Following Simon's meeting with Ovitz, the media storm triggered by Barry Levinson's dismissal did not vanish overnight, but the principal creatives behind Rain Man fell conspicuously silent.
The matter, however, was far from over.
Throughout the production of Rain Man, Simon had granted the key creatives far more freedom than many more domineering Hollywood studios would have allowed. His interference had been limited to preventing the project from spiraling completely out of control.
What Levinson and the others had done to shield themselves from potential fallout crossed a line Simon could not tolerate. From the outset he had no intention of letting it pass unanswered.
Yet Rain Man remained a costly Daenerys undertaking, crafted however reluctantly by people he now disliked. Simon would not sabotage it deliberately; punishing others by breaking his own assets would achieve nothing.
Only by delivering the same championship-level box office success the film had enjoyed in the original timeline could he land a proper counterblow.
And a single slap would not suffice.
It would not hurt enough.
People too easily forget minor aches.
While personally taking over Rain Man, Simon saw another Daenerys project, Scream, wrap principal photography at the end of July and complete a satisfactory rough cut.
With ongoing creative alignment between the parties, Wes Craven's work met Simon's high expectations. Post-production would finish by early September at the latest, leaving nearly two months for marketing ahead of a Halloween release.
Steel Magnolias and Dead Poets Society were also nearing completion and would make their year-end slots without issue.
Meanwhile, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers presented its latest contract offer, the WGA backed fully into a corner called another vote.
With only one week to respond, balloting was limited to drawn lots in New York and Los Angeles. Of the 2,500 participating writers, 2,137 voted in favor.
On August 12, the strike that had lasted more than five months finally ended 160 days, five more than the 155 in the original timeline.
Though the WGA declared compromise, the aftershocks continued.
Most damagingly, even after the new agreement, the producers refused to forgive the smaller studios that had signed interim deals with the guild. The WGA did not withdraw its antitrust suit either. While victory was possible, the blacklisted companies would struggle to secure work from the majors or the Big Four networks for the remainder of the year at least.
The five-month stoppage had created content shortages not only for the fall television season but for the second-half film calendar as well an advantageous environment for Daenerys's year-end releases.
With the strike over, scores of stalled projects across Hollywood resumed production.
Robert Iger, formerly of ABC, smoothly restarted New World's slate of scripted series.
New World had built a solid foundation in recent years; the task proved straightforward.
Though voices within the WGA called for a boycott of Daenerys, the blacklisting of numerous indie producers had already shrunk writers' options dramatically. Faced with multiple simultaneous projects offering abundant work, few had the leverage to resist.
A guild of over ten thousand without binding obligations could rarely act in perfect unison. If one writer turned down a job, plenty waited to take it.
As television restarted, integration of Daenerys Pictures and New World Entertainment accelerated.
On August 15, following preliminary restructuring, the new entity held a press conference announcing the formation of Daenerys Entertainment Group from the merger of the original Daenerys Pictures and New World Entertainment.
Post-integration, Daenerys Entertainment would retain three film labels: Daenerys Pictures, New World Pictures, and New World's existing independent banner Highgate Films.
Previously, as a startup, everything from romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally to anti-genre experiments like Pulp Fiction and B-grade horror like Final Destination had carried the single Daenerys Pictures banner an approach detrimental to brand identity.
Simon now intended to specialize the labels.
Daenerys Pictures would focus on mainstream commercial fare such as When Harry Met Sally, Rain Man, and Batman. New World Pictures would handle violent, suspense, and horror titles like Scream and Death Comes.
Highgate Films would enter the arthouse space.
Miramax under the Weinsteins had yet to rise; arthouse was widely seen by majors as marginal at best and reality largely supported that view.
A quality arthouse film, after months or even years of careful platforming, might earn ten million in profit—a respectable success. To a major studio, however, that often equaled a single week's revenue.
What many overlooked was the cumulative potential: multiple successful arthouse titles annually could generate substantial income. Black swans with breakout box office were also possible.
Moreover, the strategy would rapidly expand the company's library.
With home video and DVD still two decades from peak and cable television's growing hunger for content, a deep library was a significant strategic asset for any studio.
To accelerate the initiative, Simon transferred New World's entire acquisitions team to Highgate.
Film production cycles were long, but worldwide dozens of pictures completed daily. Highgate's first priority would be scouring global markets for quality titles to bring to North America.
Beyond the labels, distribution was reorganized.
For brand clarity, theatrical distribution split into two entities: Daenerys Distribution for mainstream commercial releases and New World Distribution for New World Pictures and Highgate titles.
A new Daenerys Home Entertainment division would handle video and television licensing.
Both theatrical arms and home entertainment fell under Robert Remme.
Television operations became Daenerys Television, led by Robert Iger, overseeing all production and syndication.
Mark Sylvester's Daenerys Visual Effects folded into the group, concentrating on CG effects and 3D animation R&D.
Marvel Entertainment the comic subsidiary that had drawn little industry notice in the acquisition—would launch no film projects in the near term. It would, however, remain fully independent and report directly to Simon, bypassing Amy, Iger, and Remme.
