[GodOfReader: Please help me compile a list of the companies Simon bought. I had one before, but it got deleted from my notes.]
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Long Beach Port, south of Los Angeles.
Simon spent the entire day personally overseeing the packing and loading of every prop needed for Batman. Only after all six large containers were securely stowed aboard a Johnston Holdings cargo ship did he finally leave the dock and head back to Santa Monica.
The Johnston family and the advance team already in Australia would take over from there. Because so many media outlets were watching every detail of Batman's preparations, Australian customs had even assembled a special clearance team that signed nondisclosure agreements to handle the shipment.
Now that December had arrived, Simon was devoting most of his time to Batman. He spent only an hour each day at Daenerys Entertainment before driving to the soundstages the production had rented at Fox Studios to discuss shooting details with the key creatives.
It was already after regular hours when he returned to Daenerys headquarters in Santa Monica. Amy and Ira Deutchman were waiting for him.
The three settled in his office. Amy spoke first. "Regarding the female lead for Innocent Moves (Searching for Bobby Fischer [?]), Simon, CAA still refuses to budge. I think we should recast. Forcing Meg Ryan to honor the contract when she's clearly unwilling would be disastrous if her attitude turns negative on set."
"Then recast," Simon said with a nod. "As for our option contract with her, let it drag. Stall for a year, then make her pay compensation."
Option contracts were commonplace in Hollywood, but when a star rose, studios usually conceded to preserve future relationships. Simon's approach would burn any chance of working with Meg Ryan again and sour relations with CAA.
Since he had made the decision, however, Amy did not argue. She shared his irritation at CAA's exorbitant demands.
Simon took a sip of the coffee Susan had just brought in, then noticed the secretary still lingering by a shelf in the corner, back turned, tidying something. "Susan, is something wrong over there?"
Susan Landis turned, holding up a few folders. One slipped and fell with a soft thud. She quickly bent to retrieve it. "It was a bit messy. I was just straightening it." [TL/N: Sus...]
Simon regarded the woman who had been with the company since the earliest days of Daenerys Films, fingers idly tracing the rim of his cup. "Once you're finished, you can go."
When the door closed behind her, Simon continued, "From now on, every project will continue extending offers to CAA clients, but we will not hire a single one. Ira, the same goes for your side. Clear?"
Amy and Ira exchanged a glance. The strategy was ruthless.
If Daenerys kept producing hits, CAA stars would watch prime opportunities slip away again and again. After enough of those, the agents' competence would be questioned, and some talent might even jump ship.
Both understood why the usually even-tempered Simon was showing no mercy today.
It was already December 8, only eight days until Rain Man opened.
Promotion for the film had been an uphill battle.
Simon had never expected much help from the principal cast, yet it felt as though they were determined to leave no room for hope. Dustin Hoffman had left for a vacation in Britain last month. Tom Cruise had been in Mexico shooting Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July. Director Barry Levinson had stayed out of the public eye for weeks.
The only person actively campaigning was Valeria Golino, whose role was relatively small.
Worse, in a recent interview with a British outlet, Dustin Hoffman had openly declared that making Rain Man had been as miserable an experience as Ishtar. That infamous flop had cost $55 million and returned barely over $10 million domestically, leaving Columbia Pictures with massive losses.
Hoffman's candid remarks gave the press ample fuel to paint Rain Man as another impending disaster before it even opened.
The budget became another favorite topic. Production had cost $25 million. Daenerys had paid MGM $5 million for North American distribution rights across all channels. Promotion so far had exceeded $5 million. With prints and other expenses still to come, the total investment would reach $40 million.
At a 55 percent theater split, the film would need more than $70 million domestically just to break even.
Even after Daenerys's string of box-office miracles, almost no one believed Rain Man could match the success of Scream or Steel Magnolias.
Dead Poets Society began limited release the following day. Though its teen audience overlapped little with Rain Man's, Daenerys had chosen not to split promotional focus. Rain Man would skip previews and go straight to wide release on December 16.
The trade press naturally framed that decision as a sign of weak confidence.
Simon frowned, lost in thought, then turned to Ira Deutchman.
Ira spoke up. "Robert Newmyer called this afternoon. They've decided not to sell the distribution rights to Sex, Lies, and Videotape after all."
Simon paused, then gave a wry smile. He was not surprised.
The primary investor was MCA/Columbia Home Entertainment, a joint venture of Universal and Columbia. After Daenerys's recent triumphs, High Gate Pictures, under the same corporate umbrella, had suddenly taken interest. It would have been stranger if the majors had done nothing.
