Simon could roughly understand the mood of the people around him whenever Home Alone was mentioned.
Among the films independently distributed by Daenerys Entertainment this year, Pretty Woman had reached a North American box office of $178 million, while Ghost had earned $217 million domestically. Both were essentially in the $200 million range.
Now Home Alone was doing the same.
On the other hand, among the ten films Daenerys Entertainment had collaborated on with external partners, only Sleeping with the Enemy and A League of Their Own had reached the $100 million domestic box office tier. Two others, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Misery, were also successful, but their box office potential appeared to top out at around $80 million.
It was obvious that Simon had kept the best projects for Daenerys Entertainment itself.
Moreover, people like Columbia's Peter Guber and Fox president Joe Roth were probably even more puzzled about how Simon had managed to pick out these box office hits with such precision.
Take Home Alone, for example. John Hughes was certainly one of the successful filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s, but he had never had a film break $100 million at the North American box office. His best domestic performance had only been around $70 million.
Yet suddenly Home Alone not only shattered the awkward barrier Hughes had never crossed, its total North American box office seemed poised to head straight toward $200 million.
For traditional Hollywood filmmakers, investing in movies was like gambling. No one could accurately predict whether a film would succeed at the box office. That was also why many filmmakers preferred not to invest personally in projects and instead simply collected their service fees.
Simon Westeros had spent the past few years constantly overturning that long held belief.
Of course, Simon had no intention of explaining anything to these people. He merely chatted casually about various bits of recent Hollywood gossip. In this circle, if he did not want to speak, no one could force him to reveal anything.
After a round of small talk and socializing, Simon noticed his personal lawyer George Norman approaching with several people. He nodded to those around him and walked over with Janet, smiling.
Janet had just reminded him that George wanted to introduce some people to him tonight, mostly friends from his own circle.
Simon greeted the Normans and casually glanced at the others. Unexpectedly, his attention was drawn to another couple.
The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, with a darker complexion that clearly suggested Latin heritage. The woman appeared much younger, in her thirties, with short black hair and fair skin. She carried the refined charm typical of wealthy housewives from Los Angeles' affluent neighborhoods.
Most importantly, Simon recognized them at a glance. Robert Kardashian and Kris Kardashian. If history did not change, the latter would later rename herself Kris Jenner. She would go on to build what many people would call the "Kennedy family of the entertainment industry."
Over the past few years Simon had met far too many figures who had once existed only in the headlines of his previous life. Though he could not help feeling again how small the world was, he did not reveal any special expression.
However, during Simon's casual glance, perhaps due to a woman's instinctive sixth sense, Kris Kardashian, standing with her arm around her husband, distinctly felt that the young man who now held immense influence in this city and even across the country had looked at her in a rather particular way.
It must be an illusion.
Recently, she and her husband had introduced the godfather of their children, O. J. Simpson, as a client to George Norman's law firm. That connection had finally allowed them to enter the private circle of this increasingly prominent Los Angeles attorney. Their true intention had always been to use George Norman as a bridge to reach the very top of the city's social pyramid.
At the very top of that pyramid were undoubtedly the major figures of Hollywood, especially the young man standing before them.
If they could establish a connection with Simon Westeros, even without any tangible benefits, their reputation within their own social circles would rise dramatically.
After introducing several close friends, George Norman finally gestured toward the Kardashian couple.
"Simon, this is Bob Kardashian and his wife Kris. Bob used to be a lawyer as well. We even worked together before, though he's now become quite a capable businessman."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kardashian."
Simon shook hands with Robert Kardashian, exchanged greetings, then turned to Kris and extended his hand.
"Hello, Mrs. Kardashian."
Kris Kardashian had been preparing flattering remarks in her mind the entire time, but when the moment came to shake his hand, she could not find the right words. The young man in front of her possessed far too many dazzling qualities. In the end she simply smiled.
"Hello, Simon."
Feeling the slightly rough hand holding hers, she remembered the way he had looked at her earlier, and her heart began to sway.
Simon noticed the wandering look in her eyes. On a sudden whim, he lightly traced two strokes across her palm with his finger before releasing her hand. Kris Kardashian felt the small movement. A flash of surprise crossed her face, but she quickly regained control of her expression. Her emotions, however, were far from calm.