With these foundations laid, the 1988 summer season drew to a close.
On August 11, When Harry Met Sally ended its exact twenty-week North American run with a final domestic total of $110.92 million.
Per the Disney agreement, Daenerys Pictures would receive $35.5 million in box-office share. Combined with the earlier $30 million overseas rights sale settled over the next two months the studio would recover $65.5 million total.
After deducting the $15 million production budget and sharing with HandMade Films, Daenerys would net $30.3 million from those streams alone.
Video release would begin after a three-month window, delivering further substantial returns.
Even at forty percent, HandMade became the envy of many independents. Few indie producers earned such returns after years of operation. HandMade's Dennis O'Brien had been in frequent contact, eager for continued partnership.
The following week, August 18, Pulp Fiction in its eleventh week reached $131.51 million domestic temporarily topping the annual chart. The single film had banished Orion's earlier lukewarm performance.
Basic Instinct, in its fifth week, added another $10.21 million for a running total of $82.76 million. The controversial picture was clearly outperforming its original counterpart and was certain to cross one hundred million within three weeks Daenerys's third hundred-million hit of 1988.
Santa Monica.
Though New World maintained larger facilities in Burbank, Daenerys Entertainment's headquarters remained temporarily at the 4th Street building in Santa Monica.
August 22 arrived in a blink of an eye.
Despite delegating extensively, Simon's schedule remained punishing. Beyond Batman prep, he oversaw post-production on Rain Man, Scream, Steel Magnolias, and Dead Poets Society.
Those commitments alone consumed most of each week.
New World's legacy film projects required his personal review; he could not ignore the television pipeline entirely.
Though the company had been in dire straits pre-acquisition, it still had numerous active titles. None showed blockbuster potential, but Simon could not simply cancel projects already deep in development.
To avoid a 1989 release gap, he also needed to green-light new films.
Amid this whirlwind, his planned Australia trip kept slipping.
In a conference room at Daenerys headquarters.
"Next, this was originally a co-production New World had planned with two other independents Angel Errant. A comic artist enters his own creation and embarks on adventures with the heroine. The original team has already spent three hundred thousand on development and has letters of intent with Timothy Dalton the current James Bond and Brooke Shields from Pretty Baby. Preliminary budget is fifteen million, five million each from the three partners."
Amy Pascal finished the summary and looked across at Simon. "I think it's intriguing and worth pursuing. Dalton and Shields have solid name recognition. If necessary, we could drop the other partners and finance it ourselves."
Simon closed the folder and asked, "What do you see as the main selling point?"
Amy considered. "The core hook is the artist entering his own comic world an immersive, almost meta experience for the audience. Dalton and Shields carry strong box-office draw. And Shields is reportedly dating Michael Jackson right now great publicity leverage."
Simon nodded. "If you like it, move forward. But the script needs a full rewrite I want a much clearer narrative spine."
Amy paused, studying him. "You're not sold on it?"
Simon recalled only scattered details of the film's original failure enough that Shields's career had effectively ended afterward.
Yet context mattered. In the original timeline New World's internal chaos had crippled focus; mere survival had been in doubt.
A film passed through too many stages to fail inevitably. With a polished script and Daenerys's current production and distribution strength, repeating history was unlikely.
As the company grew, betting solely on surefire blockbusters was unrealistic. Fifteen million was now well within tolerable risk.
"My opinion doesn't matter, Amy you need to trust your own judgment. These projects will multiply, and I can't green-light everything personally. Of course, if losses are brutal, I'll still yell."
Amy hesitated only briefly before deciding. "I'll have the script reworked. And if Shields isn't right, maybe Nicole Kidman? She should wrap Dead Calm by early next year when we'd start shooting."
Simon agreed. "Nicole's perfect. The heroine is bold and extroverted she can carry it."
As they spoke, Robert Iger knocked and entered, briefcase in hand. Fatigue from the cross-country flight lingered in his expression.
Greetings exchanged, they resumed seats around the table.
"Simon, Amy—here's the draft agreement I just finalized with HBO," Iger said, sliding a document to Simon. "They'll take one season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills at six hundred thousand per episode, but only thirteen episodes."
Only one copy existed; Amy leaned in to read with Simon.
After the Big Three networks snapped up Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Survivor, and Big Brother, the remaining lifestyle reality format had languished less from lack of interest than from Daenerys's steep asking price and restrictive terms.
Production costs for Real Housewives were the lowest yet roughly two hundred thousand per episode.
The six confirmed housewives were motivated primarily by potential business and fame boosts; their season-one pay was a modest five thousand dollars each per episode thirty thousand total leaving the balance for crew, equipment, and incidentals.
Daenerys had initially demanded eight hundred thousand per episode for North American first-run rights only, retaining all subsequent domestic and international syndication, plus merchandising, music, books, cookbooks, etc.
All four broadcast networks had passed.
Eventually Time Inc.'s premium cable channel HBO expressed interest.
Simon had privately doubted HBO was the ideal home, but a buyer was a buyer. He also welcomed the chance to establish ties with the most profitable pay-cable network in the original timeline, so he dispatched Iger to negotiate.