumulate long-term box office through the awards season hype, with no expectations for awards.
Two commercial films, 'A League Of Their Own', distributed by Columbia Pictures, and 'Home Alone', produced by Daenerys Entertainment itself, occupied the two major slots. The promotional work proceeded systematically, so there was no need to elaborate further on this aspect.
Thursday, October 11th, 1990.
As mid-October approached, the filming of 'Batman: The Dark Knight' in Australia was entering its final stages, scheduled to wrap up next week. Simon planned to fly to Melbourne next week to review the dailies with the key creative team to determine if any reshoots were needed.
Around five o'clock in the afternoon, Simon, who, as usual, wouldn't leave work on time, was at the studio's post-production centre discussing the post-production plan for 'The Silence Of The Lambs' with the creative team when his female assistant appeared and whispered a few words into his ear.
After listening to Jennifer, Simon thought for a moment and said, "Forget about the cocktail party. Tomorrow morning, I'll go to Burbank".
Janette had just told Simon that Lew Wasserman, finally unable to wait, had personally invited Simon to a cocktail party tonight to discuss the MCA acquisition, which was already well-known throughout Hollywood.
Having been busy for days, Simon only intended to go home after work. He had no desire to become one of those social creatures who attended two hundred various gatherings a year, so he chose to decline.
The female assistant left after hearing Simon's response.
After Simon and 'The Silence Of The Lambs' director Jonathan Demme finished their discussion, the female assistant reappeared and restated the meeting time for tomorrow.
The next day, Simon first went to Daenerys Studios, swapped his car for an inconspicuous ordinary vehicle, and discreetly drove to Burbank.
Lew Wasserman was waiting for him in an office building in the northwest corner of Universal Studios.
The two met and exchanged a few brief pleasantries, then Wasserman got straight to the point, saying, "Simon, everyone knows now that you're interested in Universal. A friend of mine at Citibank told me that you've already signed a $2 billion loan intent agreement with them. So, I don't understand what you're waiting for?"
For a seller to actively solicit a buyer is, under normal circumstances, definitely not a wise move, as it essentially hands over the initiative to the other party.
However, Simon was incredibly patient this time, dragging Wasserman out until he lost his patience.
The 77-year-old man should, in theory, not be the one lacking patience, but seeing MCA's stock price, which had remained relatively low due to Daenerys Entertainment's continued lack of commitment, and the urging from Panasonic, he had no choice but to be more proactive.
What Simon was waiting for, of course, was the preparation for the Bell Atlantic acquisition in New York.
Due to the official announcement of Panasonic's acquisition of MCA and the continuous release of news about Daenerys Entertainment's interest in participating in the bidding, MCA's stock price had recently approached $60.
Now, with public news, Simon believed the company's stock price would definitely soar to $70. Once MCA's stock price exceeded Simon's bid limit, it would become a very troublesome problem, and it would be very difficult to bring it down again.
At that point, MCA would also be unlikely to accept Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition offer, which would be lower than the market price.
In comparison, if two acquisitions could be launched simultaneously, and a stance of possibly abandoning one of them was adopted, the market's reaction would not be as fervent.
At this moment, in front of Lew Wasserman, Simon certainly wouldn't tell the truth, but he also said with a sincere expression, "Lew, I'm not entirely sure whether I should participate in the MCA bidding right now. You know, Daenerys Entertainment is developing very well. I think that even without merging with another Hollywood studio, just by patiently working for a few more years, Daenerys Entertainment will become strong enough".
In fact, MCA's revenue in the last fiscal year was $3.3 billion, with a net profit of $296 million. This year, due to the poor box office performance of 'Back to the Future Part III' during the summer, revenue and profit performance would be even worse. In comparison, not to mention the estimated net profit exceeding $1 billion, in terms of revenue alone, Daenerys Entertainment would also be able to surpass MCA this year.
The gap between the two sides was essentially just a matter of foundation.
To be precise, Simon's excuse was indeed flawless. With a few years of patient operation, Daenerys Entertainment would definitely be able to reach a state where it was completely on par with, or even surpassed, the Big Seven.
