Although there were some disagreements with Disney, the main cast of 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle' was quickly finalized.
Not only Rebecca De Mornay, the original main villain, but the other main actors were also the original cast. After another month of preparation, the film is expected to start shooting in December.
In addition, 'Sleeping With The Enemy', which will be released earliest next summer, has officially started filming in North Carolina on the East Coast.
On October 27th, with the release of 'Scream 2' and several other new films, the Halloween season began.
Due to the great success of films like 'Final Destination' and 'Scream' during the Halloween seasons of the previous two years, Hollywood studios paid increasing attention to this holiday, and the release schedule inevitably became crowded.
Besides 'Scream 2', five other new films were released on the same day. Of course, only New World Pictures' 'Scream 2', Universal Pictures' 'Tremors', and Warner Bros.' 'Ghost In The Machine' opened on over 1,000 screens. The remaining three new films were only small-scale releases on a few hundred or even a few screens.
Among them, Universal Pictures' 'Tremors' was produced by Ron McMillan, who had previously left Daenerys Entertainment.
Although Daenerys Entertainment had collaborated with Universal Pictures on 'Misery', articles clearly appeared in the media suggesting that Tremors was 'piggybacking' on the popularity of 'Scream 2'. Universal handled the situation well and did not provoke much conflict. This 'piggybacking' was a boost to the visibility of both films, so Daenerys Entertainment let it be.
Due to the box office failure of the sequels to 'Final Destination' and 'The Butterfly Effect', Daenerys Entertainment was inevitably anxious about the commercial prospects of 'Scream 2'.
However, perhaps because the Scream series is a complete story, unlike the sequels to 'Final Destination' and 'The Butterfly Effect', which merely reused the template of the first instalment and saw most of the original creators withdraw, 'Scream 2' did not suffer a significant loss in popularity.
Coupled with Daenerys Entertainment's relentless publicity and distribution campaign, 'Scream 2' earned $22.63 million at the box office in its opening weekend, surpassing the first film's seven-day opening week gross.
In comparison, 'Tremors', which tells the story of a small town attacked by giant, prehistoric worm like monsters, grossed only $5.91 million during the same period. Although it ranked second on the weekend chart, its earnings were less than one-third of 'Scream 2's.
Warner Bros.' 'Ghost In The Machine' grossed $3.55 million during its opening weekend, ranking third, and still posed no threat to 'Scream 2'.
After that, the other films on the weekend box office chart were insignificant.
Janette was not around for Halloween, Kathryn hadn't been back to Los Angeles for a long time, and the Female Assistant was still staying at her uncle's house, celebrating the holiday with her relatives. Simon had no choice but to casually pick a party within his circle to pass the holiday.
Santa Monica.
The time was already Thursday, November 2nd, 1989.
At Daenerys Entertainment headquarters, the meeting regarding Blockbuster's IPO lasted an entire afternoon.
After several months of preparation, Blockbuster has basically confirmed that it will conduct an IPO in January next year, planning to issue 15 million new shares, roughly equivalent to 22% of the original total share capital of 68 million shares. The specific IPO price is still being negotiated with Morgan Stanley, which is underwriting the new shares, and is expected to be between $13 and $15, raising a total of about $200 million.
Based on the estimated offering price, Blockbuster's valuation has more than doubled from the $400 million valuation when Daenerys Entertainment invested, approaching $1 billion.
At the same time, Daenerys Entertainment will ensure that its 35% stake in Blockbuster remains unchanged by participating in the subscription.
Blockbuster Chairman Wayne Huizenga and his original partners previously held enough combined shares to contend with Daenerys Entertainment. After the IPO, Wayne Huizenga's stake in Blockbuster will drop to 7%, and the total stake held by the other partners, including Wayne Huizenga himself, will be less than 20%.
Daenerys Entertainment, which maintains a 35% stake, will thus become Blockbuster's largest shareholder with the strongest voice.
After seeing Blockbuster's executive team out of the company headquarters, Simon was about to return to his office when Nancy Brill followed him. "Simon, the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' game is releasing tomorrow. Speaking of which, did you try playing the cartridge I gave you last time?"
"I've been too busy lately Nancy, give me a break. I already told you all the suggestions I could offer", Simon said, spreading his hands as he walked toward the stairs with his petite Female Executive. He added, "Also, have you discussed the proposal for Blockbuster to take over Daenerys Analysis Company with their management?"
Seeing Simon change the subject, Nancy could only reply, "No. I think the current arrangement is fine. Continuously charging Blockbuster consulting fees is enough to cover the Analysis Company's operations, and the headquarters itself can more easily obtain a lot of useful information".
"You're not wrong to think that, but after the company goes public, shareholders will likely only see Blockbuster paying high fees to a consulting company it might not need, and it could even be viewed as illicit profit transfer".
