Over the three-day weekend, the ratings for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire dipped slightly, but looking at the full week of its trial broadcast, the show still averaged an impressive 15.6 million viewers across seven days, making it the highest-rated television program in North America for the summer season.
However, ABC found it difficult to accept the per-episode price of 2 million dollars insisted upon by Daenerys Pictures.
After several rounds of fruitless negotiations, ABC president Daniel Burke led his negotiation team back to New York, seemingly prepared to enter a standoff with Daenerys Pictures.
Daenerys Pictures, for its part, appeared even more composed, shifting its focus to negotiations with other television networks over the remaining three reality shows.
On another front, after the Producers Alliance issued a blacklist against production companies that had signed contracts with the Writers Guild in advance, the WGA filed an antitrust lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court the following Monday, accusing the Producers Alliance of monopolistic and unfair competitive practices and seeking an injunction.
Both insiders within the entertainment industry and observing media were well aware that the WGA's lawsuit was almost certain to succeed. At the same time, everyone understood that the Producers Alliance would never obediently comply with the ruling in the future, and that the production companies which had signed early agreements with the WGA would inevitably be subjected to retaliatory treatment.
After more than three months of striking, signs of instability began to appear within the WGA itself.
With no income at all for an entire quarter, some writers who could no longer hold out began calling on the WGA to relax the strike rules.
On June 27, sixteen WGA members jointly submitted a proposal requesting a temporary clause that would allow writers to sign contracts with production companies during the strike, but defer performance of those contracts.
Being able to sign contracts would allow writers to receive part of an advance payment to sustain themselves. As for not performing the contracts for the time being, that was little more than self-deception. Unsurprisingly, the proposal was rejected by the WGA.
Nevertheless, this incident completely exposed the weakened state of the WGA.
Many media outlets began predicting that if the situation continued, the strike organized by the Writers Guild of America could lead to disastrous consequences. In the worst-case scenario, a large number of writers, unable to survive financially, might withdraw from the union altogether, pushing the WGA toward collapse.
This was not without precedent. In American history, strikes in industries such as textiles, automobiles, and newspapers had all ended in failure when the struck parties refused to compromise, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the unions themselves.
However, such a scenario had not yet occurred in Hollywood.
As matters progressed to this point, the Producers Alliance also began to take a tougher stance.
After a new contract proposal was rejected by a WGA vote, the Producers Alliance announced on its own initiative that the next round of negotiations would take place in August. Before then, its representatives would have no further contact with the WGA.
At the same time, the Producers Alliance confidently declared that the major television networks would, based on the successful experience of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, develop more reality shows that did not require writer participation, in order to fill the upcoming fall television schedule.
Once this announcement was released, it all but guaranteed that the 1988 strike would become the longest-lasting major strike in Hollywood history.
While the WGA found itself in dire straits, Daenerys Pictures appeared to be thriving. Not only did media reports project that the company would earn over 100 million dollars in profit from each season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but it was also continuously supplying television networks with so-called "reality shows" capable of smashing writers' livelihoods.
As a result, writers at the height of their anxiety soon turned their anger toward Daenerys Pictures.
In the final days of June, groups of protesters holding placards expressing their dissatisfaction began appearing outside Daenerys Pictures' headquarters, quickly attracting media attention and coverage. While handling the situation cautiously, the company's internal operations were hardly affected.
In the last week of June, the contracts for the male and female leads of Batman were finalized.
Adam Baldwin, who would play Bruce Wayne, signed a five-film contract with Daenerys Pictures spanning a full fifteen years.
Under the core salary terms, Baldwin would receive 300,000 dollars for the first film.
For an actor who had previously only played bit-part supporting roles in film and television, this was a relatively high figure. However, considering the difficulty of shooting Batman, Simon was generous in offering this pay. Daenerys Pictures would also cover Baldwin's physical training and related expenses over the following six months.
After the first film, Baldwin's salary would increase based on a maximum increment of 3 million dollars.
