Los Angeles.
With the sudden departure of Ron McMillan, a producer under Daenerys Entertainment, Hollywood's already eventful January became even livelier.
Upon learning that he had been fired for some 'insignificant' minor issues, Ron McMillan almost immediately contacted Simon to plead his case, believing that Amy and Janette were acting on their own accord and being reckless.
After confirming that Simon had tacitly approved the decision, an enraged Ron McMillan completely tore off the facade, demanding a severance package of $5 million. Daenerys Entertainment naturally refused to pay this sum and was completely unfazed by Ron McMillan's threats of legal action.
Ron McMillan's embezzlement of film project funds was fully proven with evidence; although the amount was not large, it was sufficient for Daenerys Entertainment to reasonably and justifiably dismiss him.
If it really escalated, no matter how Hollywood viewed the matter internally, in the eyes of the media and the public, Ron McMillan would only end up with a tarnished reputation, much like David Bergman did back then.
So, after a week-long standoff, Ron McMillan eventually signed the resignation agreement, which offered no compensation.
In exchange for another non-disclosure agreement to not publicly discuss the incident, Ron McMillan also received an advance payment of subsequent profits totalling $2.6 million from several films he collaborated on with Daenerys Entertainment, settling all debts between the two parties.
Within Daenerys Entertainment, as the financial audit personally supervised by Janette continued to deepen, the company successively dismissed a batch of employees who had been involved in dishonest practices.
Although it inevitably drew some criticism, the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group realized that their company could absolutely not be as lax and disorganized as traditional Hollywood film studios. Of course, because Daenerys Entertainment's salary standards were significantly higher than its peers, not many people chose to resign due to the company's strict financial system.
As for Ron McMillan, despite signing a non-disclosure agreement, rumours quickly spread within the industry about his complaints at parties, where he allegedly attacked Simon and Daenerys Entertainment for being stingy and heartless.
However, since he did not publicly express these views in the media, Daenerys Entertainment could not seriously pursue the matter.
Given that he could associate his name with the three top-selling films, 'Run Lola Run', 'Final Destination', and 'Scream', which were all in the top ten annual lists, Ron McMillan's departure immediately sparked a bidding war across Hollywood, even though it was clear that Simon Westeros was the mastermind behind all three films.
After several offers, Universal Pictures ultimately secured Ron McMillan with a generous contract, including a $3 million US dollar base salary and a 10% share of project net profits, for three films.
Furthermore, Universal specifically provided Ron McMillan with additional benefits such as a private jet, personal entertainment, and an executive assistant, all at the vice president level. They also allocated office space for McMillan Productions, Ron McMillan's newly established production company, at Universal Studios in Burbank.
Before this, only a handful of companies, such as Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, had offices at Universal Studios.
Daenerys Entertainment did not deliberately conceal the reason for Ron McMillan's departure, and the industry was well aware of it. Therefore, Universal Pictures' generous treatment, beyond Ron McMillan's salary contract, clearly carried a hint of targeting.
In fact, the 'targeting' faced by Daenerys Entertainment was not limited to this one incident.
Leaving aside Paramount Pictures' 'The Rocketeer' and 'Fire Birds', which were in active preparation, MCA/Columbia Home Entertainment, the parent companies of the main investors in 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape', realized that the film might be a box office dark horse. After several discussions, Columbia Pictures ultimately acquired the distribution rights for 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape'.
As the Sundance Film Festival approached, Columbia even formed a dedicated publicity and distribution team to begin promotional activities for the film.
After grossing $12.96 million in its fourth week, 'Rain Man' saw another reverse decline in its fifth week of release, as the number of screens continued to increase, reaching 1,732. Although the increase was a very slight 2%, the $13.19 million in box office revenue quickly pushed 'Rain Man's' North American total to $72.38 million.
Moreover, with five consecutive weeks, and very likely six, of weekly box office exceeding $10 million, 'Rain Man's box office staying power has clearly surpassed all other films produced by Daenerys Entertainment last year.
'Scream', which had the best box office performance among Daenerys Entertainment's films last year, excluding 'Rain Man' in the year-end slot, only had four weeks with weekly box office above $10 million. Even 'Pulp Fiction,' which temporarily held the top spot for 1988, only maintained a single-week $10 million dollar box office for five weeks.
