Daily Variety Article -
"MGM Pictures suddenly announced yesterday afternoon that it will take over the distribution of the family comedy 'My Stepmother Is an Alien', starring Dan Aykroyd and Kim Basinger, and has scheduled it for release on December 23rd. 'My Stepmother Is an Alien' is co-produced by independent Hollywood production companies Weintraub Entertainment Group and Catalina Production Group, with a production cost of $20 million".
"According to public reports, 'My Stepmother Is an Alien' was originally set to be distributed by Columbia Pictures. This reporter called the film's producer, Franklin Levy, who stated that the producers were unable to reach an agreement with Columbia Pictures on certain distribution terms and therefore switched to MGM".
"However, 'My Stepmother Is an Alien' being scheduled for December 23rd will create direct competition with another MGM-distributed film, 'Rain Man', which is scheduled for December 16th."
"'Rain man' is directed by 'Good Morning, Vietnam' director Barry Levinson and stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. The film previously saw intense conflict between the creative team and the producers. Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise once publicly supported Barry Levinson, condemning Daenerys Pictures for its wanton interference in the film's creation. Barry Levinson subsequently withdrew from the film, and rumours suggest that Simon Westeros personally took over post-production".
"Regarding whether MGM's sudden acquisition of 'My Stepmother Is an Alien' is due to a lack of confidence in 'Rain Man', whether they will cancel the release of 'Rain Man', or if other internal matters are involved, this writer called MGM, Daenerys, and CAA respectively, but received no response".
"This paper will closely follow the subsequent developments of this matter".
Santa Monica.
In Simon's office at Daenerys Entertainment headquarters.
Putting down the Daily Variety in his hand, Simon looked up at Amy Pascal and Robert Rem, who had just sat down across from him.
Amy took the initiative to say: "I asked a friend at Columbia. The audience reaction at the internal screening of 'My Stepmother Is an Alien' was very poor. Columbia wanted to increase the commission percentage and also required the producers to share the marketing expenses, so the two sides fell out".
Simon picked up a pencil and spun it in his hand, saying, "I'm not interested in that movie".
Seeing Simon look at him, Robert Rem said, "Regarding MGM, I just saw their proposed marketing plan for 'Rain Man' yesterday. It's very sloppy; I even suspect an intern did it. Tony Thomopoulos even complained to me that 'Rain Man' is simply worthless. Moreover, MGM requested that we prepay $5 million in marketing costs as soon as possible. But from the current situation, we'll likely only get the guaranteed 1,000 screens specified in the contract, not a single one more.
Even if MGM gets the money, they certainly won't do their best to promote the film. Although we can send accountants to track the film's distribution throughout the process according to the agreement, MGM still has many ways to bypass our supervision".
Simon had long understood that for a film's distribution to be successful, it required quality, strength, and luck; there were too many uncertain factors. But to deliberately mess it up, things became very simple.
Glancing down at the newspaper on the desk again, Simon clearly sensed the shadow of CAA without needing Amy or Rem to remind him.
Dan Aykroyd was also a major client of CAA. This male star had successfully joined the A-list thanks to the 1984 box office runner-up, 'Ghostbusters'.
Furthermore, without other external forces at play, for Columbia Pictures to suddenly demand higher commissions so close to the year-end release window, an independent producer would likely have had to suck it up to avoid missing the New Year slot.
CAA, which had become increasingly powerful in recent years, happened to have the strength to facilitate this.
Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and even the director of 'Rain Man', Barry Levinson, were all top-tier clients of CAA. Since everyone had completely fallen out over the 'Rain Man' project, and the creative leads had successfully shifted the blame to Daenerys Entertainment, CAA clearly didn't want 'Rain Man' to have any chance of a turnaround. To them, the film's outcome could only be failure, the bigger the failure, the better.
Simon listened to them while checking his watch. He had a character audition for 'Batman' in the morning, and his schedule was packed for noon, the afternoon, and even the evening. Today was another busy day.
