After Simon and Ovitz's meeting, although the public outcry caused by Barry Levinson's dismissal did not immediately subside, the main creators of 'Rain Man' all quieted down in the media.
However, this matter would not end there.
During the production of 'Rain Man', compared to many more powerful film companies in Hollywood, Simon had given the main creators enough room to manoeuvre; his intervention in this film even stopped at preventing the project from completely spiralling out of control.
Everything Barry Levinson and others did to escape the potential negative impact of the film's failure had far exceeded Simon's limits of tolerance, and he had no intention of letting the matter rest from the beginning.
However, although created by several people he disliked intensely, 'Rain Man' was a project that Daenerys Entertainment had invested heavily in, and Simon naturally wouldn't deliberately ruin it. Doing so would be like smashing one's own porcelain in a fit of pique, resulting in a double loss.
Only by making 'Rain Man' achieve the same success as the highest-grossing film of the year in the original timeline could this slap be truly returned.
Simon didn't plan to just return one slap and be done with it.
That wouldn't be painful enough.
People are always too quick to forget minor aches and pains that don't leave a deep enough impression.
While Simon personally took over 'Rain Man', another Daenerys Entertainment film, 'Scream', also successfully completed its rough cut after wrapping up in late July. With both parties maintaining communication on creative ideas, Wes Craven's work showed no signs of dissatisfying Simon, and the film was expected to be fully post-produced by early September at the latest, leaving nearly two months for promotion and distribution before the Halloween release window in late October.
In addition, the filming of 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Dead Poets Society' was also nearing its end and would not delay their release at the end of the year.
On the other hand, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers proposed its latest contract offer to the WGA, the WGA, completely cornered, had no choice but to initiate another vote.
Because the Producers Alliance only gave a week to respond, this vote could only be conducted by lottery in the two major cities of New York and Los Angeles. Of the 2,500 screenwriters ultimately selected to vote, 2,137 cast their votes in favour.
Finally, on August 12th, this major strike in Hollywood history, which had lasted over five months, officially came to an end, lasting a total of 160 days, five days longer than the 155 days in the original timeline.
Although the WGA announced a compromise, the aftermath of the strike continued.
Most critically, after reaching a new agreement with the WGA, the Producers Alliance still did not forgive the second and third-tier production companies that had signed agreements with the WGA in advance. Related antitrust lawsuits were still ongoing, and although the WGA might ultimately win, those blacklisted production companies would find it very difficult to secure business from the seven major film studios and four major television networks this year.
Furthermore, the strike, which lasted over five months, not only affected the fall TV season but also led to a shortage of projects in upcoming film schedules, making it easy for Daenerys Entertainment to push its several projects into theatres.
With the strike over, a large number of Hollywood projects that had been stalled due to a lack of screenwriters quickly restarted.
Robert Iger, who was already in charge of television program production at ABC, smoothly began restarting a series of TV drama projects under New World Entertainment.
Because it already had a good foundation, this matter did not encounter too many difficulties. Although some voices within the WGA hoped members would boycott cooperation with Daenerys Entertainment, the blacklisting of a large number of second and third-tier film companies in Hollywood had already greatly reduced the choices available to screenwriters. Faced with the abundant job opportunities at Daenerys Entertainment, very few screenwriters had enough confidence to initiate a boycott.
In a union of over ten thousand people, if you don't want the job, too many people are waiting to take it.
While restarting its film business, the integration of Daenerys Entertainment and New World Entertainment was also rapidly progressing.
On August 15th, the new company, after initial adjustments, officially held a small press conference, announcing that the former Daenerys Entertainment and New World Entertainment had been reorganized into Daenerys Entertainment Group.
After this integration, Daenerys Entertainment would retain three film labels: Daenerys Pictures, New World Pictures, and Highgate Film, another independent label originally owned by New World Entertainment.
Prior to this, due to the company's nascent stage, films ranging from romance like 'When Harry Met Sally' to anti-genre films like 'Pulp Fiction', or even B-grade horror films like 'Final Destination', were all produced under the single Daenerys Pictures label. This approach was actually very detrimental to the company's brand building.
Now, Simon planned to use these three labels to produce different types of films.
Daenerys Pictures would henceforth focus on mainstream commercial films like 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Rain Man', and 'Batman'. New World Pictures would take over the production of low-budget horror films like 'Scream' and 'Final Destination'.
As for Highgate Film, Simon intended for it to venture into the realm of art-house films specifically aimed at awards.
The Weinstein brothers' Miramax had not yet risen, and art-house films were still considered somewhat of a burden by many major film companies, and reality indeed leaned towards this.
In Hollywood at the time, a well-received art-house film, after several months or even half a year of operation, might fortunately earn a profit of ten million dollars, which was absolutely considered a great success. However, in the eyes of major studios, this might only be equivalent to a week's income for them.
However, what many people in Hollywood didn't notice was that if multiple successful art films could be operated each year, the total revenue from this business would be very considerable. Not only that, but doing so could also rapidly expand a film company's film library resources.
The video and DVD industries in Hollywood would remain prosperous for at least another two decades, and the development of the cable television industry continuously increased the demand for film resources. In such an industry background, possessing a film library rich in content resources was extremely beneficial for any film company.
To expedite this, Simon placed all of New World Entertainment's original external film acquisition teams under Highgate Film.
The film production cycle is long, but expanding globally, new films are completed almost every day. The first task for Highgate Film's team would be to scour the world for various film copyrights to bring to North America for distribution.
Beyond the three major labels, the company also integrated the existing distribution teams from both companies to form Daenerys Distribution, led by Robert Rehme, responsible for the distribution of all films under Daenerys Entertainment. Daenerys Television, led by Robert Iger, focused on the development of television business. Daenerys VFX, led by Mark Silvey, focused on the research and development of film CG special effects technology and 3D animation technology.