What did Westeros mean by that?
Could it be…
Kris Kardashian could not help recalling the rumors about Simon Westeros' taste in women.
Simon, meanwhile, paid no attention to the ripples stirring in her mind. After the casual tease, he moved on to other conversations as if nothing had happened.
For the rest of the party, the elegant woman standing beside her husband occasionally cast hopeful, distracted, and faintly resentful glances across the room. She waited for more than an hour, practically gazing through the crowd in anticipation, yet received no further signal from the young man. In the end, she even discovered that he had left early.
The next day was Friday.
Early that morning, two news stories appeared in the media that quickly captured public attention.
Simon Westeros had finally responded to the long standing question about what he had done with the $500,000 he had received from Matthew Broderick years earlier. Many people who read the related article in the Los Angeles Times initially found it hard to believe.
Four years ago, that young man had just arrived in Los Angeles. He lived in a motel and worked a barely sufficient odd job. He could be described as completely penniless. How could he possibly have donated such a huge sum of $500,000?
Yet the facts were undeniable.
On the same day the Los Angeles Times revealed the story, a senior official from UNICEF personally confirmed the information during an interview with CNN.
Further reports from other media outlets soon verified a chain of additional details.
Simon Westeros had indeed donated the entire $500,000.
It was astonishing.
Although Simon never publicly explained why he had chosen to donate the money back then, the facts spoke for themselves. Amid the controversy stirred up by Matthew Broderick, Simon had already gained the upper hand in public opinion. Now, almost without people noticing, he began to win even more goodwill.
The other piece of news attracting attention was the opening week box office of Home Alone.
From December 21 to December 27, Home Alone dominated every other film in its release window. In its first seven days, the movie grossed a staggering $41.93 million.
Under the overwhelming impact of Home Alone's box office numbers, the eight other new releases in the same period struggled. Only Universal's Kindergarten Cop barely crossed the $10 million mark in its opening week. Other wide releases, such as Brian De Palma's The Bonfire of the Vanities and Sean Connery's The Russia House, managed only five or six million dollars in their first week.
Yet this was only the beginning.
On December 28, the new week began as North American theaters welcomed another wave of releases.
However, the only major wide openings that week were Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford's drama Havana and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III.
The Godfather Part III had been highly anticipated by fans.
Unfortunately, its early test screenings had produced mediocre reactions. Sofia Coppola's performance in the film drew overwhelmingly negative criticism.
Meanwhile, Havana, starring Robert Redford and telling the story of a gambler navigating the upheavals of late 1950s Cuba, barely caused a ripple.
The film had a production budget of $40 million. Universal clearly lacked confidence in it. Although it was given a New Year release window, it opened on only 813 screens. The result soon proved the studio's concerns justified. The film became a complete failure.
By Friday alone, December 28, the box office trend for the new week was already clear.
Home Alone earned an astonishing $9.91 million in a single day, representing a 15 percent increase compared to the same day the previous week.
Many people had already expected Home Alone to become a major hit. Yet achieving a reverse drop after a $41.93 million opening week still surprised most observers.
Then, from December 28 to December 30, the film's second weekend gross reached $30.16 million. The reverse drop was not as large as Friday's, but it still amounted to 13 percent.
Compared with the Christmas holiday of the previous week, this time New Year's Day on January 1 fell on a Tuesday. That meant not only the weekend but also Monday and Tuesday would benefit from holiday traffic.
The final weekend of 1990 quietly passed, and 1991 arrived.
From December 28 to January 3, boosted by the New Year holiday, Home Alone achieved a 15 percent week to week increase. It earned another $47.99 million in seven days. After only two weeks in theaters, the unexpectedly phenomenal family comedy had already accumulated $89.92 million in total box office, easily breaking every previous box office record held by John Hughes' films.
Following the release of the second week numbers, Daenerys Entertainment officially announced plans to launch a sequel to Home Alone.