Without further nonsense, Simon said to Robert Rem, "In that case, go to MGM right now and take back the distribution rights for 'Rain Man'".
Robert Rem hesitated, "Simon, what if MGM is unwilling to let go?"
Simon stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, and said, "That's your business, Bob. If MGM is unwilling, I'm afraid your year-end bonus will shrink this year".
Robert Rem watched Simon walk straight out of the office and looked at Amy with a helpless expression, saying, "Simon seems a bit unhappy today?"
Amy also stood up and said, "He might just be too tired lately. Besides, anyone would be unhappy facing this kind of situation".
"Alright", Robert Rem stood up as well, following Amy out. He continued, "Ultimately, 'Rain Man' is a dispute between us and CAA. Although The Big Seven haven't been very friendly to us lately, Thomopoulos shouldn't want to completely offend Daenerys Entertainment to death. Taking back the distribution rights shouldn't be a big problem. However, Amy, what do you think is an appropriate offer?"
"MGM holds the North American distribution rights for 'Rain Man' across all channels. The commission for theatrical, home video, and television platforms is 15%, while overseas rights are in our own hands". Amy recalled the original agreement and said, "If we calculate the North American box office for 'Rain Man' at $20 million, I think $5 million would be a fairly appropriate price to buy back the distribution rights".
Robert Rem nodded; his internal target price was roughly the same.
Based on a North American box office of $20 million, MGM could get $3 million in distribution commissions. Not counting overseas, the combined home video and television platform commissions in North America should be roughly equal to the box office revenue, another $3 million. However, that would mean a long payment cycle spanning several years.
If Daenerys Entertainment was willing to spend $5 million to redeem the distribution rights early, MGM had no reason to refuse.
However, Robert Rem then asked jokingly, "Amy, do you think 'Rain Man' only has a box office potential of $20 million?"
As the two walked into the hallway outside Simon's office, Amy gave a slight eye-roll and said, "Don't you think so too?"
'Rain Man' had always been a project that many Hollywood film companies were very pessimistic about. There had been such a huge storm during the post-production phase, and now the lead creatives certainly wouldn't participate in the film's promotion. These were all negative factors hindering the film's box office success.
Although the industry highly valued Simon's ability, besides the five films like 'Run Lola Run', he had also proven his eye with 'When Harry Met Sally', in many people's eyes, the finished cut of 'Rain Man' was simply too mediocre, completely lacking the many highlights of 'When Harry Met Sally'.
A North American box office of $20 million was actually already an overestimate.
Amy felt that the reason Simon was stubbornly supporting this film now was more of a youthful temperament. Her boss was, after all, just a young man who had just turned twenty.
Robert Rem was noncommittal about Amy's counter-question and just smiled. Noticing Amy walking down the stairs with him, he asked again, "Are you planning to head out too?"
"It's about the Consumer Products Department. I've recently scouted a manager and have a meeting scheduled in Century City this morning".
Although the acquisition of New World Entertainment had been completed, the company's adjustments and expansion had not stopped over the past few months.
Starting from 'Star Wars', the development of film and television derivatives had received more and more attention from major film companies, while also creating a brand-new profit growth point for Hollywood. As Daenerys Entertainment owned more and more independently distributed films, this area would also bring substantial income to the company.
One of Amy's recent work priorities was establishing the Consumer Products Department of Daenerys Entertainment, responsible for merchandise development and image licensing.
"Oh, actually, I think we should also acquire a record company or establish a music department as soon as possible. Starting from 'Run Lola Run', the sales of the movie soundtracks produced by our company have been very good. I heard that the 'Pulp Fiction' soundtrack has already sold over 6 million copies". Speaking of this, Robert Rem couldn't help but shake his head and said, "It's a pity. From the current situation, 'Pulp Fiction' will likely still be this year's box office champion. This one movie alone has supported Orion's performance this year. These profits should have belonged to us".
Last year's stock market crash had made life very difficult for most Hollywood film companies.