"Since Blockbuster chose the IPO, there will definitely be various other questions even if we don't do this", Nancy said, unconcerned. "Moreover, if someone raises questions then, the solution is actually very simple: Daenerys Entertainment can pay to buy their shares".
Simon was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Good idea".
Since it chose to go public, accepting market scrutiny and questioning is fundamentally unavoidable.
Simon also happened to be unsatisfied with the company's current 35% stake in Blockbuster. If someone truly jumped out to cause trouble, Daenerys Entertainment could absolutely pay to repurchase more shares.
Upon arriving at the office, Nancy sat down across from Simon's desk with familiarity, without waiting for him to offer her a seat.
Simon leaned back in his leather chair, looking at the woman seated across from him. "If you don't feel comfortable, don't always wear high heels. It's not good for your health".
A flicker of surprise clearly crossed Nancy's face; she hadn't expected Simon to notice such a small detail.
Enduring stilettos for long periods was definitely not easy. Nancy usually sat down whenever possible instead of standing, and she would secretly take off her shoes in her own office. However, she wasn't about to admit this to a young man, so she stubbornly insisted, "No, I love wearing high heels".
Simon merely shrugged and lowered his head, opening a copy of the 'Home Alone' script that John Hughes had just sent over today.
It was already past closing time. Because of the afternoon meeting and no further arrangements, Simon, who was accustomed to leaving the company only around six or seven in the evening, planned to read through the home alone script before leaving.
Seeing that Simon didn't pursue the high heels topic, Nancy spoke again after a moment. "Simon, do you think our foray into the video game sector will be successful?"
Simon didn't look up, his tone laced with amusement. "You were the one who brought dozens of pages of proposals to persuade me to invest back then. Lost confidence now?"
"Of course not. I've done everything I can, and if it were up to me, I'd continue even if we failed, the scale and profit of the video game industry are obvious," Nancy said, shaking her head. She added, "I just feel your attitude toward this project is somewhat unique".
"What makes you say that?"
"For example, you are very strict about the budgets for other projects under the company. The budget for teenage mutant ninja turtles has doubled, and yet you haven't said anything".
Simon looked up and glanced at Nancy, nodding. "Alright, I did value this project highly from the start".
Nancy was not satisfied with the answer and persistently pressed, "What else?"
Simon looked up at the woman across from him, who was leaning forward with intense curiosity in her eyes, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "You really want to know?"
Nancy felt the young man's gaze, suddenly understood something, and instinctively shook her head. "No!"
Simon returned his attention to the script in front of him. "Then go back and rest early".
Nancy paused, but didn't stand up. She couldn't resist asking curiously, "If you act like this, aren't you afraid that one day, well, you might suffer a loss?"
Simon shook his head. "No".
Hearing him say this, Nancy recalled what Janette privately called a certain person and muttered something softly. Without saying goodbye, she stood up and left Simon's office.
Walking outside, Nancy saw Jennifer dutifully guarding her desk and, for some reason, felt a surge of dissatisfaction. She walked up to her and asked, "Jenny, do you want to go to dinner together?"
Jennifer was slightly surprised by Nancy's sudden invitation and politely declined, "I still have something to discuss with Simon".
Nancy walked up to the Female Assistant's desk and said, "Tell him now, I'll wait for you".
Jennifer just shook her head again.
Watching Nancy leave with confusion, Jennifer tidied the documents on her desk, stood up, knocked, and entered Simon's office. "Santa Monica Airport just called. That plane arrived at 6 o'clock. Do you want to go take a look now?"
The ordered Boeing 767 had been delivered a few days ago, but Simon had immediately sent the plane to Australia.
Simon remembered many news reports about private jets being installed with eavesdropping devices, and some planes ordered by heads of state were essentially oversized bugs. Simon did not trust the Boeing Company, nor did he trust the anti-eavesdropping detection teams in the US, so he had Janette conduct a thorough inspection of the plane first.
Since it returned smoothly, he figured there should be no problem.
Raising his wrist to look at his watch, Simon told Jennifer, "We'll go to New York for dinner later and stay there tonight".
Jennifer's face flushed slightly. "If we fly now, it will be one o'clock in the morning on the East Coast when we arrive".
"Oh, I forgot about the time difference", Simon said after thinking for a moment. "Then let's go to Hawaii. It will still be evening when we arrive".
Jennifer shook her head again. "We don't have a house there. Are you planning to stay in a hotel?"
Of course, Simon wouldn't tell Jennifer about the last time he took two women to Hawaii for the weekend. The Female Assistant was different from other women, and he didn't want to borrow someone else's residence, so he simply said, "Then let's stay on the plane. You've seen the cabin interior blueprints; it looks quite nice inside".
Jennifer's cheeks finally turned completely red. She glared at Simon. "I absolutely don't want to stay on the plane. You can fly wherever you want. I'm leaving now".