Like Steel Magnolias and Driving Miss Daisy, two stage play adaptations Daenerys Entertainment had released in the past couple of years, A Few Good Men was also based on a hit Broadway play. It told the story of a rookie Navy lawyer who, under crushing pressure, investigates a military murder case.
The original film had also been translated as A Few Good Men and starred Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore. It was a box office smash that broke a hundred million that year as well. But just looking at the star power of those three leads made it obvious the production cost wouldn't be low. That was precisely why Simon was willing to bring the project out and partner with MGM on it.
Sherry Lansing accepted the coffee Jennifer set down for her and thanked her, then said to Simon, "It's a very strong story. Similar in subject matter to Harrison Ford's Presumed Innocent this summer, and it should have a shot at Oscar recognition too."
Harrison Ford's Presumed Innocent was also a courtroom crime drama.
Its opening had been merely average, but since its June 8 releasea, over three months it had quietly accumulated more than seventy million dollars. Its domestic total was expected to reach eighty million, far exceeding early industry expectations.
Simon even felt that, in the original timeline, A Few Good Men had probably been a film made to ride the coattails of Presumed Innocent.
"Then let's start prepping as soon as possible," Simon said. "Also, I've already locked in Demi Moore for the female lead. She's a great fit, and she still has one contract left with Daenerys. For the male lead, Daniel Kaffee, you can reach out to Tom Hanks."
Sherry Lansing hesitated. "Simon, I think Hanks is better suited for comedy. And he's not young enough."
"You can take some time and watch the A League of Their Own dailies. Hanks has a much wider range than you think," Simon said. "And he's thirty four this year. In Hollywood, that's still young. If we have to, we adjust the script. Rain Man originally had two middle aged leads. The producers wanted Hoffman and Nicholson together, but later they changed it into brothers with a big age gap for Cruise. A Few Good Men can be the same. The male lead doesn't have to be fresh out of the gate. He can be a middle aged man who's been pushed aside, or made some mistake, whatever it is, we just need that underdog contrast, that comeback shock."
Sherry nodded along, then said, "Actually, Simon, I showed the script to Cruise. Tom is very interested in the Kaffee role, and his quote isn't high. Six million. That's three million less than what he took for Days of Thunder. It's a sincere offer."
To guarantee A Few Good Men succeeded, using the original lineup was obviously the safest choice.
But Simon hadn't considered it from the start.
Over the years, Hollywood studios had already ceded far too much leverage to stars.
Simon wanted to take back every bit of power that should have belonged to the studio. He would not allow Daenerys Entertainment to become passive in front of any star. And he certainly wasn't going to repeat Paramount's original timeline fiasco, making a huge public fight with its own leading man over profit participation for Mission: Impossible, then crawling back afterward to cooperate anyway.
Even if Cruise's six million offer was clearly a gesture of goodwill toward Daenerys, an attempt to smooth over past friction, Simon had no intention of yielding. "Sherry, I know you and Cruise are on good terms, but there's no room to negotiate. Daenerys Entertainment will not work with Cruise."
Sherry Lansing knew she had no standing to bargain with the young man in front of her. She could only feel regret on Cruise's behalf as she said, "Then I'll contact Hanks as soon as possible."
Once that was settled, Simon changed the subject. "The next script can wait until A Few Good Men is finished. Also, about 007. How did it go with Brosnan, and the SPECTRE rights?"
Sherry shook her head. "Brosnan turned it down. And the Broccoli family wants to let Timothy Dalton do one more sequel. As for the SPECTRE rights, we should be able to finalize it soon. Three million. I can't push the price any lower."
The 007 rights had always been jointly held by MGM's United Artists and the Broccoli family in the UK. And historically, the Broccoli family had always controlled the actual production rights for the Bond films.
Pierce Brosnan was already thirty seven this year, even older than Hanks. After grinding for so many years, he'd finally broken out with Pretty Woman. He wasn't going to lock himself into the 007 image easily.
Simon didn't force it, but he said, "Even if Brosnan won't do it, the male lead still needs to change. Dalton's Bond films haven't been successful, and the latest one, Licence to Kill, is probably the lowest grossing entry in the series. Continuing like this is just wasting time."
In that Brisbane meeting, Qintex's shareholders and creditors had suggested Simon join MGM's board or serve as a consultant. Simon had refused.
Strictly speaking, Simon had no official capacity to interfere with MGM's operations at all.