In simple terms, Baldwin could earn up to 3 million dollars for the second film, up to 6 million for the third, up to 9 million for the fourth, and up to 12 million dollars for the fifth.
Naturally, there were no profit-sharing clauses.
At this time, aside from stars who earned tens of millions through profit participation by chance, Hollywood had not yet seen any actor with a base salary reaching the ten-million-dollar level. As such, neither WMA nor Baldwin himself had any objections to the contract.
Simon, however, knew that in the coming years, with the continued rapid expansion of the European and home video markets, Hollywood star salaries would rise dramatically.
Even calculating by the original timeline, where the first Batman achieved a global box office of 500 million dollars, Baldwin might well be dissatisfied with earning only 3 million dollars for a sequel.
Even so, dissatisfaction aside, Simon was not worried that Baldwin would go back on the deal.
Beyond the fifteen-year term and the predetermined salary structure, the contract also included many other restrictive clauses.
To avoid role conflicts with Batman, any other film roles Baldwin wished to take during the contract period would require approval from Daenerys Pictures.
This meant that if the company did not give its consent, Baldwin would be unable to play any role other than Batman for the entire fifteen-year term.
Early termination of the contract was not impossible, but Baldwin would have to compensate Daenerys Pictures with three times all income earned during the period he had fulfilled the contract, as well as projected income for the three years following termination. Such a harsh and costly penalty clause was enough to completely crush any thought of rebellion.
As for Valeria Golino, who would play Catwoman, Daenerys Pictures signed her to a three-film contract.
Considering that, in the original timeline, Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe eventually earned her a top-tier salary of 20 million dollars, second only to Robert Downey Jr. and surpassing all other superhero actors, Daenerys Pictures likewise included forward-looking clauses in Golino's contract.
Although she was the youngest Best Actress winner in Venice Film Festival history, European actresses traditionally commanded relatively low salaries in Hollywood. Affordable quality was, in fact, one of the key reasons Simon chose her for Catwoman.
Golino's salary for the first film was 200,000 dollars, slightly lower than Baldwin's. For the subsequent two films, the salary increment was set at a base of 2.5 million dollars: up to 2.5 million for the second film and up to 5 million for the third.
Simon did not intend for Golino to serve as the primary female lead in all three films.
If her performance in the first film proved outstanding, Simon planned to split one film out of her three-picture deal and produce a standalone Catwoman movie.
Of course, all of these plans would depend on the market performance of the first Batman film.
Casting for Batman was a major entertainment event under intense scrutiny from the entire North American media, making secrecy virtually impossible.
Although Daenerys Pictures issued a gag order, relentless media investigation meant that even before the contracts were fully finalized, detailed information about Adam Baldwin and Valeria Golino, as well as the roles they would play, had already been exposed.
Just as in the original timeline with every Batman casting announcement, once the news was confirmed, many comic fans voiced their dissatisfaction, claiming that Baldwin was not their ideal Batman. In the days that followed, Daenerys Pictures received large volumes of similar letters almost daily.
Golino was not spared from similar doubts.
Daenerys Pictures ignored the controversy. Since the news was already public, the company held a press conference after the contracts were signed, officially presenting the two leads to the public.
After the press conference, Simon promptly sent them off to Australia, where he arranged the first phase of comprehensive training for both actors.
This was done partly to avoid media pursuit, as there were still eighteen months before the film's release and excessive exposure was not desirable. It was also to help them become familiar with the future filming environment in advance.
Yes.
The first Batman film would be shot in Australia.
In the comics, Gotham City was modeled largely after Chicago. However, the original creators invented a fictional city precisely to convey the idea that "Gotham" could represent any city in the world.
Simon initially leaned toward filming in Chicago as well.
However, considering the planned start date for Batman, this was clearly impractical.
The film was scheduled to begin shooting early the following year, when Chicago would be in the depths of winter. Temperatures could easily drop to minus ten or twenty degrees Celsius, with snowstorms always a possibility. Under such conditions, normal production would be impossible.
