While 'The Bodyguard' was burning up the box office, post-production on 'Batman' continued to move forward steadily.
The film had recently entered the scoring stage. After weighing Hollywood's top composers, Simon decided to handle it himself; no one in town knew exactly what he wanted better than he did. Warner Bros. Studios had the best recording rooms and gear, so the work stayed in Burbank.
After a busy morning Simon left the Warner lot and headed for the nearby Daenerys Entertainment branch in Burbank.
Today was Friday, June 9, 1989.
Ira Deutchman had flown back from Europe yesterday. Simon reached the branch, the group picked a nearby restaurant for lunch, and Deutchman began recounting the results of his trip.
"Universal offered five million up front plus back-end just for North American rights on 'Cinema Paradiso'; I had to walk away. Tornatore just won the Palme d'Or and plenty of people want to finance his next film. We also disagreed over the script for 'Everybody's Fine', so that fell through as well".
All entirely expected, Simon merely asked, "What else?"
"Given the situation, I cherry-picked ten titles from the main competition and the side sections, talked seriously with every producer, then sent each a take-it-or-leave-it offer with a one-night deadline. In the end I still missed the Jury Prize winner, 'Too Beautiful'. I landed Jane Campion's 'Sweetie', full North-American rights, $300,000 advance plus fifty percent of theatrical net. And a Swedish title, 'The Woman on the Roof', $100,000, same fifty-percent theatrical net".
Simon noticed the grin on Deutchman's face and could picture him outmanoeuvring those producers all circling Daenerys Entertainment.
The Swedish film was just a bonus; the prize was 'Sweetie'.
Three hundred thousand plus fifty percent of net sounded like pocket change for a Hollywood film, but Simon reckoned 'Sweetie' couldn't have cost more than half a million to make. Selling North-American rights alone would let the Kiwi producers recoup most of that, with back-end to boot.
Simon would have preferred a buy-out, but he knew that was wishful thinking. Just as he'd insisted on back-end for 'Run Lola Run', filmmakers everywhere still dreamed of a miracle. Deutchman's deal actually lowered Daenerys's risk.
Besides, the split applied only to box-office; video and TV money would flow straight to Daenerys, avoiding years of accounting squabbles.
With a three hundred thousand advance and roughly half a million slated for prints-and-ads, sweetie would need North-American theatrical north of $1.5 million to break even.
Simon didn't expect miracles, $3 million domestic would count as a win.
At that figure Highgate Film would show a small theatrical profit, healthy video and TV cash would follow, and the Kiwi producers would pocket another three-to-four-hundred-thousand back-end, everyone would be happy.
Just as Simon was about to move on, he caught Robert Rehme frowning slightly and turned to him. "Bob, something on your mind?"
Rem glanced at Deutschman, then said, "Simon, I just think you're sweating the small stuff".
"This isn't small stuff, Bob. 'Run Lola Run' and 'Pulp Fiction' are arty, yet both blew up at the box office. If I can do it, others can. I'm not asking Highgate to unearth a Lola every year, one breakout art-house hit every two or three years equals success. And I don't divide things into 'big' or 'small' business. I want every job done right, and I expect the same from you. Attitude matters: if someone can't take a three hundred thousand dollar 'small' deal seriously, he won't handle three million or thirty million any better".
Rebutted in front of Deutchman, Jennifer, and Danny Morris of New World Pictures, Rehme, still unconvinced, managed a thin smile. "All right".
Simon sighed inwardly and turned back to Deutchman.
Before Simon could ask, Deutchman said, "As requested, I locked Campion for two more pictures. Next up is a biopic called 'An Angel at My Table', good awards bait. She's also mulling an original about a mute woman who sails to New Zealand with her piano. No script yet, so I can't judge, but she'll crank out a treatment soon".
Piano plus mute woman could only be 'The Piano', music to Simon's ears.
Without a script in hand, Simon withheld comment.
After a few more exchanges he looked to New World's chief. "Danny, how's prep on the 'Children Of The Corn' sequel?"
Danny Morris had originally been tapped to run Highgate, but doubting arthouse prospects he'd been shunted to New World Pictures, Daenerys's horror label. Hearing Simon praise Deutchman and sermonize on "small vs. big," Morris now regretted relinquishing the Highgate presidency.
New World's slate was thin: the hot scream follow-up 'Scream 2', 'Hellraiser's third outing, and the 'Children Of The Corn' sequel Morris now fielded questions on.