But after witnessing that meeting in person, Sherry Lansing understood that if this young man wanted to replace her as MGM's CEO, he could do it without breaking a sweat. Even if she felt a small instinctive resistance, she didn't dare ignore his advice. "I'll discuss it with the Broccoli family as soon as I'm back."
After the meeting with Sherry Lansing ended, Simon walked her out, then returned to the administrative district to continue his afternoon work.
It was already after six in the evening when Simon was reading through a new packet of materials on the novel rights for A Time to Kill when the phone on his desk rang. Jennifer informed him that MCA's chairman, Lew Wasserman, was calling personally. Simon was surprised, but he still picked up.
After a brief conversation, Simon hung up and called Jennifer in. "Wasserman invited me to a cocktail party tonight. Come with me. After that, we'll fly to San Francisco and stay the night. How about it?"
Jennifer nodded. "Sure. But after the party, I won't go to San Francisco with you. I have work tomorrow."
Simon's trip to San Francisco was for business. He would probably stay there two days.
Hearing that, Simon put on a show of displeasure. "Then don't come to the party either. Go home and rest."
Jennifer's eyes shone as she insisted, "I have to go."
Simon pulled a long face. "Watching me this closely is going to make me rebellious, you know. And this really should be Jenny's job."
Jennifer nodded decisively, smiling. "Yes. It really is Jenny's job." [TL/N: Both her and janet has the same nickname given by Simon, "JENNY."
Fine.
This was a Jenny too.
Watching his assistant click away in her heels, Simon smiled and went back to the documents in front of him, but his mind was already turning over why Lew Wasserman had invited him.
According to industry chatter, Matsushita's acquisition team had begun formal contact with MCA's management these days. On Simon's side, Daenerys Entertainment, Cersei Capital, and Rebould Law had already formed an acquisition team of around sixty people.
At this point, keeping things secret was probably impossible.
Most likely, Wasserman had gotten wind of it and wanted to pull Simon into the fight early, using him to drive up the bidding price for MCA.
In Simon's memory, Matsushita's bid for MCA had been anything but smooth. To avoid MCA's price rocketing into a range he couldn't accept, Simon had no intention of moving early. He planned to wait until Matsushita and MCA hit a stalemate, then choose the right moment to submit an offer.
Even if Matsushita's negotiations went far more smoothly than in the original timeline, Daenerys Entertainment could still swoop in before MCA's shareholder vote and snatch the deal.
Still, tonight he needed an excuse to brush Wasserman off.
Simon quickly thought of another matter he'd been considering lately, and the plan he would start once he reached San Francisco tomorrow. Another acquisition, also involving several billion dollars, could serve as a temporary shield.
In any case, he couldn't let MCA use him as a tool to inflate its stock price and intensify competition.
With his decision made, Simon's attention returned to the A Time to Kill materials.
A Time to Kill was a crime thriller published last year, dealing with racial discrimination and judicial justice, similar to the famous To Kill a Mockingbird.
The original film adaptation of A Time to Kill wouldn't be released until 1996. It starred Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Sandra Bullock, and it achieved strong box office results and earned Oscar recognition.
And that wasn't all. The author, John Grisham, had two other works, The Pelican Brief and The Firm, both of which became major hits in the 1990s. The latter two novels hadn't been published yet, but when Daenerys bought A Time to Kill, they also secured first refusal rights to Grisham's next two novels.
Even so, Simon had no intention of greenlighting those projects in the short term.
Just next year alone, Daenerys Entertainment's would-be blockbusters, including both in-house productions and outside collaborations, already included seven heavy bombs with strong odds of clearing a hundred million: Toy Story, The Silence of the Lambs, Scream 3, A Few Good Men, Batman: The Dark Knight, Terminator, and The Fugitive.
Even though the U.S. domestic box office had already broken five billion earlier than in the original timeline, the market's capacity was still limited. In Simon's view, those films alone could end up competing with each other internally, not to mention other studios' major projects next year like The Flash, GoldenEye, and Hook.
To keep competition from becoming too brutal, Simon had recently decided to move Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 to 1992. Some other major projects he'd planned to launch early were put on hold as well, and he was already considering stretching out the production tempo of the first phase of the DC film universe.
The 1990s in the original timeline had been an era overflowing with great films. Simon didn't want the market to be overtaken too early by nothing but action blockbusters and superhero movies. A true flourishing, with many styles blooming together, lasted longer. Focusing too heavily on big bomb commercial films was, in the long run, very bad for Hollywood's health.