Malibu.
A new Monday. The window had been left open all night, and the cool morning breeze kept teasing the floor-to-ceiling curtains that led to the terrace, slipping into the bedroom.
By the time the sky was fully bright, Janette opened her eyes. Knowing Simon was surely awake but staying still for her sake, she wriggled closer until she was sprawled across him, cheek pressed to his chest. "Let's sleep a little longer, okay?" she mumbled drowsily.
Simon slid an arm around Janette's waist, savouring the feel of skin on skin. "The designer the company hired has finished the Batmobile mock-up. Want to come see it this afternoon?"
Janette gave a sluggish hum, then said, "No".
"Alright".
Simon smiled patiently, letting her cling to him a while longer before, amid her protesting squeaks, he lifted her aside and got up to dress and wash.
It was seven in the morning.
After a half-hour jog on the treadmill, Simon took a quick shower, changed, and started breakfast for two.
He had just slid two neatly stacked sandwiches into the oven when he pulled oranges from the fridge for juice. Janette drifted in wearing only one of his oversized shirts.
Slicing an orange, Simon glanced at her and smiled. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Not without you". Janette hugged him, rose on tiptoe to kiss his lips, then froze. She raised her hand above her head to his mouth, measured, and her eyes widened. "Little boy, little boy, you've grown again?"
Janette's beautiful eyes always held a pull Simon found hard to resist, especially when they went round with surprise.
He nodded, studying her lovely gaze. "Seems I have".
Janette wilted, wrapping him tight and burying her face in his shoulder. "My boyfriend's still growing. I'm already an old woman".
Feeling the real note of insecurity in her half-teasing lament, Simon cupped her face, no less delicate than an eighteen-year-old's, and kissed her. "Darling, the way you take care of yourself, ten or twenty years from now you'll look exactly the same".
She rubbed her cheek against his. "And thirty years?"
"Well, in thirty years I'll be fifty".
Janette buried her face again. "A fifty-year-old man will attract even more little girls".
Simon sighed. "I already attract plenty; you can't guard against everything".
She laughed, swatting his chest. "Little Bastard".
After more affectionate teasing, Simon sent her off to dress while he carried breakfast to the dining table.
Janette returned in a plain tee and slacks. Though saddened her boyfriend had grown taller, since noticing certain tendencies she'd mostly abandoned the high heels she once loved.
A long time wearing high heels warps the feet.
Most couples sit opposite each other, but Janette preferred sitting beside Simon.
She sipped her orange juice, bit into her sandwich, and as if forgetting the earlier drama said, "Mom called yesterday, when are you going to Australia?"
With Batman set to shoot in Melbourne, Daenerys Pictures had already sent scouts, and Simon would have to visit before cameras rolled.
After a moment he answered, "Next month. Once we take over New World Entertainment, I'll focus on prepping Batman".
"Australia's been generous with film incentives lately. Shooting there means a big rebate", Janette said, tilting her head. "Anyway, Dad will help you".
After breakfast, Neil Bennett and Ken Dixon had the cars ready. Simon headed to Santa Monica for work; Janette had a meeting at an architectural firm in Beverly Hills.
The Point Dume plot was secured. Simon had sketched a rough design based on memory of Iron Man's cliff-side mansion, and Janette had been overseeing the detailed plans. Groundbreaking was slated for next year, but building such a house on that promontory would take two or three years before they could move in.
Sharing the ride, they travelled together to Santa Monica City centre before Janette switched to Ken Dixon's burgundy Range Rover bound for Beverly Hills.
Simon's old Chevy SUV had been disposed of; he now drove a black Range Rover. As he turned onto 4th Street, he saw an even larger crowd outside Daenerys headquarters.
The success of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' had spurred not only Daenerys's reality slate but rival networks and studios to develop writer-free formats. And after the Producers Alliance's offer was rejected by the Writers Guild last month, the momentum shifted.
Simon heard the Alliance's new proposal would be harsher than the last.
Half a year into the strike, the WGA had little leverage.
If no deal came next month, with the fall schedule already lost, the Alliance might dig in. Tens of thousands needed pay checks; a prolonged walkout could shatter the union.
As the "culprit" who had reversed the tide, Simon found writers still protesting outside Daenerys.
But as his car reached the parking garage, he realized the newcomers weren't guild members, they were a separate group.
Some WGA loyalists remained, yet today's larger crowd was protesting basic instinct.
Reading signs—"Basic Instinct is trash," "Westeros, San Francisco doesn't want you," "This is discrimination," "Stop smearing gays"—and spotting rainbow flags, Simon understood.