All three were follow-ups to profitable originals.
Do them well, unless they vastly outgross their predecessors, and the credit is modest; botch them and your career stalls.
Mindful of that, Morris answered quickly. "Script's locked. We're hunting directors. And, Simon, I want to shoot in Australia, it saves ten percent on the budget".
'Children Of The Corn' carried a budget of three million dollars. As a low-cost production shot in Australia, it couldn't secure the generous tax rebates batman enjoyed. A 10% cut saved only $300,000.
Filming in Australia had been little more than a hesitant idea in Danny Morris's mind, but after hearing Simon's remarks he made the decision without hesitation.
At the very least, the attitude would earn plenty of favour with the boss.
Simon was indeed pleased.
A company's profits aren't created by pinching pennies, yet thrift is still thrift.
After a few more words, Simon turned to Rehme without ignoring him and brought up 'The Bodyguard'.
'The Bodyguard' earned $23.63 million in its opening week, slightly below Simon's hopes and well behind 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade'. Fortunately, the soundtrack album sold far better than expected, just as in the original timeline, giving Simon high hopes for the film's future box-office legs and overseas performance.
Still, Simon valued theatrical grosses over soundtrack sales.
If the bodyguard could match the original's $400 million worldwide, Daenerys Entertainment would net roughly $100 million within the next two years. The soundtrack's projected earnings were equally eye-opening, yet the memory of 45 million plus units was a slow accumulation spread over the next dozen years.
Simon also worried about 'Ghostbusters II's impact on 'The Bodyguard'. He had no exact numbers, but the $37 million budget film would surely rank among the year's top hits, launching just as wide and with marketing muscle to match 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade' and 'The Bodyguard'.
After lunch, everyone had just returned to the Burbank offices when another bombshell broke.
At 1 p.m., Paramount Communications suddenly announced a hostile takeover bid for Time Inc., offering $10.7 billion cash.
Time and Warner Bros. had been in merger talks for three months and were near the finish line. Paramount's ambush infuriated both boards. Time immediately issued a statement rejecting the unwanted offer; Warner Bros. followed with a vote of support.
Most outsiders knew little of the inside story, yet all Hollywood watched closely.
The three-way tangle was fascinating.
Time had been the acquirer in the Warner deal; now Paramount's bid instantly turned Time into the target.
Time's executives loathed the sudden reversal of roles.
As acquirer, Time's brass would remain in control of the enlarged media giant after closing, and Simon had heard one exec had already locked in a ten-year golden-parachute deal, payouts would continue even if some were shown the door after the merger.
But if Paramount succeeded, Time's entire management could be swept out, and the decade-long contracts would be worthless.
After a volley of press releases, Paramount declared it would file suit in Delaware federal court to block the Time-Warner deal in the name of shareholder value.
The Time-Warner merger was a stock swap valuing Time at $7 billion; Paramount's $10.7 billion cash offer looked richer.
Yet the headline numbers were misleading.
With capital-gains tax at 28%, shareholders who took Paramount's cash would net about the same as in the tax-free stock swap. Thus Paramount's claim of protecting shareholder interests was shaky.
As an observer, Simon already knew how the saga would end.
He also felt a twinge of envy.
Leaving Warner aside, Time owned HBO, the most lucrative pay-cable network in North America, and its magazine empire was still wildly profitable.
But a deal worth tens of billions was far beyond Daenerys Entertainment's reach for now.
Simon followed the drama only to gather intel for future moves, perhaps as soon as next year.
A week after 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack hit shelves, first-week sales were tallied.
Arista Records and Daenerys Entertainment had privately agreed to push the figure past one million even if real sales fell short. Luckily, verified sales hit 1.02 million, sparing them the risk of cooking the books, and both companies launched a full-scale publicity blitz behind the numbers.
Spurred by the soundtrack's success, the bodyguard slipped only 15% in its second weekend, grossing another $20.06 million for a ten-day total of $43.69 million.
Though still behind 'Indiana Jones's first full week of $46.01 million, the hold was impressive, sandwiched between 'Indiana Jones' and the newly launched 'Ghostbusters II'.
'Ghostbusters II' led with $44.91 million and the top spot, while 'Indiana Jones' in its fourth weekend took $23.88 million for second place.
Hence the bodyguard's modest 15% drop was an impressive feat.