"Simon, look this way, look this way."
"Simon, how's the post-production on The Flash coming along?"
"Do you think The Dark Knight's global box office can surpass the first Batman?"
"Mr. Westeros, could you put your hands in your pockets... yes, just like that, hold it... thank you."
"Simon, have you and Janet started picking out names for the baby yet?"
"Simon, is it true that casting for the third Batman movie has already begun?"
"Simon..."
"..."
Amid the dense flashes of cameras and barrage of questions, Simon patiently posed for over a minute in front of the photo wall at the end of the red carpet for the Batman: The Dark Knight celebration party before heading toward the corridor leading to the party hall at the reporters' urging.
This was the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
The moment Simon left the media's sight, Cindy Crawford, who had been deliberately waiting in the corridor ahead, stepped forward.
The woman wore a black deep-V evening gown that hugged her flawless curves. A string of pearls graced her fair neck, her face lightly made up, and her carefully styled chestnut hair fell over her shoulders, making her look even more dazzling.
Not bothering to hide his appreciative gaze, Simon smiled and greeted her first. "Good evening, Cindy. You look absolutely stunning tonight."
Cindy Crawford fell into step beside him without missing a beat, gracefully flipping the long hair on the side facing him as she replied, "Thank you, Simon."
They had barely exchanged those words before someone else came over to talk to Simon.
Once inside the party hall, it turned into more than ten straight minutes of nonstop mingling.
Normally, after entering the hall, Cindy Crawford would have known to slip away on her own.
But Simon clearly had no female companion tonight, and the man offered no objection to her staying glued to his side.
Most of all, the thrill of riding his coattails was simply too addictive for her to walk away.
Every guest who approached Simon automatically treated her as his date for the evening. After chatting with the man beside her, they never failed to greet her and toss in a compliment or two.
In the past at events like this, the Hollywood heavyweights would stare at her like prey, practically undressing her with their eyes. Tonight, not one such look appeared. It was as if every last one of them had suddenly turned into the perfect gentleman.
Many of the female guests kept polite smiles on their faces, yet their occasional glances her way brimmed with unmistakable envy.
Others praised her performance in Batman: The Dark Knight and volunteered that they had suitable film roles for her, promising to reach out to her agency later.
In the past it had always been straight to booking a room to "chat."
No one ever bothered contacting an agency.
Her acting contract was with ICM.
Marvin Josephson, the man who still quietly ran ICM from behind the scenes, happened to be here tonight. When he saw her trailing beside Westeros, he came over and immediately offered to assign her a new agent, letting his daughter Nancy Josephson represent her personally.
As an ICM-signed actress, Cindy had only been active in modeling before Batman: The Dark Knight and barely registered on Hollywood's radar. Still, she knew Nancy Josephson was the heir Marvin was grooming to take over the agency.
Besides, as a gorgeous trophy constantly lusted after by others, switching to a female agent, especially the boss's daughter, would spare her countless unnecessary hassles.
All of this had come from nothing more than boldly sticking close to a certain man for a mere ten-plus minutes of socializing.
If only she could really hook this man!
She did not dare dream of anything more. Even becoming his mistress would probably let her have whatever she wanted in both Hollywood and the fashion world from then on.
Her thoughts drifting, Cindy noticed Barbra Streisand, the veteran Hollywood queen currently chatting with the man beside her, cast a quick glance her way. She promptly reined in her wandering mind and smiled politely as she listened to the conversation.
"Yeah, I actually read the script for The Prince of Tides. It's a standout story. Barbra, if your film weren't a Warner Bros. reserved project, I definitely would have picked it as one of the collaborations between Daenerys and Warner Bros."
Barbra Streisand acted as if her earlier glance had never happened. Hearing Simon, she looked surprised. "Really, Simon? To be honest, I've been very hesitant about this project, worried I might ruin it."
Simon shook his head firmly. "How could you possibly ruin it? It's a wonderful story. After all these years, the Oscars are probably overdue to hand a Best Director statuette to a woman. I think The Prince of Tides has a real chance at contending."
The Prince of Tides was a psychological romance film that Barbra Streisand had directed and starred in herself.
In his memory, the movie had been a major Oscar contender in 1992, only to be eclipsed by The Silence of the Lambs and walk away without a single award.
Even so, its outstanding quality could not be denied. Its box office had also been very strong.
If not for the fact that Barbra Streisand, like Clint Eastwood, was a reserved star for Warner Bros., her films reliably profitable and therefore rarely shared with outsiders, Simon truly would have chosen it as one of the Daenerys-Warner collaboration projects.
Hearing Simon's high praise, Barbra Streisand covered her mouth. "Oh, that's really..."
Steve Ross, also present tonight, seized the opening. "Simon, The Prince of Tides is just entering post-production. Why don't you drop by when you have time and take a look?"
Barbra Streisand seemed to catch the cue and looked at Simon hopefully. "Yes, Simon, could you come give me some notes?"
"Well, let me see if I have time next week."
Steve Ross smiled. "Then it's settled, next week."
Simon put on a helpless expression as if he'd been outmaneuvered, thought for a moment, and nodded. "All right, next week it is. I'll clear a few hours."
They chatted a little longer. Once Steve Ross and Barbra Streisand had moved on, Jonathan Friedman approached with an older man and a younger one: Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola and his nephew Nicolas Cage.
After quick greetings, Simon gestured toward the lounge booths along the edge of the hall. "Let's talk over there."
The group settled into one booth. Jonathan, Coppola, and Cage, all gentlemen, sat on one side, leaving the other for Simon and Cindy.
After asking the waiter to refresh their drinks, they did not rush into business but instead talked about the new film Coppola was preparing.
Though he was one of Hollywood's legendary "big four" directors, Coppola's recent years had not been kind. The title was now mostly just that, a title.
