Malibu.
The time was Monday, July 10th, 1989.
Inside the villa on the west side of Point Dume, a new week began, and Simon woke up promptly at six in the morning.
Last night, he had been on the phone with Janette late into the night discussing the cabin design for the Boeing 767, and the bedroom was still littered with design drafts faxed over from Melbourne.
Since deciding to purchase a Boeing 767 first, Simon had contacted Boeing Company after returning from Melbourne last time.
However, Simon subsequently sent the Boeing Company sales representatives directly to Melbourne to discuss the specifics with Janette; the only decision he made personally was the choice of aircraft model.
The latest model in the Boeing 767 series was the 300ER, but Simon chose the 200ER.
The 200ER was only slightly inferior to the 300ER in terms of fuselage length and load capacity, but its cruising range and other data were comparable to the 300ER, allowing it to easily complete long trans-Pacific journeys exceeding 10,000 kilometres. Simon had previously always leased the 200ER.
Moreover, the most crucial reason Simon chose the 200ER was that this medium-sized passenger jet had lower requirements for take-off and landing airports. The runway length required for a fully loaded take-off was only 1.7 kilometres, which most airports worldwide could accommodate. In contrast, the runway length required for the 300ER to take off was 2.4 kilometres, which many smaller city airports could not support. During Simon's last trip to Europe, the airport runway lengths in both Cannes and Florence were within 2 kilometres.
After selecting the model, Boeing's quoted price was $60 million.
After Janette contacted the Boeing sales representative, the first thing she did was negotiate the price down. Simon was not the kind of major client who ordered 10 or 20 aircraft at once, but as a public figure, his purchase of a Boeing product for a private jet served as better brand promotion than those major clients.
Furthermore, the procurement of private jets is indeed negotiable.
After consultation, the final transaction price was set at $50 million, nearly an 20% discount. Of course, this was just the price for the bare aircraft; internal equipment and decoration would be calculated separately.
Simon was never stingy with money, but he hated being taken for a fool, and he was very pleased that his woman managed to save the cost of a top-tier villa in this deal. After signing the contract, accounting for assembly and decoration time, the aircraft should be delivered for use around November toward the end of the year.
Getting dressed and out of bed, he tidied up the surrounding drafts slightly, and the bedroom became neat again.
This was actually Jennifer's merit.
Since Janette was not in Los Angeles and Kathryn had gone to New York, Jennifer was responsible for managing Simon's properties in Malibu, Palisades, Beverly Hills, as well as the villa Janette owned on the east side of Point Dume. The Female Assistant regularly took time each week to bring people in to clean the properties, requiring no worry from Simon.
Kathryn was also recently helping to supervise the two properties in New York; when Kathryn was absent, Angela Ahrendts, the President of Gucci's U.S. Branch, would be responsible.
As for Europe, after the acquisition of Gucci was completed, Sophia originally intended to return the Falcon 50 Business Jet rented by the company to save costs. However, it was ultimately retained so that she could quickly travel between various European cities to help Simon manage his numerous properties.
Janette had previously reminded Simon that too many houses left vacant for too long might decay and weather, but now with regular, meticulous maintenance, Simon no longer worried about that.
He washed up, worked out, took a shower.
Seven o'clock.
He left the house exactly on time.
He had breakfast at a nearby restaurant, where he also met with the head of the Dume Cape Manor construction team to discuss the progress of the 'Iron Man Villa' construction. Simon treated the villa with the same high-level, artistic standards as the planned Westeros Tower. He was in no hurry, adopting the mindset that slow work yields fine results, only pursuing perfection.
After breakfast, he drove to Santa Monica.
Simon opened today's Los Angeles Times inside his car and first looked at the cover index.
Skipping words like 'The Sixth Sense' and 'reverse decline,' he found the headline 'U.S.-Iraq Business Forum Concludes Successfully' and turned directly to the International News section.
Today was already the 11th day of release for 'The Sixth Sense'. Simon had already done everything he could, and the first week's box office had met his best expectations; he didn't need to worry too much about what came next.
Relatively speaking, the recently concluded 'U.S.-Iraq Business Forum' was what Simon had been closely monitoring lately.
The Iran-Iraq War, which lasted 8 years, finally ended late last year. Eight years of attrition had left Iraq's domestic economy and livelihoods utterly desolate.
