After returning to Los Angeles this time, Simon's main work for the coming week was to finalize the DC film universe plans for The Flash and Wonder Woman, including the scripts, key creatives, budgets, and other details.
In addition, after weighing it again and again, Simon decided to restructure the pacing of the DC film universe rollout.
Next year's two DC film universe entries, Batman: The Dark Knight and The Flash, were already locked. And Wonder Woman for the summer of 1992 was set in stone.
Those could no longer be changed.
But Simon wanted to push the originally planned late 1992 release of Superman to the summer of 1993. Other DC film universe projects such as Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, Suicide Squad, and Batman v Superman would also be delayed appropriately, eventually forming a rhythm of one film a year, or three films every two years, rather than the original dense schedule of two films per year.
In the original timeline, Hollywood in the 1990s was an era overflowing with great films.
By doing this, Simon could, on one hand, prevent superhero movies from occupying the big screen too early, leaving enough market space for outstanding commercial and artistic films that once shone brightly, like Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Forrest Gump, Men in Black, Twister, The Shawshank Redemption, Scent of a Woman, The Crying Game, and so on, allowing Hollywood to truly bloom with many flowers. On the other hand, it also gave these superhero films more time to prepare on scripts and special effects.
Especially special effects.
Because Daenerys Special Effects had been created early and had poured resources into CG development without restraint, Daenerys Entertainment's effects capabilities had already reached the level of producing what, in the original timeline, would be the 1993 Jurassic Park.
In the first half of the year, after Daenerys Entertainment obtained the still unpublished Jurassic Park novel adaptation rights from Michael Crichton, the Daenerys effects team, on Simon's instructions, produced a CG dinosaur clip realistic enough to fool the eye in just one month.
As for the liquid metal robot effects in the Terminator currently filming, Daenerys's effects team handled it with ease.
But for Simon's planned rebooted Superman, he wanted to reference the Zack Snyder version of Man of Steel. To achieve that earth shattering, city leveling terror in the fight between Clark Kent and General Zod, Daenerys's current effects foundation was still far from enough.
As a compromise, Simon wanted this version of Superman to reach at least the effects level of the original timeline's 1996 Independence Day. To do that would still require at least a year of targeted R and D.
He'd returned to Los Angeles after nine last night. Saturday was still a workday as usual.
After a full day, toward evening, his assistant knocked and entered Simon's office carrying a black suit. Her own assistant followed behind, holding a shoebox.
Simon looked up from the project materials for Wayne's World and smiled. "It's just a party. We can eat dinner and go straight over. Do we really need to change?"
Jennifer had her helper set the shoebox down, then sent her out. "A lot of people will be there. And this was sent back from Europe yesterday. Janet said if you get laughed at for what you wear to a public event while she's away, she'll dock my pay."
Simon was wearing only a shirt. Seeing Jennifer pull the jacket from its garment bag and walk over, he stood and cooperated, extending his arms. Smiling, he said, "But I'm the one paying your salary, aren't I?"
"Yes," she nodded, spreading the suit for him to slip into while complaining, "You two bully me."
"…"
She dutifully buttoned him up, stepped back to look him over, and nodded with satisfaction. Then she asked, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I'm thinking about how I'm going to bully you tonight."
Jennifer rolled her eyes, handed him the trousers, and said, "I already had Neil get everything ready. After the party, we're going to Seattle. I really like that house on Mercer Island in Lake Washington. We'll come back Monday."
"…"
Jennifer took out a pair of custom dress shoes and held them while Simon changed into the trousers. Seeing him fall quiet again, she curved her lips. "Now what?"
"I thought you'd tell me to go bully someone else."
"I'm not Jenny. I wouldn't let you go bully someone else."
"You're not Jenny?"
"No."
"Last time you didn't say that."
"Last time was last time."
Simon finished changing and took the shoes from her, sitting down in a leather chair to put them on. "That's why you Earth people have no imagination when it comes to names. In the future, our kid's naming rights belong to me."
Jennifer carried away the trousers and shoes he'd taken off. "Then come up with a special name and let me hear it."
"You just said where we're going tonight?"
"Seattle."
"That's a good name."
"What?"
"Seattle. Seattle Westeros."
Jennifer was about to put the shoes back in the box. Hearing him, she blinked, then teased in a sweet little tone, "You can give that name to Jenny's baby someday. She'll be very happy."
"Yes. The Jenny right in front of me."
"I don't want it."
"You don't get to not want it. I'm the dad. I decide."
"Then I suddenly don't want to go to Seattle tonight. I want to go to... Hawaii."
"No. We're only going to Seattle, and it can only be named Seattle. I'm the dad. I decide."
"…"
The topic of children was, in truth, a little sensitive.
After Simon and Janet married, they'd been trying hard to have a baby, but after half a year of nonstop busyness, Janet's belly still showed no movement. Deep down, Simon actually hoped he could produce a whole pack of little super rich brats to turn the world upside down.
But that wasn't something you could rush.
Last time in the Tasmania cabin, Jennifer had talked to Simon about it. She wanted to have a child by the time she turned thirty, even if the child took her last name and she had no official status. Simon agreed. Of course, the child would still take the Westeros surname.
Simon had also discussed it with Janet. She didn't say much, but that night she bit Simon's ear hard several times. He nearly dreamed she was still clamped onto it.