Last year's The Godfather Part III had been a critical and commercial disappointment, further damaging his position.
Right now his production company was sitting on twenty-seven million dollars in losses. If the next film could not turn things around, Coppola might face bankruptcy again.
Why "again"?
Because after the box-office disaster of The Cotton Club in the eighties, he had already gone through one bankruptcy, at one point unable even to pay his phone bill.
Both Coppola and Cage were WMA clients.
Simon had actually come tonight to discuss matters with Cage. Jonathan bringing Coppola along clearly hoped to secure some help from Simon.
After all, Coppola remained one of WMA's flagship directors.
"This is a story about the origins of Dracula called Bram Stoker's Dracula. We've already locked in Keanu Reeves and Gary Oldman, and we've invited Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins as well. Winona should be fine, but Anthony is still thinking it over, and of course we'll need Daenerys Entertainment's position on the matter."
To keep Anthony Hopkins comfortable playing Batman's butler Alfred, Simon had already given the male lead in The Silence of the Lambs to someone else.
Because of his contract, although Hopkins's popularity had soared thanks to Alfred and offers were pouring in, he still needed Daenerys Entertainment's approval for other films.
Therefore, Coppola's final sentence was the real point.
As long as Simon gave the word, no one would block Hopkins from the vampire movie, and even the still-hesitant Hopkins himself would take the opportunity seriously.
After all, for those at the top of the pyramid, Hollywood was ultimately a small circle.
Simon had noticed Coppola's project earlier but had no intention of claiming it for himself.
The film was budgeted at forty million dollars, and in his memory its North American box office had reached only about eighty million.
Although the worldwide gross exceeded two hundred million, considering Daenerys could not grab every successful project, Simon had held back.
The same went for Warner Bros.' scheduled August 2 release of Kevin Costner's new film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, another big hit in his memory. Simon had received the information early but had likewise made no move.
Over the past two years Daenerys Entertainment had monopolized seven or eight of the top ten spots on Hollywood's annual box-office chart. If they left no breathing room for other studios, a backlash was inevitable.
Just as he had not been insincere earlier when discussing The Prince of Tides' Oscar prospects with Barbra Streisand.
Daenerys Entertainment had claimed Best Picture for two straight years. Next year, if a horror thriller like The Silence of the Lambs swept the Oscars, the media would certainly raise a fuss.
Therefore Simon had already decided to step back from the 1992 Oscars voluntarily.
Even if Daenerys refused to let go, the Academy voters would probably make their own choices to prevent the Oscars from becoming Daenerys's private playground.
In that case, it was better to hand the slots to Warner, with whom Daenerys maintained relatively close ties.
Speaking of which, the film Thelma & Louise that Kathryn was overseeing had basically finished post-production and was scheduled for September 6. That feminist picture was also a strong Oscar contender in his memory.
Perhaps next year's Oscars could feature two female Best Director nominations.
Of course, Simon did not hold high hopes that Catherine could actually win Best Director.
Simply landing a nomination would already be a rare achievement.
Noticing Coppola still waiting for his reply, Simon quickly gathered his thoughts and stated, "As long as Tony is willing to take the role, Daenerys will not put any obstacles in the way of this film."
Coppola nodded gratefully, glanced at Cindy beside Simon, and smiled. "Ms. Crawford, my new film happens to have a role quite suited to you. Would you like to try for it?"
Riding someone else's coattails was, after all, still just riding coattails.
Cindy did not dare truly wave the flag and claim the tiger's skin. She glanced at the man beside her with an adoring look and said, "I'll listen to Simon."
A stunning beauty declaring herself this way was incredibly satisfying to a man's ego.
The three men across from them all gave Simon knowing smiles.
Simon merely smiled back, then turned to Cage to get down to business. "Nick, you should have already seen the materials for Mission: Impossible, right?"
Nicolas Cage's real name was actually Nicolas Coppola. Nick was short for Nicolas.
Cage nodded. "Of course, Simon. I'm very honored to have the chance to join the project."
Rumors about the Mission: Impossible series had been circulating in the industry for some time.
Many people knew Paramount had originally planned to partner with their close collaborator Tom Cruise for the lead, and Cruise himself had been very interested.
However, because of the old grudge involving Rain Man, although Daenerys Entertainment no longer placed career obstacles in front of Rain Man's three main creators, it also had no intention of working with them again.
At first a few people had put in a word for Cruise in front of Simon, but after several rejections no one was tactless enough to keep bringing it up.
As Simon's influence in Hollywood grew, the circle understood that some people, no matter how glorious their past, were destined to become increasingly sidelined.
The three co-production projects agreed between Daenerys and Paramount had the first one, Indecent Proposal, already locked in.
Yet preparations for the Mission: Impossible series had not been completely shelved.
Nicolas Cage was the new Ethan Hunt Simon had chosen.
Thanks to the Coppola family connection, Cage had debuted in the early eighties but had never quite caught the right break. His biggest commercial success to date remained the film he starred in with Cher a few years earlier, Moonstruck.
Speaking of which, Simon really liked Moonstruck, especially the irrepressible restlessness the film captured.
Moreover, in Moonstruck the young Cage still had his full hairline and was drop-dead gorgeous.
That was the main reason Simon had picked him for Mission: Impossible.
Having debuted in the early eighties and spent a decade honing his craft in Hollywood, Cage possessed both real acting skill and undeniable looks.
Films like The Rock, Face/Off, Con Air, and Gone in 60 Seconds in his memory also proved he had the potential to carry action movies.
Besides, unlike other candidates who had been considered and dropped, such as Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner, the current Nicolas Cage was only twenty-seven, young enough, reasonably priced, and able to sign a long-term contract, all clear advantages.