Without 'Pulp Fiction', Orion Pictures, which had released more than a dozen films this year without a single box office hit, would surely have fallen into trouble, or even gone bankrupt like Cannon Films and Dino De Laurentiis Entertainment Group.
Now, the domestic box office of 'Pulp Fiction' was close to $150 million, and the total global box office might even reach $300 million. Orion Pictures could compensate for its losses on all other projects with the profits from this one film.
"Who knew 'Pulp Fiction' would be so successful? Probably even Simon himself didn't expect it. It's just how things are", Amy also expressed some regret, adding, "As for the music department, Simon talked to me about it a long time ago. Do you know that hit single he wrote for Madonna? Simon's talent in music is not at all inferior to his talent in film. It's just that none of us are familiar with the record business, and we don't have enough energy to look after it right now, so it has to be put on hold for the time being".
Robert Rem nodded understandingly and said, "I've seen the video of Simon playing 'Flight of the Bumblebee' on the guitar. It was very stunning. I really don't know how he grew up to be like this".
The two chatted casually as they reached the parking lot and got into their respective cars to head to their destinations.
On the other side, Simon headed to the downstairs audition room to begin his morning's work.
Recently, it had been the final round of auditions for several important supporting roles in 'Batman'. Besides Batman-Bruce Wayne and Catwoman-Selina Kyle, the three most important roles for the first film were Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth, Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon, and the most important major villain, 'Black Mask'.
In the several 'Batman' blockbusters from the original timeline, starting with Tim Burton, the villains were basically a group of classics like the Joker, the Riddler, and Two-Face; Black Mask had never appeared. In fact, Black Mask really couldn't be considered a well-known villain in 'Batman' comics; the character only appeared in 1985, just three years ago.
However, after carefully studying the series of 'Batman' comic works, Simon found that the character of Black Mask was very suitable as the major villain for the first film of the series.
In the comic setting, Black Mask's original name was Roman Sionis. He also came from a wealthy family in Gotham City and was a classmate of Bruce Wayne when they were children.
Moreover, Roman Sionis also had an unfortunate childhood.
Despite being a wealthy family, the Sionis family carried a genetic predisposition for hysterical violence. Roman Sionis grew up almost entirely under the shadow of domestic violence from his parents, both verbal and physical. As a result, he became withdrawn and developed a habit of collecting masks to hide himself. Eventually, after his parents, who strongly disliked this hobby, burned his years of mask collections, Roman Sionis snapped. He set a fire that killed his parents and inherited the family's vast fortune.
Without the control of his parents, the violent genes in Roman Sionis's character, inherited from his family, began to resurface, making him irritable and combative. Due to poor management, the Sionis family's industries soon neared collapse.
Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham after traveling abroad for many years. Hearing about the difficulties Roman Sionis was facing, out of their old school friendship, Wayne Enterprises stepped in and acquired the Sionis family's near-bankrupt company. Roman Sionis was left with nothing, so he took his anger out on Bruce Wayne and gradually descended into becoming one of Gotham's most notorious criminals.
In the comic plot, Roman Sionis also had a deep entanglement with Catwoman. These elements could provide an adaptation foundation for the interactions between Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Roman Sionis in the movie version.
Of course, Simon's movie script did not copy the comic setting exactly; instead, he made a considerable degree of modifications.
Two people with similar backgrounds, one tries to punish evil and promote good, becoming the 'Batman' who makes criminals tremble with fear; the other falls completely into darkness, becoming the 'Black Mask' who commits all kinds of evil. There were many thought-provoking things in this.
The fledgling batman, through this encounter, would complete his first transformation into the Dark Knight. The relatively simple confrontation between good and evil also fit Simon's planned progression for the 'batman' series, starting small and scaling up.
Simon had a very clear positioning for the 'Batman' in his hands; it would be a series of popcorn-style commercial blockbusters. However, while ensuring commercial viability, he did not completely give up on adding some reflections on human nature and the nature of good and evil.