In April, Simon began to focus more on the film business of Daenerys Entertainment.
The highly anticipated DC Cinematic Universe project, 'The Dark Knight', completed its final cut at the end of March and successfully received a PG-13 rating, with a release date of June 7th. The first week of April saw the film begin its massive pre-release promotional campaign, marking the final two months before its theatrical run.
In January, Warner Bros.' self-produced film, 'The Flash', still with Simon as producer, quietly kicked off in Australia. Filming has begun in Melbourne, with an estimated shooting period of 3 to 4 months and a release date of December 20th, during the Christmas season.
Daenerys Entertainment's 'Wonder Woman', scheduled for release next summer, is expected to begin filming in June.
In addition to the DC Cinematic Universe project, because Simon postponed the production of 'Superman', the original project director Martin Campbell was borrowed by MGM to shoot '007: Goldeneye'.
"Thanks" to the insistence of the Broccoli Family, who co-own the 007 rights with United Artists, Timothy Dalton will still play the lead role in '007: Goldeneye'. However, Martin Campbell was the original director of the Pierce Brosnan version of '007: Goldeneye'.
Of course, Famke Janssen, who has already been confirmed to play Wonder Woman, will not be playing the Russian female agent who uses her long legs to kill people this time.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Sherry Lansing included a certain 'older man killer' in the final shortlist of Russian female agents and even asked Simon for his opinion.
Simon had absolutely no idea that Catherine Zeta-Jones, with her sweet and innocent image, could portray the crazed and bloodthirsty nature of Famke Janssen in the original 'GoldenEye'. Considering that MGM would soon become the Johnston Family's business, he didn't accept Lansing's potentially well-intentioned suggestion.
Regarding roles in his film projects, Simon's consistent attitude is that if the role is suitable, he is very happy to do a few favours, but if it is not suitable, he would never joke about investing tens of millions of dollars.
In fact, many Hollywood projects fail because of poor casting decisions involving personal connections and other factors, and this accounts for a very high percentage of Hollywood's failed films.
The Hollywood film industry system has a very powerful aspect, but it can also appear quite unprofessional at times. It's only because film investment is inherently risky, with success and failure seemingly involving a large element of luck, that many of these unprofessional factors are masked.
Ultimately, Hollywood filmmakers are used to spending other people's money and only earning a fee for their work.
When you spend someone else's money, you won't feel too bad if you lose it.
Daenerys Entertainment, however, is Simon spending his own money.
Because each project is responsible for its own profits and losses, and each project involves a huge investment of anywhere from several million to tens of millions of dollars, it naturally requires extreme caution.
Not only 'The Dark Knight', but other films by Daenerys Entertainment set to open in the Summer Box Office Season, including collaborations like 'Terminator 2', 'The Fugitive', and 'A Few Good Men', as well as films acquired from Universal Pictures such as 'Backdraft', 'Jungle Fever', 'Problem Child 2', and 'Mobsters', have all launched their final promotional campaigns for the Summer Box Office Season since April.
After the Oscars were announced, it was confirmed that Pixar had accumulated enough technology, and the 3D version of 'The Lion King' officially began production.
Meanwhile, another major project in 1992, 'Jurassic Park', also successfully completed its script under Simon's personal supervision. In April, the project officially began pre-production casting, with filming expected to begin at the end of the year and a release date set for the end of next year.
In summary, Daenerys Entertainment had four major self-released projects in 1992: 'Wonder Woman' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II' for the Summer Box Office Season, and 'Home Alone 2' and 'Jurassic Park' for the year-end season.
Simon's decision to extend the development cycle of the DC Cinematic Universe project was not without its benefits.
If the pace of two films per year is maintained, projects like 'Jurassic Park' will likely face direct competition with DC Cinematic Universe blockbusters, which often results in a lose-lose situation.
As for the other project Simon agreed to Spielberg, 'Schindler's List', Spielberg didn't rush to film it back-to-back with 'Jurassic Park' because he was less rushed this time around. The film is expected to start shooting in the second half of next year and be released in 1993.
In addition, other external collaborations with Daenerys Entertainment are also on Simon's recent work agenda.
Of the original 10-film plan, four have been released so far. This Summer Box Office Season will release three more: 'Terminator 2', 'The Fugitive', and 'A Few Good Men'.
Of the remaining three films, one belongs to MGM and the other two to Warner Bros.
Last year, in order to persuade Paramount to stop obstructing Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA, Simon promised them three collaborative films.