Recent media controversy over Basic Instinct hadn't reached the level of Lionsgate's Dogma in its original timeline, but San Francisco's gay community, a North-American stronghold, was furious at the film's portrayal.
In his own mind, Simon could hardly grasp why the gay community was so resistant to the film; he'd even heard that, in the past few days, groups in San Francisco had stationed themselves outside theatres handing out spoiler flyers that read 'Catherine is the murderer' to keep people from buying tickets.
The car inched through the crowd into the garage, and Simon slipped into the building via a side entrance. Most staff were already at their desks; long used to the scene outside headquarters, they paid little heed, so long as no one interfered with Daenerys Pictures' day-to-day, both sides kept the peace.
After a routine hour-long weekly meeting to review every project's progress, the executives scattered to their tasks, leaving Simon and Amy in the conference room.
Jennifer arrived just then with the weekend box-office report for the days just gone.
All the long months of work were finally about to show a number.
In its first three days, 'Basic Instinct' finished on $16.75 million, seizing the No. 1 spot for the weekend. Launched on 1,776 screens, that meant nearly $10,000 per site in only three days, an unmistakable sign of a breakout hit.
'Coming To America' starring Eddie Murphy, now in its third week, narrowed its drop to 21 percent after last weekend's brutal 45 percent slide, adding $10.41 million for a running total of $66.51 million, clearly on course to pass $100 million.
In third place, the new release 'The Dead Pool', from Warner Bros. Pictures and starring Clint Eastwood, opened with $9.07 million over three days.
While not a bad figure, and likely to reach about $13 million for the first week, it still could not touch 'Basic Instinct's opening weekend.
Crunch the numbers and Warner Bros. had two summer films, June's 'Funny Farm' and July's 'The Dead Pool', both going head-to-head with Daenerys releases: 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Basic Instinct'.
Chevy Chase's 'Funny Farm', released last month, is now winding down with less than $25 million in the till.
'The Dead Pool' might do a little better, but it will never be what you'd call a big success.
Meanwhile, Sandra's 'A Fish Called Wanda' held beautifully, grossing another $5.63 million last weekend; with sterling word-of-mouth it has already climbed to $30.96 million in two-and-a-half weeks.
While Simon and Amy studied those numbers at Daenerys headquarters, copies of the same report were flying across Hollywood.
Three days at $16.75 million; even if the weekend accounts for 70 percent of the week, 'Basic Instinct's seven-day tally should clear $23 million.
Only a handful of films this year had opened above $20 million; 'Basic Instinct' had just hit $23 million in its first week, well ahead of March's 'When Harry Met Sally'.
So, barring a 45 percent crash like 'Coming To America' suffered, 'Basic Instinct' still had a real shot at $100 million in North America.
Indeed, most insiders, seeing that opening figure, assumed the film would follow Daenerys' two previous hundred million box office chasers, 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Pulp Fiction'.
The picture was simply too hot; even if some stayed away opening week because of the controversy, buzz and peer pressure would likely pull them in later.
Even at $23 million week one, a gentle 20 percent slide would yield another $18 million, pushing the fortnight past $40 million, enough for Daenerys and Fox to recoup every production and marketing dollar and land the title in the year's top twenty.
And so, the instant the weekend numbers landed, every studio started dissecting the recipe behind basic instinct's success.
The femme fatale.
That was the ingredient every executive circled, along with plain old sex. Though the Hollywood strikes dragged on, the studios were already hunting for scripts heavy on both.
Simon knew the real engine, though: controversy-fuelled conversation. Studies showed that once a picture became a talking point, even if it was outright lousy, it could still ring serious cash registers.
That, in the end, was why marketing budgets would one day rival production costs.
Every one of his own hits had ridden the same wave of chatter: 'Run Lola Run's eighteen-year-old director, 'Pulp Fiction's youngest Palme d'Or winner, and now 'Basic Instinct'.
He also realized that, after this film, the public's curiosity about him would cool; future successes would demand both sterling movies and far heavier promotion, no more free rides.
Amid all that talk, the first full week zipped past.
From 15 to 21 July, 'Basic Instinct' took $23.92 million, higher than most press guesses.
Second-place 'Coming To America' slipped to $16.03 million for a cumulative total of $72.34 million.
Warner's 'The Dead Pool' finished its opening week at only $13.19 million; the studio looked headed for a repeat of 1987, when its top earner was the early-year throwaway 'Lethal Weapon'. So far this year, Warner's biggest hit remained Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice', launched over Easter and now closing with just over $70 million.