However, this still required time after all.
Moreover, MCA's Universal Studios and record company were not merely things that could be accumulated over time.
The history of Universal Studios is almost as long as Hollywood itself. If Daenerys Entertainment were to invest in building a studio project now, although there would be no financial problems and the company would have enough IP resources to support a studio theme park, a newly built studio simply couldn't achieve the deep-rooted, long-term influence of Universal Studios and Disneyland.
The same was true for record companies.
Leaving aside other things, Universal Music's vast music copyright library alone was not something that could be achieved through simple short-term accumulation.
Furthermore, MCA could also form strong synergy with Daenerys Entertainment in terms of distribution channels, cinema chains, and film libraries. Simon definitely needed to acquire this company.
Lew Wasserman, who had been active in Hollywood for over half a century, naturally saw all of this and said, "Simon, last week I had a conversation with Akio Futoi from Panasonic. If you really don't intend to get involved, then by next week at the latest, MCA will submit Panasonic's offer to the board for review and then proceed with a shareholder vote. I know that many corporate bidders will get involved just before others hold a shareholder vote, just like Paramount last year. This allows them to grasp the competitor's cards and leverage to the maximum extent, but I don't think this is necessary for you".
Simon pondered.
Before this meeting, Simon had been worried that MCA and Panasonic would reach a preliminary agreement this week and quickly initiate a shareholder vote.
Now, according to Wasserman's statement, MCA would hold a board discussion on Panasonic's acquisition proposal next week, and a further shareholder vote would take at least another week. Before he knew it, it would already be the end of October, which perfectly aligned with Simon's planned schedule.
Since that was the case, Simon completely relaxed.
However, after a moment of consideration, Simon said, "Alright, Lew, I am indeed interested in MCA. However, I don't intend to engage in an unrestrained bidding war with Panasonic. If you agree, I hope Daenerys Entertainment and MCA can sign a secret letter of intent, and if the acquisition fails, Daenerys Entertainment will not pay any termination fees".
In typical corporate mergers and acquisitions, considering the impact of the acquisition on the target company's operations and stock price, the acquiring party usually promises to pay a termination fee if the acquisition fails, often ranging from 1% to 5% of the target company's market value.
This meant that, based on MCA's transaction price of $6.6 billion in the original timeline, if the acquiring party wanted to withdraw, they would have to pay a termination fee of between $66 million and $330 million.
However, nothing is absolute.
As long as both parties communicate properly, this fee can also be waived.
When Warren Buffett and Tom Murphy's Capital Cities acquired ABC Television Network, Buffett, who was in charge of that acquisition, proposed that if the acquisition failed, Capital Cities would not pay a huge termination fee, and the ABC Television Network executives at the time agreed.
Of course, that acquisition was ultimately successful.
Lew Wasserman's expression was hesitant when he heard Simon's request.
He understood that Simon's request was primarily to suppress excessive market speculation on MCA stock. Once investors learned that Daenerys Entertainment could withdraw at any time without paying any cost, they would be more cautious when buying MCA stock.
However, this posed a very significant risk for MCA.
In a situation where two companies are bidding for one enterprise, if one party's bid is not competitive enough compared to the other, they are not required to pay a fee upon withdrawal. Furthermore, the party that wins in the bidding process only needs to pay a termination fee if they abandon the acquisition later due to negotiation issues or regulatory influences.
If Simon's condition were accepted now, and Daenerys Entertainment squeezed out Panasonic but then abandoned the acquisition for some reason without having to pay any cost, MCA would be in tears.
It should be noted that once an acquisition completely fails, the first thing that will happen is a sharp drop in MCA's stock price, returning to its pre-acquisition level. At that time, countless shareholders with heavy paper losses will surely put pressure on management.
On the other hand, after going through the turmoil of an acquisition, the company's own operations would also be severely affected.
Just like MGM, if it hadn't been repeatedly sold off in the 1980s, but had been patiently managed, this old film studio wouldn't be in its current half-dead state.