If we also include Simon's directorial contract with Disney, Daenerys Entertainment has a total of 7 collaborative projects.
Finally, reviewing the screenplay and novel rights that Daenerys Entertainment has been acquiring over the past year, in addition to several key IPs such as 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Jurassic Park', Daenerys Entertainment has also acquired the rights to two other works published in 1990.
Both are comics: one is 'Men in Black', a science fiction comic by an artist named Lowell Cunningham, and the other is a children's comic, 'Shrek'.
In total, Daenerys Entertainment's current copyright library includes the entire Marvel Super Heroes universe, DC's Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman trio, the entire Middle-earth series from Tolkien, the two major spy series 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Bourne Identity', the 'Charlies Angels' series acquired from Columbia Pictures, the 'The Fast And The Furious' series originally acquired from B-movie king Roger Corman, the quietly acquired 'Forrest Gump', the enduring 'Jurassic Park' series from the original timeline, plus 'Men in Black', 'Shrek', the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' series already in development, the 1930s 'The Mummy' series from the Universal copyright library with great adaptation potential, and so on. All these stockpiled original timelines are highly sought-after copyrights, enough for Daenerys Entertainment to develop for more than thirty years.
In the realm of animated films, Daenerys Entertainment also acquired Pixar, the company behind blockbuster 3D animated films such as 'Toy Story', 'Finding Nemo', and 'Monsters, Inc.'.
It's fair to say that even if Simon were to completely relinquish his role now, and even if only half of all those copyrights achieved the success Simon remembers, Daenerys Entertainment's film business would still be strong enough to maintain its dominant position in Hollywood for a very long time.
Moreover, Simon certainly wouldn't let go. Daenerys Entertainment's team, which he had meticulously built over several years, is more than capable of supporting the development of these valuable copyrights.
After a month of shuttling between various film sets, production meetings, post-production meetings, actor auditions, and publicity meetings, May arrived in no time.
The Cannes Film Festival will open on May 9 this year. Daenerys Entertainment has two films in the main competition: 'Barton Fink', a new film by the Coen brothers and produced by Highgate Film, and 'Jungle Fever', a new film by Spike Lee and acquired by Universal Pictures, which will be released this Summer Box Office Season.
Ira Deutchman led her team to Cannes a week in advance.
Simon, on the other hand, wanted to take this opportunity to go to Europe with Janette for a break.
However, Janette was less than three months pregnant, and her doctor advised her to avoid flying. So, she decided not to fly at all during her entire pregnancy, which was one of the reasons she relinquished control of Cersei Capital.
Although she no longer manages Cersei Capital, Janette is not idle all day long; she just tries to avoid getting involved as much as possible.
Her brain, which used to only work seven-tenths of the way, has now reduced that to three-tenths.
Point Dume Manor.
The date is Sunday, May 5th, 1991.
James Raybould was picked up by his daughter from Los Angeles International Airport and rushed over here, where Simon and his wife were already waiting for him outside the Shell Villa.
Although it's a day off, we need to discuss some very important matters today.
In short, it's about the assets, cash, and liabilities of the entire Westeros System.
After exchanging pleasantries, everyone went together to a small conference room inside the villa.
Seeing the four women from ABCD in the villa serving tea and water just like his own daughter, James Raybould felt a bit weary again.
What a waste of money raising them!
However, after just thinking about it, James quickly turned his attention back to business.
Starting with the stock market crash of 1987, Simon's personal wealth grew at an astonishing pace over the course of a few years.
At the same time, the entire Westeros System was absolutely spending money like water.
In particular, the two major acquisitions of MCA and Bell Atlantic in the past year, although the final loan ratio was not as high as initially expected, the total debt of Westeros System has reached tens of billions of dollars.
In an era when giants like General Motors, IBM, and General Electric generally had market capitalizations of around $50-60 billion, a debt of tens of billions of dollars would be a very heavy burden for most companies, not to mention that this amount was essentially Simon's personal debt.
In recent years, Westeros System's expansion has relied mainly on financial support from the highly profitable Daenerys Entertainment, in addition to Simon's gains during several major financial booms.
The recently concluded Gulf War was arguably the last major market rally that Cersei Capital's hedge fund business could capitalize on for many years to come.
Therefore, it is unlikely that they will be able to obtain funds in the billions of dollars from the financial market again.
