The day after the premiere, on June 13, Spectre was released to the public.
Unsurprisingly, this fresh take on the 007 series became the hottest topic across media and the public alike. The film scored an impressive 8.6 on aggregate review sites, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "the best 007 film in the past decade." The critical acclaim, combined with the new casting choices—Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, a female M, and a younger Q—received widespread praise.
With the Westeros system's influence, online discussions about the film became trending topics across major social media platforms. Much of the buzz centered around the Charlie's Angels cameo in the film's credits and the prospect of a spy cinematic universe.
In Hollywood, favorable reviews don't always guarantee box-office success. Public interest and hype are often stronger indicators. Once a movie ignites nationwide discussion, the bandwagon effect kicks in, drawing even more people to theaters.
Spectre had both excellent reviews and widespread attention, setting it up for strong commercial success.
The following day, June 14—Friday—Spectre opened across 3,346 screens in North America.
In anticipation of Spectre's release, no major films competed with it this weekend; the few other releases were small, with under 1,000 screens each and of little consequence.
Additionally, North America's box-office numbers for the previous week were published the same day as Spectre's release.
On June 7, Hollywood released two new films as part of a strategic breather—Dragonheart and Billy Madison—both far from heavyweights.
Dragonheart, released by Warner Bros., had a budget of $57 million, placing it in the big-budget category. However, positioning it between Mission: Impossible 2 and Spectre indicated Warner's lack of confidence in the film.
This proved accurate.
The medieval fantasy film, set in England and centered on an evil king with a dragon's heart who is ultimately overthrown, had circulated around Hollywood for some time. Simon had seen the script before Warner took it on, but he wasn't interested. Warner had tried to cast major stars like Mel Gibson or Harrison Ford, but both declined, and the role eventually went to Dennis Quaid, a B-list actor.
After its release, Dragonheart managed only a 6.3 rating—barely passing.
The other film, Billy Madison, was a smaller production made to support the rising generation of Hollywood comedy stars. With Adam Sandler in the lead, this $10 million film performed moderately, achieving a 6.5 rating, also just above average.
So, from June 7 to June 13, the box-office successes mostly came from holdovers.
Mission: Impossible 2 unsurprisingly held the top spot.
In its second week, with no real competition, Mission: Impossible 2 posted an excellent 35% decline, earning $57.1 million. With a total of $133.26 million over two weeks, this Paramount-Daniellys collaboration quickly became Paramount's best-performing film in a year.
Dragonheart took second place.
In its opening week on 2,130 screens, Dragonheart earned $16.83 million.
With only $16.83 million in its first week, and with Spectre launching right behind it, Dragonheart was unlikely to hold its ground. Lacking the unique appeal of Romeo and Juliet and poor reviews, it would likely drop by 50% in its second week, reaching a total domestic box office of around $30 million.
Given its $57 million budget, Dragonheart would likely incur losses.
The Mummy took third place.
In its fourth week, The Mummy posted a 39% decline, bringing in $12.01 million. It was nearing the $10 million-per-week mark, with a cumulative domestic total of $137.17 million. Its final domestic gross was estimated to be around $150 million, roughly in line with initial projections.
Romeo and Juliet placed fourth.
This romantic dark horse continued to perform strongly in its fifth week, with a small 21% decline. It added another $10.56 million, pushing its cumulative total close to $100 million, reaching $99.67 million.
Billy Madison took fifth place.
As a new release, the Adam Sandler comedy earned $8.2 million in its first week. With a $10 million production budget and a $5 million marketing spend, its domestic gross would likely reach around $20 million—neither a major success nor a failure, but likely to turn a small profit through subsequent distribution.
Outside the top five, films like Eraser and Austin Powers had essentially exited the summer competition.
Meanwhile, the smaller hit Black Mask continued to attract attention.
This action film from overseas, in its third week, managed a modest 22% decline, adding $3.97 million to its total. With a cumulative gross of $19.38 million on a $5 million budget, it was performing exceptionally well.
---
In Los Angeles.
On Saturday morning at the Dume Point estate, the dining room was bustling as usual.
However, only four children were present: Seattle, Little Nick, Greenwich, and Snow.
Veronica had recently come to North America and had taken Melbourne back to Australia with her upon leaving.
According to Janet, this was her father's request. Melbourne would likely stay in Australia for the entire summer, under his grandfather's personal care and guidance. Janet's father had also hinted that Little Nick would follow a similar routine once he was older.
The reason?
He was upfront, saying that Simon was surrounded by too many women. He had apparently read somewhere that boys raised in female-dominated environments tended to develop softer personalities.
This couldn't be tolerated.
Simon had no objections.
He didn't have much time to personally raise his son anyway. Seeing how Janet's brothers had been raised well by her father, Simon felt reassured. He also hoped his eldest son would grow up with a strong personality like his grandfather—a tough, resilient character, akin to the original pioneers who had crossed oceans to settle in Australia.
Compared to the possibilities if Melbourne grew up solely at Dume Point, Simon saw his father-in-law's influence as beneficial.