As a major contender during awards season, with the announcement of Oscar nominations at the end of January and the presentation of various guild awards and Oscar awards in February and March, 'Rain Man's box office potential has clearly surpassed 'Pulp Fiction'.
Watching 'Rain Man's soaring box office, MGM, which had initially abandoned the film's script and also lost 'The Hobbit,' and later sold the North American domestic all-channel distribution rights for a mere $5 million, could no longer sit still.
A yearly champion!
Even if the total project cost reached $40 million, with the box office potential shown by 'Rain Man', the combined revenue from domestic and international box office alone could still exceed $100 million in profit, not to mention subsequent video and television broadcast revenues.
This was simply a gold mine!
It was just like that, tricked away by Simon Westeros.
So, they started making a fuss again, threatening to sue and demand compensation, and actually hired a law firm to begin examining potential loopholes in the various contracts between MGM and Daenerys.
Finally, including Fox, Warner, and Disney, with whom relations had always been good, this bustling January saw almost all of Hollywood's Big Seven entangled with Daenerys Entertainment.
If it were just these simple entanglements, it wouldn't be much of a problem; even for MGM, which wanted to initiate a lawsuit, they would only need to respond to each move.
Blockbuster films in Hollywood almost always spark various disputes over interests, big and small. Even with 'Run Lola Run' back then, the media once rumoured that Simon and Janette had fallen out over an uneven distribution of profits.
What was most frustrating was that any project Daenerys Entertainment now showed interest in would become the focal point of attention for all of Hollywood.
Although Simon had the foresight to hoard a large number of copyrights, it ultimately couldn't meet Daenerys Entertainment's needs, and the company couldn't possibly put all those potentially successful copyrights on the development schedule at once. This necessitated other projects to fill the content gap.
"Al, I know what you're thinking. Since 'Driving Miss Daisy' has caught Daenerys Entertainment's eye, given the current trend in Hollywood, other film companies will definitely offer higher prices to compete for it. But can you be sure they can do it well? If it gets messed up, besides a slightly higher copyright fee, you'll get nothing. However, if you entrust it to Daenerys Entertainment, once it succeeds, you'll not only gain both fame and fortune from this film, but you'll also become a top screenwriter in Hollywood, and all your future scripts will be eagerly sought after by Hollywood. That's what's most important".
New York, inside a coffee shop on Broadway.
Ira Deutchman spoke eloquently to the somewhat balding man in his fifties sitting opposite him. After finishing his speech, he pulled out a business card and handed it over, saying, "It has the contact information for my hotel. Al, if you're willing to give us the script, call me tonight. After today, I can only express my regret".
The middle-aged man opposite Ira Deutchman was named Alfred Uhry, a screenwriter, but primarily for stage plays on Broadway. A stage play Uhry wrote two years ago, 'Driving Miss Daisy,' received critical acclaim on Broadway and won last year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Playing with the business card in his hand, Alfred Uhry looked shrewdly at Deutchman, who had already stood up, but did not rise himself. With a hint of determination in his tone, he probed, "Ira, if I don't make that call, will you really give up on 'Driving Miss Daisy'? I think it could very well become another 'Steel Magnolias'".
Ira Deutchman merely smiled and said, "Uhry, you are the third screenwriter I've met today. I have seven more people to see. You might all think your scripts are the next 'Steel Magnolias,' but unfortunately, there's only one 'Steel Magnolias'".
"Alright, Ira", Alfred Uhry relaxed his tone and said, "Why don't you sit down and we can talk more? Since you want 'Driving Miss Daisy,' you should at least tell me how you plan to adapt this film, right? And, a $100,000 dollar offer for the adaptation rights to a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, don't you think that's a bit insincere?"
Ira Deutchman, however, did not sit down, explaining, "Al, as I just said, $100,000 is just an advance payment. Within the next three years, if Daenerys Entertainment produces this film, you will be paid another $200,000. You will also have screenwriting credit and a share of the backend profits as stipulated by the Writers Guild's 'Basic Agreement.' After three years, if Daenerys Entertainment has not produced the film, you can choose to buy back the rights".