While Daenerys Entertainment's net profit reached an astonishing $1.12 billion in 1990, this year, due to the acquisition of MCA, Daenerys Entertainment's debt increased by $7 billion in one go. Including previous debts, Daenerys Entertainment's total debt exceeds $8 billion, meaning it needs to repay over $1 billion in principal and interest annually.
In 1990, Daenerys Entertainment's revenue figure was $3.96 billion, while MCA's revenue was $3.37 billion.
With the merger of the two companies, the new Daenerys Entertainment will have a revenue exceeding $7 billion.
However, with Daenerys Entertainment doubling in size at once, the company's profit margins will no longer be as high as when it was operating with a lighter budget.
Moreover, there are still huge debts to be repaid in recent years.
Therefore, it is unlikely that Daenerys Entertainment will be able to obtain funding to support other companies within the Westeros System.
Bell Atlantic, another company, is also a source of cash flow that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue and can fund Westeros System.
However, Simon did not intend to drain Bell Atlantic's resources; on the contrary, he planned to provide additional funding to drive Bell Atlantic's investments in mobile communications and the internet over the next few years. Therefore, this company cannot be relied upon to invest elsewhere.
Cersei Capital, Daenerys Entertainment, and Bell Atlantic were unable to inject much capital into the system, while many companies within the Westeros System maintained a constant thirst for funds.
Ygritte alone will need to invest approximately $500 million this year.
Companies like America Online, Nokia, and Cisco are also big spenders.
Moreover, even if Westeros Company stops investing in other new technology companies, Simon will need to continuously inject funds to maintain his stake in the new technology companies he has invested in.
Next, Daenerys Entertainment plans to launch the Universal Studios Osaka project with a total budget of approximately $2 billion. Even with Matsushita sharing half of the investment, Daenerys Entertainment itself will still need to contribute an additional $1 billion.
Finally, Simon and his wife's daily expenses are actually quite high.
Of course, to be precise, Westeros System did not face any difficulties in raising funds. This was because the entire Westeros System had been experiencing rapid growth and prosperity in recent years, and major banks both in North America and overseas were very willing to provide loans to Simon.
The main focus of this discussion was the routine review and replanning of Westeros System's funding situation.
Simon has shown to be very impressive at generating wealth, and it would be very easy for him to obtain investment from banks.
However, if you spend money too recklessly and lack careful budgeting, you can unknowingly accumulate a large amount of completely unnecessary expenses. If this continues to pile up, it may one day lead to a tangled debt problem, or even trigger a domino effect.
Simon's personal finances have always been handled by Janette herself. This woman's brain working at 20-30% is about as sharp as an average person's 70%, so Simon has always been very at ease with her. And she has indeed managed things very well.
Beyond his personal finances, James has also been very dedicated to managing the Westeros Company in recent years, and Simon has always placed great importance on the financial oversight of the entire Westeros System.
Therefore, the possibility of Westeros System experiencing a financial crisis is unlikely.
However, Simon certainly understood the importance of preventing problems before they arise, and therefore attached great importance to today's meeting.
"Several Japanese banks were very willing to provide funding for the construction of Universal Studios Osaka. In the next few years, the yen, which has appreciated for many years, may enter a depreciation cycle, so I think it is very worthwhile to obtain loans from Japanese banks".
"On Ygritte's side, Cersei Fund Management Company's profits this year are likely sufficient to cover the company's expenses, so there is no need to raise additional funds".
"Nokia has successfully developed a new generation of digital phones, and the GSM network in Europe has begun to enter the practical application stage. The next stage of development of this company requires funds, the funds Melisandre needs to acquire Van Cleef & Arpels, the expenses required for Bell Atlantic's layout in mobile communications and other fields, the next stage of investment needed to maintain our holdings in non-public companies such as Qualcomm, and taking into account your own expenses, we will probably need to obtain another $1 billion to $1.5 billion in loans this year".
"These are the expenses. The three-year no-sell promise for the tech stocks I bought has expired. Apart from companies like Microsoft and Intel, which I intend to hold long-term, I have recently reduced my holdings in other companies to below 5%, and have also gradually resigned from their boards of directors. In case of an emergency, I can readily cash out half a billion to one billion dollars. This amount is sufficient to cover the maturing debts we need to repay, except for Daenerys Entertainment, over the next two to three years".
The small meeting of four people lasted all day.
James Raybould concluded by saying this, then looked up at Simon and Janette and asked, "There's one last thing. Are you two really planning to start the Westeros Tower construction project in Manhattan anytime soon?"