Because the studio had already signed young actor Macaulay Culkin to a three film contract, and supporting actors such as Joe Pesci were not yet box office stars capable of demanding massive raises, most of the original cast and crew were expected to return for the sequel. John Hughes would again lead the project, with compensation terms identical to the first film.
Aside from Home Alone, the newly released The Godfather Part III earned $22.43 million in its first seven days. Although this surpassed the opening week totals of every other new film besides Home Alone, it did nothing to overshadow the latter's brilliance.
As for Havana, the film could only be described as a disastrous failure.
Despite opening during the lucrative New Year holiday period, it earned a pitiful $3.12 million in its first seven days, not even a fraction of Home Alone's revenue.
Universal had invested $40 million in the production. After seeing the opening week results, it was already clear the project would never recover its costs.
Together with Brian De Palma's underperforming The Bonfire of the Vanities from the previous week, some media outlets jokingly remarked that Daenerys Entertainment's Home Alone had completely crushed two industry giants who had once helped Simon greatly, Brian De Palma and Robert Redford.
The only silver lining was that Brian De Palma had listened to Simon's earlier advice. He did not cast Tom Hanks as the male lead in The Bonfire of the Vanities and reduced the production budget from over $40 million in the original timeline to $20 million.
As a result, compared with the catastrophic losses of Havana, The Bonfire of the Vanities, which had opened with $5.69 million, was expected to finish with around $15 million at the North American box office. Warner Bros. would not make much profit from the project, but at least it would not suffer the complete financial disaster facing Universal.
The failure of Havana, combined with the continued delay of the MCA acquisition deal, caused another wave of volatility in MCA's stock price after the holiday when the market reopened. There were signs it might drop below the $60 threshold.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of troops were completing their final buildup in the Persian Gulf region. MCA shareholders were growing increasingly anxious. The management led by Lew Wasserman faced mounting pressure.
After several months of maneuvering, Bell Atlantic had already been successfully acquired. The potential obstacles to purchasing MCA had also been removed one by one by Simon.
To give MCA the impression that Daenerys Entertainment actually hoped the acquisition would continue dragging on, Simon deliberately avoided attending any negotiation meetings around the New Year period.
Lew Wasserman and Sid Sheinberg eventually realized the situation was hopeless. After Daenerys Entertainment promised them two fairly generous advisory positions, they finally accepted the company's $7 billion acquisition offer for MCA on January 7.
With that, the acquisition, which had dragged on with many twists and turns for several months, was finally settled.
The day after the agreement was reached, MCA stock was temporarily suspended from trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Daenerys Entertainment also submitted the acquisition for regulatory review to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Compared with the earlier Bell Atlantic acquisition, most observers believed this review would be little more than a formality. No one expected that after approving Westeros Company's purchase of Bell Atlantic, the Department of Justice would suddenly reject Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA.
In other words, the deal was essentially certain.
Even while the transaction awaited approval, Daenerys Entertainment's management had already begun gradually taking over MCA's operations in Hollywood.
Once the acquisition was completed, Daenerys Entertainment would obtain Universal Pictures, MCA Records, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Orlando, a 50 percent stake in the USA Network, Putnam Publishing, a 40 percent stake in Cineplex Odeon theaters, and the vast Universal film library, along with many other assets.
Although MCA's debt ratio was relatively low, it still carried about $500 million in total liabilities. As a result, the total value of the acquisition reached $7.5 billion.
Combined with the $8.7 billion price of the Bell Atlantic deal, the two major acquisitions carried out within just a few months would cost the Westeros system a total of $16.2 billion, including $14 billion in cash.
At the end of the previous year, Simon had repatriated funds from overseas. After paying massive capital gains taxes and accounting for a portion of tax exempt principal, he had brought back approximately $6 billion.
Once both acquisitions were completed, the total debt of the entire Westeros system would reach $12 billion.
Simon would not only be the richest person in the world, but also the individual carrying the largest personal debt.
Many experts and media outlets predicted that if Simon failed to carefully manage the enormous debt burden facing the Westeros empire over the next few years, or if the American economy deteriorated further after war broke out in the Persian Gulf, his personal fortune might shrink just as rapidly as that of media tycoons Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch, who had appeared on the Forbes list the previous year.