Saddam received 'enthusiastic' help from many Western allies during the war with Iran, allowing the conflict to drag on for eight years. Now, post-war reconstruction in Iraq would certainly require the assistance of these partners.
And the partners were indeed very enthusiastic.
Although it was the U.S.-Iraq Business Forum, oil giants from major Western countries like the United States, Britain, and France all gathered in Baghdad.
During the two-week business forum, Iraq hoped to receive $40 billion in financial support from its Western allies to revitalize its domestic economy.
The allies were not stingy, readily agreeing, but they also presented their own conditions: Iraq needed to privatize, or mostly privatize, its national oil resources so that international oil giants like Mobil, Chevron, and Shell could better 'help' Iraq develop its oil reserves and simultaneously assist in restoring Iraq's domestic economy.
According to geological data collected by various countries in the 1980s, Iraq was arguably the largest undeveloped oil source in the world besides the Soviet Union. Although its total reserves were not as large as Saudi Arabia's, its potential was immense.
Seeing that the 'allies' were demanding Iraq's oil sovereignty with such audacious demands, Saddam, whose head hadn't been kicked by a donkey, how could he possibly agree?
Without oil, what would be left of Iraq?
Consequently, the business forum ultimately failed to reach any substantive agreement, leaving only superficial cordiality among the parties.
Simon observed all this with a cold eye, understanding in his heart that this was likely the beginning of many stories over the next two decades.
Arriving in Santa Monica, Simon went straight to the Daenerys Effects headquarters, where he was scheduled to discuss the final revision plans for some CG shots with the 'Batman' special effects team that morning.
Jennifer was already waiting for Simon at the Daenerys Effects headquarters.
Instructing the Female Assistant to gather more information regarding the 'U.S.-Iraq Business Forum', Simon also took his schedule for the day from her hands.
The morning's work was set, and he had scheduled lunch with Jonathan Friedman.
The afternoon would begin at one o'clock.
Checking the production progress of 'Toy Story', one hour; a demonstration of 'The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' video game, one hour; receiving a brief progress report from the company's financial audit team, half an hour; a visit from Blockbuster Chairman Wayne Huizenga, half an hour; watching the rough cut of 'Brenda Starr' and discussing revisions with the creative team, two hours.
At six o'clock, dinner would again be a working meal with Amy.
Additionally, the schedule listed several documents requiring Simon's urgent review, which could only be handled after returning home in the evening.
Walking into the Daenerys Effects headquarters office building, Simon finished reviewing his schedule while the Female Assistant handed him the box office data report for the past three days of the weekend.
Simon merely skimmed it before turning his attention to the day's work.
Compared to Simon's calm demeanour, the entire Hollywood community was unsettled early this morning upon seeing the box office data report for the past weekend.
Over the three days from July 7th to July 9th, 'The Sixth Sense' successfully withstood the pressure from all new and old films. Compared to its opening weekend, the film's second weekend box office did not decline; instead, it achieved a 6.8% box office rebound, taking in another $24.73 million over three days.
Although some media predicted that 'The Sixth Sense's weekend-to-full-week box office ratio in its second week would return to the normal 60% to 70% range, and that weekday box office would not maintain the high proportion seen when word-of-mouth was just beginning to spread during the first week, the $24.73 million gross for the second weekend still exceeded the best expectations of even Daenerys Entertainment's own team.
After ten days of release, the sixth sense's total North America box office had rapidly accumulated to $66.08 million.
In comparison, 'Ghostbusters II' only had a ten-day gross of $58.76 million due to a major drop in its second-week box office. If the first two days of early release are excluded, 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade's corresponding ten-day gross was only $67 million. Although this figure was better than 'The Sixth Sense', 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade's second weekend box office dropped by 27%, compared to 'The Sixth Sense's reverse decline and rebound.
Following 'The Sixth Sense', 'Lethal Weapon 2' took the second spot on the chart with a three-day opening gross of $20.38 million.
With $20.38 million earned over the first three days of the weekend, Warner Bros. would have been almost impatient to prepare a celebration party, had 'The Sixth Sense' not emerged unexpectedly.
Disney's older film released in June, 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids', ranked third this week with $9.43 million, accumulating $59.24 million over two and a half weeks. Compared to its production cost of $18 million, the film was already a great success.