By contrast, the Southern Hemisphere would be in summer at that time.
After weighing Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two most prosperous cities, Simon ultimately chose Melbourne under Janet's influence. Janet's family lived there, and Melbourne's river-laced urban layout bore some resemblance to Gotham City as envisioned.
Most importantly, as the base of the Johnston family, filming in Melbourne would allow the Batman production to receive the maximum level of administrative support.
Filmmaking, after all, also relies on connections, something no one can deny.
Simon had no intention of being so pretentious as to ignore such deep resources.
Of course.
With several months of shooting ahead, Simon would inevitably have frequent contact with other members of the Johnston family, which was likely the outcome Janet hoped for.
Amid the bustle and turmoil, June 1988 quietly came to an end.
July 1 fell on a Friday once again.
From June 3 to June 30, over a span of 28 days, Pulp Fiction completed four weeks in theaters.
Following a first-week gross of 27.53 million dollars and a second-week take of 23.38 million, the third and fourth weeks brought in 17.3 million and 15.03 million respectively. As a result, by the end of June, Pulp Fiction's cumulative North American box office reached 83.26 million dollars, less than 20 million short of the 100-million mark.
Given the film's strong staying power, Pulp Fiction was expected to cross 100 million within the next two weeks and then hand off momentum once again to Basic Instinct, set to open on July 15.
During the half-month of previews, although Hollywood was constantly rocked by major events, under the joint guidance of Fox and Daenerys Pictures, the controversy and discussion surrounding Basic Instinct continued unabated, with both companies releasing a steady stream of news to maintain media attention.
While Pulp Fiction was in theaters, Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit also opened as scheduled on June 24.
This animation-live-action hybrid film, produced at a massive cost of 70 million dollars, earned 21.56 million in its opening week. While this was not a particularly dazzling start compared to Crocodile Dundee II, Rambo III, or Pulp Fiction, Who Framed Roger Rabbit received unanimous praise from critics and audiences alike and was expected to enjoy an excellent long-term box office run.
A Fish Called Wanda, in which Sandra Bullock agreed to a reduced upfront salary in exchange for profit participation, also opened on July 1. As the second film starring last year's box-office champion actress, MGM attached great importance to the release, investing heavily in promotion and opening the film on 1,129 screens.
Pre-release screenings had earned the film widespread praise, leaving only its box office performance to be seen.
Beyond all these developments, Rain Man, produced by Daenerys Pictures at a cost of 25 million dollars, successfully wrapped production at the end of June. The two temperamental male leads finally managed not to drag filming into July.
However, by the time shooting concluded, the 25-million-dollar production budget was nearly exhausted.
Within the project's budget, both Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise were paid salaries of 6 million dollars each, while director Barry Levinson received 3 million dollars. This relatively modest figure was only possible because Daenerys Pictures had signed him to a director deal before the release of Good Morning, Vietnam at the end of the previous year.
Good Morning, Vietnam, which grossed over 100 million dollars the year before, not only catapulted Robin Williams to stardom but also firmly established Barry Levinson as a top-tier director. Had the contract been signed after that release, Daenerys Pictures would likely have had to pay him a salary comparable to the two leads, or offer profit participation.
The three principal creators took a total of 15 million dollars, and of the remaining 10 million, over 7 million was spent during three months of shooting.
This left less than 3 million dollars for post-production.
Fortunately, a drama like Rain Man did not require heavy post-production spending. The main work would be editing and music. With careful budgeting, the remaining funds should be sufficient, even if costs slightly exceeded expectations.
However, there was another extremely important issue.
Rain Man was not a high-concept film with a clearly defined mainline. As a slow-paced, anti-genre road movie, its success on the level of the original timeline would hinge critically on editing and music. A single misstep could cause this film, built from numerous fragmented scenes, to become unrecognizable compared to the original.