Alfred Uhry still did not give up trying to get more information, saying, "So, you don't plan to produce this film in the short term. In that case, I'll need to seriously consider it".
Ira Deutchman said no more, simply extending his hand to Alfred Uhry and saying, "If you're willing to sign, Al, we can spend a day discussing everything in detail".
After a final handshake with Alfred Uhry, Ira Deutchman left the coffee shop without a trace of lingering regret.
These days, to counter the encirclement in Hollywood, Daenerys Entertainment began using this 'ultimatum' strategy in script negotiations, giving copyright holders very little time to consider. Once a project was abandoned, they firmly refused to revisit it and would not engage in bidding wars with the Big Seven.
Coupled with Daenerys Entertainment's frequent moves, which prevented competitors from clearly assessing the situation, this largely defused the company's predicament of being encircled.
Of course, this strategy also had obvious disadvantages; it was not very effective for established, big-name screenwriters. Those willing to compromise were primarily aspiring screenwriters who had not yet made a name for themselves, and the company's recent focus was mainly on these individuals.
Speaking of which, Ira Deutchman was unaware of the special significance of 'Driving Miss Daisy,' nor did he know that this film won Best Picture at the 62nd Academy Awards in the original timeline in 1990.
After the stage play adaptation of 'Steel Magnolias' became a box office hit in the recently concluded year-end slot, Hollywood began to turn more attention to Broadway stage plays. After communicating with Simon, Ira Deutchman allocated a sum of money from his available budget specifically to purchase adaptation rights for art-house stage plays suitable for Highgate Film.
'Driving Miss Daisy,' as last year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, naturally became a focus for Ira Deutchman.
Simon, far away in Melbourne, saw the name 'Driving Miss Daisy' on the list provided by Deutchman, but he did not give Ira Deutchman any special hints.
Simon was also aware of the situation Daenerys Entertainment was facing.
The company's response strategy was very effective, and he had no intention of making an exception for this film.
The history of Hollywood has changed significantly, and if 'Driving Miss Daisy' fell into someone else's hands, it's uncertain whether it would achieve the same success as in the original timeline. Moreover, as long as the copyright holder had a little foresight, they would know that collaborating with Daenerys Entertainment was more in their own interest. If they were short-sighted, then not cooperating was fine.
After meeting with Alfred Uhry, Ira Deutchman hurried off to other meetings.
After a full day of work, Ira Deutchman returned to his hotel in Midtown in the evening, where the lobby manager informed him of several phone messages. Three of the five screenwriters he had met that day had called, agreeing to sell their copyrights, including Alfred Uhry for 'Driving Miss Daisy'.
Back in his room, after returning the calls to the screenwriters one by one, Ira Deutchman then called Ireland, across the ocean, to routinely inquire about the filming progress of 'My Left Foot'.
This was the result of Deutchman's previous trip to the UK.
'My Left Foot' is a biographical film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, telling the story of a disabled person paralyzed by polio who becomes an artist using only his left foot, which is the only part of his body he can move.
In the original timeline, 'My Left Foot' was another Miramax comeback film, alongside 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape', and was nominated for Best Picture at the 1990 Oscars.
Now, both of these works are out of Miramax's reach.
Although he didn't get 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape', Ira Deutchman's previous trip to the UK went smoothly, and he managed to acquire this film thanks to his earlier collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis on 'A Room with a View' while operating New Line Cinema.
However, when he discovered this film, the director of 'My Left Foot', Jim Sheridan, had already completed pre-production, and filming was about to begin.
Because Simon highly valued this project, Ira Deutchman spent a total of $1.8 million to buy out the copyrights of the original three investors. This price was already very high, as the production cost of 'My Left Foot' was only £600,000, which translates to less than $1 million.
The original three investors had also intended to hold out for a higher price, but Ira Deutchman decisively used an 'ultimatum,' successfully getting the three companies to compromise.
News in the UK was not as well-informed as in Hollywood. This was a film almost everyone had low expectations for, and it hadn't even officially started filming, so the final product's quality was unpredictable. Being able to almost double their profit without doing anything, the few independent small film companies didn't hold out too much.
It was seeing the effectiveness of the 'ultimatum' on 'My Left Foot' that led Daenerys Entertainment to frequently adopt this strategy recently.