Companies usually schedule their IPO listing for a Thursday or Friday. That way, if any emergencies arise, the weekend market closure provides a buffer period for the company to address the problem.
American Online's listing date of July 12 fell on a Friday.
Of course, this IPO had gone smoothly from start to finish.
Even with expectations running high, the 106 percent single-day gain on Friday still exceeded most people's forecasts. The $43.25 closing price, the $7.46 billion market capitalization, and the $4.9 billion increase in Simon Westeros's personal wealth all sent ripples through countless nerves.
A company that was still burning cash and posting losses had opened with a price-to-earnings ratio of 72 times. While everyone marveled, envied, and praised the achievement, heated debates broke out over whether the stock truly deserved such a valuation.
In that atmosphere of discussion, AOL's share price inevitably began to pull back the following week.
Even so, over the five consecutive trading days from July 15 to July 19, the company's market capitalization never dipped below $5 billion.
After paying all underwriting, legal, and other fees, American Online ultimately received more than $430 million in fresh capital.
With the IPO successfully completed, the company immediately launched the second phase of its free-trial program.
Thanks to the massive name recognition it had already built, the new trial offered far less generous terms than the first half of the year. Users now received only one hour of free access per day. Anything beyond that required upgrading to a paid subscription.
In addition, trial users had to pay a deposit on the installation equipment. If they did not convert at the end of the trial period, the deposit would be refunded once the modem and other hardware were returned. If they did upgrade, the deposit would be applied directly toward their subscription fee, and they would even receive an extra subsidy.
Beyond the second-phase free trial, American Online would now pour even more resources into expanding its core network infrastructure, the single most expensive part of the entire operation.
The deposit requirement was therefore mainly a way for the company to improve its cash flow.
Also on July 12, the same day as AOL's IPO, Daenerys and Warner Bros.' co-production The Fugitive opened in North American theaters.
Three years earlier Harrison Ford had already tried a similar conspiracy-driven action thriller about a man on the run to clear his name. That film, directed by Roman Polanski and titled Frantic, had failed to make much of an impression at the box office.
This time, both the critical reception and the marketing muscle behind The Fugitive far surpassed Frantic.
Thanks to its tightly paced, perfectly constructed story, the film earned a composite media score of 9.1. The Los Angeles Times wrote that its "fluid yet relentlessly tense plot delivers an adrenaline-like tightness that keeps audiences on edge."
Warner Bros. had focused most of its attention on Batman: The Dark Knight, so The Fugitive had inevitably received somewhat less support.
Nevertheless, opening on just 2,340 screens, the film still delivered a powerful $37.61 million in its first week, with a per-theater average above $16,000.
That $37.61 million debut pushed both Batman: The Dark Knight and Terminator 2 aside and claimed the top spot on the new week's box-office chart.
By comparison, Disney's new release V.I. Warshawski opened to only $5.27 million over its first seven days.
On July 19, two more new films arrived as the second half of the summer season began: Universal Pictures' (now under Daenerys) Mobsters and Orion Pictures' Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
Mobsters was a period gangster film in the vein of Once Upon a Time in America and Scarface.
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was the sequel to Orion's 1989 sci-fi comedy, which had earned more than $40 million domestically and counted as a solid hit.
It was also part of the comedy franchise starring Keanu Reeves.
Keanu had only just successfully transitioned into a tough-guy image earlier that year with Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break and gained considerable popularity. His goofy, dim-witted performance in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey felt almost like self-sabotage.
From July 19 to 25, Mobsters opened on 1,513 screens and managed only $8.79 million, with a per-theater average barely above $5,000.
As Orion's flagship summer release, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey performed decently, opening on 1,620 screens to $15.66 million and a per-theater average close to $10,000 more than double the first film's debut..qqqq
However, the sequel's reviews had collapsed, making a long theatrical run unlikely.
With both new releases delivering average results, The Fugitive retained the weekend crown. Its second-week drop was just 11 percent, adding another $33.36 million for a two-week total of $70.97 million.
Because Harrison Ford's salary had reached $10 million, The Fugitive's final production budget hit $40 million, with a $20 million marketing spend.
At $70.97 million domestically and under the stepped revenue-sharing deal Warner Bros. had signed with theaters, Daenerys and Warner had already recouped most of their production and marketing costs in just two weeks.
Two straight weeks above $30 million clearly showed that The Fugitive still possessed substantial box-office potential.
Besides The Fugitive's strong per-theater average, another noteworthy figure that week was Batman: The Dark Knight. In its seventh week of release, the film's North American total officially crossed the $300 million mark, reaching $305.11 million.
Its weekly gross had now slipped to $15.11 million, placing it behind The Fugitive, Terminator 2, and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey in fourth place on the chart.
Based on the box-office curve since opening, Warner Bros.' distribution department projected that The Dark Knight would finish between $360 million and $390 million domestically, with little hope of reaching $400 million.
Overseas, the film had already crossed $300 million slightly ahead of the domestic total.
With several major overseas territories still to open, Warner Bros. expected final foreign earnings between $500 million and $550 million, roughly matching the first film. Worldwide, the total would land around $900 million, the same as Batman.
In its fourth week, Terminator 2 earned $23.22 million from July 19 to 25, finishing second on the weekly chart and pushing its four-week domestic total to $153.3 million.
Simon noticed that Terminator 2's North American gross was on track to surpass the original timeline's $200 million-plus finish.
That was hardly surprising.