After they changed, the two ate dinner in the company cafeteria in the administrative district, and by then it was already dark.
Because the main building and interior work were more complex than the studio's other structures, the large event center on the second floor office area at Daenerys Studios had only recently opened. The celebration party for Short Cuts winning the Venice Golden Lion could be considered the first major event held there.
It was said to celebrate Short Cuts winning the Golden Lion, but in reality, it was more like a comprehensive celebration after Daenerys Entertainment's summer season wrap up.
Not only the Short Cuts team, but also the filmmakers behind Daenerys Entertainment's big summer hits, Ghost, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sleeping with the Enemy, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and even earlier films like Pretty Woman, were all invited.
By late September, Pretty Woman, which had released during the Valentine's window earlier in the year, had officially ended its North American run. Its domestic total had reached 178 million.
And Pretty Woman's overseas box office had performed even better than North America. Recently it had passed 200 million.
According to Daenerys Entertainment's distribution estimates, Pretty Woman's global box office could reach 450 million.
A ten million production budget, yet a global box office return of 450 million. Even in a studio that had already created plenty of miracles in recent years, that kind of result still stunned all of Hollywood.
And it wasn't over.
Opening the summer, Daenerys Entertainment's fantasy romance Ghost had surged into another wave of popularity, its tearjerking story harvesting rivers of audience tears. After more than three months in theaters, its box office kept climbing steadily.
From its June 1 opening through Thursday, September 20, sixteen weeks in, Ghost's domestic total had reached 181 million, cleanly surpassing Pretty Woman. And its weekly box office was still holding around five million. Breaking two hundred million was almost a certainty.
Based on the gradually expanding overseas rollout, Ghost looked like it would perform just as strongly abroad as Pretty Woman.
That meant these two films alone would bring Daenerys Entertainment more than 900 million in global box office, roughly on par with the year end blockbuster Batman that Simon had personally directed.
After costs, the box office profit from these two hit romances would not be lower than 300 million. And the follow on merch, video, and TV revenue, while arriving over a long multi year payback cycle, was expected to be roughly twice the box office profit.
It was precisely this string of high yielding hits that supported the ten billion valuation Forbes had given Daenerys Entertainment earlier.
Beyond Pretty Woman and Ghost, the other three films, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sleeping with the Enemy, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, had also succeeded. In particular, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a cumulative 119 million box office, along with Pretty Woman and Ghost, was already guaranteed to be among Daenerys Entertainment's top ten grossing films of 1990.
Daenerys Entertainment's domination of the summer box office was clearly even more worth celebrating than Short Cuts winning the Golden Lion.
But for the hundreds of guests in the hall tonight, most of them were really here for one young man.
Everyone knew Simon Westeros was the hand of god that had created all of this brilliance.
And the Forbes 400 released earlier this month, putting Simon Westeros at 21 billion, only made his influence in Hollywood even more blazing.
In the industry, a funny story had been circulating.
Los Angeles magazine Premiere had been discussing making a "Hollywood power list" since the first half of the year. Simon Westeros had always been the obvious number one. But after Forbes released its wealth list, Premiere simply scrapped the plan entirely.
Because the guy at number one was far too dazzling.
Everyone knew Simon Westeros. And everyone would only look at Simon Westeros.
As for the people ranked second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth... they weren't like John Kluge and Warren Buffett after Simon on the Forbes list, household names. Even if you listed all of them under Simon Westeros, hardly anyone would care.
And if no one cared, there was no point making the list.
Inside the hall.
Columbia Pictures president Jon Peters had been chatting with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, hoping to recruit them for one of his projects. When his young girlfriend leaned in and whispered something, he immediately raised his glass in a quick salute to the Willis couple and turned to head toward the entrance.
At the same time, the crowd in the hall seemed to feel a powerful gravitational pull all at once, and a visible ripple of commotion spread.
Everyone understood Simon Westeros must have arrived, but with more than six hundred guests in the room, no matter how restless they felt, it was impossible for everyone to surge over.
Most people quickly calmed down, or pretended to, while only a small number who believed they were qualified to crowd close to Simon Westeros began to move.
Simon wore the black Armani suit he'd changed into before dinner. Jennifer was in a simple white gown. Walking in side by side, they gave off an unmistakable couple vibe.
But Simon wasn't a bachelor anymore, and this setting was too public. Jennifer didn't hook her arm around his. She kept a slight distance like a proper assistant, occasionally leaning in to quietly identify guests who came up to greet him.
"That's Barbara Broccoli, and her half brother Michael Wilson."
Simon had just exchanged a few words with Fox president Joe Roth when a pair of unfamiliar men and women approached. Seeing Simon's flicker of confusion, Jennifer quickly whispered the names.
Just hearing them, Simon understood who they were.
Heirs of the Broccoli family, which held half the rights to the 007 franchise and had long controlled production of the spy series.
They shook hands and exchanged greetings. Barbara Broccoli, clearly the more talkative one, immediately brought up the next Bond film.
With MGM stabilized, and the rights dispute resolved, the Broccoli family and MGM management could now throw themselves fully into producing GoldenEye, which already had a finished script.
But Barbara Broccoli was obviously unhappy about Simon insisting they change the Bond actor. "Simon, the 007 series should be a matter between the Broccoli family and MGM, shouldn't it? I think whether we need to change the lead actor should be our own issue."