As for Marvel Entertainment, Simon had no plans to produce Marvel films in the short term. This subsidiary would maintain completely independent operations and report directly to Simon personally.
With all this completed, the summer box office season of 1988 was already drawing to a close.
On August 11th, 'When Harry Met Sally' was pulled from North American theatres after a full 20 weeks of screening, with a final cumulative box office of $110.92 million.
By August 18th, the 11th week of its release, 'Pulp Fiction' had accumulated a North American box office of $131.51 million.
'Basic Instinct' earned an additional $10.21 million in its fifth week, bringing its cumulative box office to $82.76 million. This film, which opened amidst controversy, performed significantly better at the box office than the original version and was destined to break the $100 million mark within the next three weeks, becoming the third film produced by Daenerys Pictures in 1988 to cross the $100 million threshold.
Santa Monica.
Although New World Entertainment also had an office space in Burbank, and a larger one at that, Daenerys Entertainment's headquarters remained in the two-story office building on 4th Street in Santa Monica.
In the blink of an eye, it was August 22nd.
Although he delegated company business to the various managers as much as possible, Simon remained exceptionally busy during this period. In addition to the preparations for 'Batman', he also had to oversee the post-production work for four films: 'Rain Man', 'Scream', 'Steel Magnolias', and 'Dead Poets Society'.
This alone took up most of his week.
Furthermore, after the integration was completed, many detailed aspects of the company's film operations also required Simon's involvement, and he couldn't completely ignore the several projects being advanced by the television department.
Although New World Entertainment had been in serious trouble before the acquisition, it still had a considerable number of ongoing film and television projects. While he couldn't find any film with box office potential among them, Simon couldn't cut all these projects that had already received investment.
Moreover, to avoid the awkward situation of a gap in film projects next year, Simon also needed to allocate time to select new projects.
Because of this busyness, Simon's trip to Australia had to be repeatedly postponed.
Inside the Daenerys Pictures headquarters conference room.
"Next, this is a film that New World Pictures originally intended to co-invest in with two other independent production companies, titled 'Cool World.' It tells a series of adventure stories about a cartoonist who enters his own comic book and interacts with his female protagonist, Brenda. The script copyright and distribution rights are both in our hands. The previous management had invested approximately $300,000 in development, and we have already successfully signed letters of intent with Timothy Dalton, the male lead of 007, and Brooke Shields, the female lead of 'Pretty Baby'.
The initial budget for the project is $15 million, with each of the three companies bearing $5 million". Amy finished her brief introduction and looked at Simon, who was sitting on the other side, suggesting, "I think this project is very interesting and perhaps worth a try. Timothy Dalton and Brooke Shields both have good name recognition. If necessary, we can even cancel our collaboration with the other two companies and invest in it alone".
Simon finished reviewing the documents in his hand, then looked up at Amy and asked, "What do you think is the selling point of this project?"
Amy thought for a moment and said, "The story itself, the idea of a cartoonist entering his own work. 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' also proved that this combination of animation and live-action is very popular. Additionally, Brooke Shields has good box office appeal; she's also reportedly dating Michael Jackson, which could further boost the film's publicity".
Simon listened to Amy and shook his head, saying, "'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' was indeed very successful, but it cost $70 million to make. As for this story, Amy, if you're optimistic about it, we can greenlight it, but the script must be rewritten. I need a clearer main storyline, not a scattered and disorganized adventure".
Amy paused, looking at Simon, and asked, "You're not optimistic about this film?"
Simon only had fragmented information about this film's box office failure in his memory, but combining various factors, he also understood that it was largely due to the turmoil at New World Entertainment in the original timeline. A film goes through too many stages from script to finished product. If this project were re-worked, coupled with Daenerys Entertainment's execution ability, the likelihood of repeating the same mistakes was small.
"It's not about being optimistic or not, but rather I don't feel much for it", Simon said, shaking his head again. "Also, forget about Brooke Shields. She has no acting skills, and her box office appeal was greater before she turned 18. I remember her last film, 'Sahara', was a big box office flop".
Amy was a bit confused by Simon's attitude: "Simon, are you saying we should invest in this film?"
"You decide", Simon said, waving his hand directly. "You are the company's CEO. In the future, the company will have more projects, and I can't make every decision. Of course, if we lose too much, I'll still scold you".
Amy thought for a moment and then made a decisive choice, saying, "Then, I'll have someone revise the script. Also, if Brooke Shields isn't suitable, perhaps Ms. Kidman could try. The film will start shooting early next year, and she will have finished 'Dead Calm' by then".
Simon nodded, saying, "Nicole is good. The female lead in this script has a very extroverted personality, and Nicole's acting skills are certainly capable of carrying it".
As they were talking, Robert Iger knocked on the conference room door and walked in, carrying his briefcase.
Having just flown in from the East Coast, Iger looked a bit tired.
Simon and Amy stood up to greet Iger, and they all sat down around the conference table.
"Simon, Amy, this is the draft agreement I just settled with HBO", Robert Iger said, pulling a document from his briefcase and handing it to Simon. "They are willing to order one season of 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' at a price of $600,000 per episode. However, they also requested that the first season only have 13 episodes".
There was only one copy of the agreement, so Amy also leaned over.
While 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and two other reality shows were picked up by mainstream television networks, Simon hadn't given up on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'. To his surprise, HBO, which was still part of Time Inc. at the time, was interested in the project. Although he didn't think HBO showing 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' was a good idea, Simon naturally wouldn't dissuade them if someone was willing to buy the project. He also wanted to establish business ties with this, the most powerful cable television network in the original timeline. So he had Iger contact HBO.