In the original timeline the film had been produced by the Hollywood outsider Carolco Pictures and released by TriStar under Columbia. Neither company could match Daenerys and Fox in production or marketing resources.
Of course, this time Terminator 2 would no longer claim the 1991 North American box-office crown.
On July 26, as the 1991 summer season began winding down, two more new films arrived: A Few Good Men, the MGM-Daenerys co-production, and Paramount's horror film Body Parts.
The new version of A Few Good Men starred Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore. The story had been revised into one about a down-on-his-luck but upright middle-aged lawyer defending two Marines accused of murder.
From the very beginning, A Few Good Men had been positioned as a courtroom drama in the same vein as last year's hit Presumed Innocent starring Harrison Ford. It could not be released like a popcorn movie and would have to rely on word of mouth for a long run.
Fortunately, although the story had been altered, the film's critical reception remained outstanding, and the star power of Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore was more than enough to carry it.
Opening on 1,902 screens, A Few Good Men earned $26.73 million in its first week. While that fell short of Batman: The Dark Knight, Terminator 2, or The Fugitive, the per-theater average above $13,900 still met Daenerys and MGM's expectations.
Moreover, in its second week (the first week of August), the film dropped only 13 percent, adding another $23.39 million. That trajectory made it 100 percent certain that yet another member of the $100 million club was about to be born.
On August 2, Kevin Costner's new film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves once again delivered a pleasant surprise for Warner Bros.
The studio had scheduled the period action picture for August 2, signaling modest expectations for the summer. Yet the film opened to $39.19 million in its first seven days, outperforming even The Fugitive, which had opened on July 12.
Then, on August 9, Daenerys Entertainment's New World Pictures label released The Silence of the Lambs, essentially marking the official close of the 1991 summer season.
And with a composite media score of 9.6, it delivered a near-perfect finale.
Before release, the outside world had paid little attention to the $15 million production being distributed by the New World label.
Inside Hollywood, however, quite a few people had been watching closely, mainly because the female lead was Sandra Bullock. The young actress who had rocketed to fame thanks to Simon Westeros's Run Lola Run had enjoyed such unbroken success in recent years that most other Hollywood actresses were practically green with envy.
There were also rumors that The Silence of the Lambs was a project Simon had personally chosen for Sandra Bullock, which made the industry take it even more seriously.
Once again, the facts proved Simon Westeros's judgment impeccable.
The moment The Silence of the Lambs opened, its plot, performances, and religious undertones sparked intense media discussion.
Robert Duvall, an Oscar winner with multiple nominations, delivered a performance every bit as chilling as Anthony Hopkins's in the original. The Hollywood Reporter raved that "Robert Duvall's terrifying turn is worthy of a second Academy Award." Director Jonathan Demme and lead actress Sandra Bullock were mentioned constantly.
The New York Times even predicted that The Silence of the Lambs could become the second horror film after The Exorcist to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Under the media frenzy and New World Pictures' relentless marketing campaign, the film opened on just 1,561 screens yet still earned $23.93 million in its first week, with a per-theater average above $15,000.
While the debut was not spectacular, given the film's critical heat, no one doubted its potential to reach the $100 million mark.
As the summer season officially ended, the media suddenly realized that 1991 had produced seven major hits when measured by actual or projected $100 million domestic grosses. In order of release they were City Slickers, Batman: The Dark Knight, Terminator 2, The Fugitive, A Few Good Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and The Silence of the Lambs.
Of those seven films, only The Silence of the Lambs had been solely distributed by Daenerys Entertainment, yet four others were directly connected to the company. Only City Slickers and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves belonged outright to Columbia and Warner Bros.
Given the inherently gambling nature of the film industry, such a hit rate was unprecedented.
Comparing it with previous years, both the media and industry insiders grew increasingly curious about how this had happened. Did Simon Westeros truly possess a Midas touch?
Those almost superstitious theories were naturally destined to remain unanswered.
However, a mid-August article in The Hollywood Reporter offered a relatively rational explanation.
Simon Westeros, or rather Daenerys Entertainment, had clearly absorbed the majority of Hollywood's resources in recent years.
Take the most obvious example, Batman: The Dark Knight. Its record-breaking opening on more than 3,000 screens and $80 million marketing budget had guaranteed that the film would crowd out other movies in terms of release dates, theater screens, and promotional channels, and the squeeze was extremely fierce.
The same applied to Terminator 2, The Fugitive, A Few Good Men, and the rest.
Daenerys Entertainment's strategy of co-producing with other studios might appear to split the profits in half, but in reality it also claimed a large share of the resources those studios would normally have allocated to their own films.
Moreover, the "tentpole" films that had become popular in recent years had already moved beyond the old Hollywood model of pure luck.
From the moment a tentpole project was greenlit, it already carried powerful commercial advantages.
In short, sufficient budgets, outstanding creative teams, cutting-edge technology, and Simon Westeros personally overseeing every stage as a true cinematic polymath, combined with the best release windows and the most aggressive marketing the industry could offer, meant that as long as the quality was not terrible, these films were almost guaranteed to succeed.
Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment's growing dominance in Hollywood was far from accidental.
As for the other major studios' eagerness to partner with Daenerys, it was hard to say whether they were getting the better end of the deal or being quietly squeezed, aside from genuine blockbusters like Batman: The Dark Knight.
Simon had always worried that his almost clairvoyant "talent" in film would attract unnecessary trouble. The Hollywood Reporter article, while likely waking up the other studios, was exactly the kind of narrative he had hoped to see.