Entering its sixth week, 'The Bodyguard's box office decline also hit 27%, taking in another $5.76 million over the three-day weekend, ranking fourth on the chart. This romance film, which succeeded against a tide of bad reviews, had accumulated $93.69 million over five and a half weeks, nearing the $100 million mark.
Both 'Ghostbusters II' and 'The Karate Kid Part III', which had been ahead of 'The Bodyguard' last week, saw a sharp drop in box office this weekend, and were consequently surpassed by 'The Bodyguard'.
'Ghostbusters II's box office dropped by as much as 41% over the three-day weekend, taking in another $5.26 million, barely holding onto the fifth spot, with a cumulative gross of $85.52 million over three and a half weeks.
Outside the top five on the chart, the new film 'Weekend at Bernie's only ranked 7th, trailing 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade', with a first-weekend box office of $4.5 million.
What surprised Simon on this week's box office chart was 'Sex, lies, and videotape'. This art-house film, opening on 517 screens, grossed $3.93 million over the first three days of the weekend, with the total first-week box office projected to exceed $6 million.
Frankly, Simon had hoped this film would fail. However, a first-week box office of $6 million meant that 'Sex, lies, and videotape' had reached the level of a hot-selling film, averaging over $10,000 per theatre. Compared to commercial films, art-house films also tend to maintain a long tail with only slight box office drops.
Calculated this way, the North America box office for 'Sex, lies, and videotape' would be at least comparable to the original version, if not higher.
Based on media feedback he reviewed over the weekend, Simon could only conclude that 'Sex, lies, and videotape' inherently possessed certain commercially appealing elements that drew audiences, and its success wasn't solely reliant on the film's awards and honours.
Although Simon wouldn't be overly frustrated about missing out on a film with a North America box office potential of only $20 to $30 million, he couldn't help but feel annoyed by it.
The production cost of 'Sex, lies, and videotape' was only a meagre $1.2 million. If its North America box office reached $30 million, the box office revenue alone would surpass many big-budget films costing tens of millions of dollars.
Daenerys Entertainment was the first to express interest in this film, which was no secret in the industry. With the success of 'Sex, lies, and videotape', Daenerys Entertainment would continue to face fierce competition when trying to easily secure projects and scripts in the future.
In fact, the unexpected box office success of 'The Bodyguard', a film by Lawrence Kasdan that had been disliked in the industry for over a decade, guaranteed that the whole of Hollywood would continue to closely monitor Daenerys Entertainment for a long time to come.
While Simon was focused on 'Sex, lies, and videotape', Hollywood was frantically debating 'The Sixth Sense'.
"Why is this movie so successful?"
"So-and-so seems to have a similar concept".
"Information on the film's main and supporting actors".
"Should we try to sign the film's young lead for their next movie?"
"Are we going to let Daenerys Entertainment continue to be this dominant?"
"..."
"..."
Simon worked systematically, while various discussions continued to spread.
Time, however, waits for no one.
On July 14th, the box office data for the new week was released.
The industry prediction that 'The Sixth Sense's weekend-to-full-week box office ratio would return to normal became reality.
Over the seven days of the second week, 'The Sixth Sense' could not maintain the reverse decline status it had achieved last weekend, and its total box office fell by 9% compared to the previous week.
However, the box office figure of $39.26 million still left many people with mixed feelings. For comparison, 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade's second full week box office was only $30.85 million, and 'Ghostbusters II's second-week box office was only $19.92 million.
In its second week of release, even with some screen expansion last week, 'The Sixth Sense's per-screen average of $20,352 still exceeded the best opening week figures for 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade' and 'Ghostbusters II'.
Due to this strong box office performance, Daenerys Entertainment successfully negotiated an additional 379 screens from theatre chains this week, expanding 'The Sixth Sense's total screen count once again to 2,308.
Furthermore, the number of new releases this week dropped to two: United Artists' '007: Licence To Kill' and Disney's re-released classic animation 'Peter Pan'.
However, even with the release of a big-budget classic spy sequel like '007: Licence To Kill' this week, 'The Sixth Sense's aggressive momentum meant that the 007 series, which had been declining for years, was unlikely to pose much of a threat.
As for a re-released animation like 'Peter Pan', it was clearly even less of a concern.