Simon had wanted the film mainly to block Miramax's ascent. A picture that grossed just over $20 million could catapult a tiny indie outfit, but it would hardly dent a major studio. And without the right handling, it might not even achieve its original success.
Since it was no longer an option, Simon let it go. "Have we signed Short Cuts with Robert Altman?"
"I've locked in his writer-director deal," Ira confirmed, then added, "Also, Tony Safford at Sundance told me the festival will allow only one of our films, Sisters, Metropolitan, or Heathers—into the main competition. He wants a decision soon."
Simon toyed with a pencil on his desk.
Daenerys's string of successes had not provoked open hostility from the old guard, but recent events made the pressure unmistakable.
The Sundance dramatic competition held only sixteen slots. Simon had never intended to force all three films in. His original plan, had Sex, Lies, and Videotape come through, was to send that one straight to Cannes in May. Of the remaining three, he had hoped for two acceptances.
Now Sundance was offering just one, likely out of deference to Simon's personal friendship with founder Robert Redford. Without that connection, Daenerys might have been shut out entirely this year.
"So which one do you recommend?"
"Metropolitan," Ira said. "Sisters will be marketed as a teen sex comedy; it doesn't need the festival prestige. Heathers touches on teen suicide, which probably won't play well with jurors. Whit Stillman's Metropolitan best matches Sundance's taste and the media's current preferences."
The next day was Friday; another week had passed.
From December 2 to 8, Paramount's The Naked Gun finally knocked Steel Magnolias from the top spot, opening to $12.21 million over seven days.
In its third full week of wide release, Steel Magnolias expanded to 1,215 screens and earned $9.68 million, a mere 15 percent drop from the previous frame. Cumulative North American gross now stood at $36.60 million.
Scream fell to fourth, displaced by Warner Bros.' Tequila Sunrise, which opened to $8.23 million starring Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer.
In its sixth week, Scream's decline narrowed to 11 percent, adding $7.79 million for a running total of $81.16 million.
Three new films opened on December 9. Only Arnold Schwarzenegger's Twins went wide; the other two were limited previews: Daenerys's Dead Poets Society and Orion's Mississippi Burning.
Simon remembered Mississippi Burning as another strong Oscar contender that year.
Though Twins matched The Naked Gun's surprisingly strong Friday, by Saturday the press was talking mostly about Dead Poets Society.
Robert De Niro lived up to his reputation as an actor who could play anything. The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and the Los Angeles Times all praised his passionate portrayal of the inspirational teacher, predicting another Oscar nomination.
The film's message drew some criticism. The Chicago Reader argued that while Welton Academy's rigidity stifled students, Keating's demand that they tear pages from a poetry textbook was simply imposing a different ideology.
Yet the core theme of yearning for freedom was as politically bulletproof as anything in America. Despite scattered debate, the overall critical reception remained exceptionally strong, with an aggregate score nearing the classic threshold of 8.6.
Monday, December 12.
Beyond weekend box-office numbers, the week's biggest Hollywood story was the announcement of Golden Globe nominations.
Following earlier strategy, Daenerys had campaigned for two of its films: Steel Magnolias in the musical/comedy categories and Dead Poets Society in drama.
Steel Magnolias earned only a supporting actress nod for Julia Roberts (thanks in part to extra effort from ICM), missing best picture, director, and lead actress entirely.
Dead Poets Society, by contrast, secured four major drama nominations: best picture, director, actor, and screenplay.
To concentrate resources, the studio had skipped When Harry Met Sally and never entered the widely doubted Rain Man. Still, Steel Magnolias's near-total shutout left Simon frustrated.
Among the five musical/comedy best-picture nominees, Big, A Fish Called Wanda, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit were fully deserved. The inclusion of Working Girl, however, felt like mockery beside Steel Magnolias's snub.
Working Girl's sweep of nominations owed much to director Mike Nichols's pedigree from The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge. Yet the Harrison Ford–Melanie Griffith vehicle was narratively mediocre, offering nothing comparable to Oliver Stone's Wall Street from the previous year.
Pulp Fiction had garnered only a lead actor nod for John Travolta and a token screenplay mention. With rights held by Orion, that campaign was their responsibility. For reasons unknown, Orion had poured its awards effort into Mississippi Burning, which landed four major drama nominations alongside Dead Poets Society's limited release.
Facing these results, Simon realized Daenerys would likely come away empty-handed this awards season.
The old guard might not control what audiences loved, but their influence over the Globes and Oscars remained far beyond a young studio's reach.
Time passed quickly. December 16 arrived.
On the new Friday, Rain Man, burdened by controversy and skepticism, finally opened wide across North America on 1,136 screens.