"Anthony went to Brazil again last week. Regarding Vale's privatization project, we've tried to put pressure on Brazil through Washington, but they still seem to lean toward Japan. The Japanese have invested heavily in Latin America for years, particularly in Brazilian mining." Janet spoke of Johnston Holdings' iron ore ventures. "But Brazil hasn't turned us down completely. Even if we can't beat the Japanese, Johnston Holdings could still secure around 10% of Vale's shares, along with some voting rights."
In the dining room.
After listening, Simon looked across the table to Jennifer, who was helping the youngest children, and asked, "Jennifer, what do you think?"
The assistant shook her head lightly. "I'm not sure, but I think expecting Johnston Holdings to control the global iron ore industry is unrealistic. Securing 10% and some influence is already good, enough to build a strategic alliance. Besides, Johnston Holdings' main focus should probably stay on Australian assets."
Janet added, "Everyone's aware of that. But after acquiring BHP and other acquisitions, Johnston Holdings already has a massive iron ore portfolio. Further growth is difficult due to regulatory barriers. Now that Johnston Holdings is part of the Westeros system, governments are increasingly wary of us."
Janet glanced back at Simon.
She remembered that BHP and Billiton merged around 2001 for various reasons.
Now, with the Westeros system transcending the level of a typical conglomerate, Western countries undoubtedly harbored some apprehension.
Ultimately, it was an issue of control.
Countries like the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany were inherently wary of monopolistic power. It was why giants like Morgan and Rockefeller had been broken up in the past. Therefore, expanding into developing regions like Latin America, Eastern Europe, or Asia could be a viable alternative.
Yet, Simon still saw this as somewhat unsuitable for Johnston Holdings.
After a moment's thought, he said to Janet, "If we can't secure a controlling stake, I wouldn't recommend pursuing this investment. Once Johnston Holdings' iron ore holdings grow large enough to influence global pricing, we'll face strict antitrust scrutiny."
Janet asked, "So, you're suggesting we should wait for other companies to grow, like what we did with Danierlys Entertainment and Time Warner?"
Simon nodded with a smile. "Exactly."
Janet thought for a moment and then said, "But our share isn't that large yet, not even a quarter of the market."
"Yet we're already bigger than Vale, Rio Tinto, and BHP, aren't we?"
Janet shrugged.
Simon smiled and said, "How about this: we can take a vacation to Australia soon, and I'll discuss it with Ray in detail."
Hearing about the vacation, Janet immediately shifted focus, her eyes sparkling. "When exactly?"
"August, right after Verizon goes public. We'll leave right away."
"You better keep your word!"
"I won't back out."
"Then I'll start planning right away."
With the plans set, they continued breakfast, but Simon couldn't help reflecting on the recent discussion.
If possible, he hoped Johnston Holdings could take over Vale, Brazil's largest iron ore company and one of the world's top three suppliers. With the Westeros system's support, the Johnston family had been rapidly expanding in recent years.
However, some things are better in moderation.
If Johnston Holdings ended up holding significant shares in every major iron ore supplier globally, it would be obvious
whom to blame if there were suspicions of price manipulation.
And with it, the Westeros system would also come under scrutiny.
Moreover, Japan had a long-standing strategy of securing resources globally, including Vale, which was largely controlled by Japanese conglomerates despite being Brazil's top iron ore producer. Even with current Western sentiments toward Japan, prying away an asset so deeply tied to Japan's resources would not be easy.
If Johnston Holdings couldn't secure a significant stake, it might be better not to invest at all.
Furthermore, Simon preferred that Johnston Holdings focus on China and other ventures directly related to the iron and steel industries.
1997 would provide an opportunity.
With the onset of the Asian financial crisis, the world economy would enter another downturn, triggering a restructuring of the global steel industry.
In essence, a tripartite structure in the iron ore sector was ideal.
No one could monopolize all the benefits.
Compared to unchecked expansion in a single industry, a diversified approach would better mitigate risks.
Much like Hollywood, a film studio that only produced movies could struggle to grow and risk bankruptcy with a few bad projects. Only by building a vast, diversified media and entertainment empire, like Danierlys Entertainment, could it truly dominate.
Simon didn't plan for Johnston Holdings to delve into unfamiliar fields like electronics or food, but rather to diversify within the steel industry—areas like transportation and smelting. Done right, this could also create a massive industry cluster. And as long as they controlled enough resources, even iron ore suppliers without stakes would have to respect Johnston Holdings.
Since Danierlys Entertainment had achieved this in Hollywood, it was feasible to do the same in mining with the Westeros system's scale.
---
After breakfast, Simon didn't stay at home to rest.
The day was packed with meetings.
At 9:00 AM, he arrived at Danierlys Studios and was immediately greeted with Spectre's opening day box office results.
On its first day, including the midnight screenings, Spectre grossed $18.63 million. With this opening, this tentpole film—the launch of the spy cinematic universe—was projected to make between $50 million and $60 million over its opening weekend and $80 million to $90 million in its first week.
This outperformed Mission: Impossible 2.
Given Spectre's rich legacy and a $75 million production budget with an additional $50 million for marketing, this opening set it on track for success. With these numbers, the film was expected to hit around $300 million domestically. As 007 had always thrived internationally, global revenues were estimated between $700 million and $800 million.
A strong start.
With Spectre a massive success, if Charlie's Angels achieved at least $100 million domestically by year's end, the plan for the spy cinematic universe could proceed smoothly.
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