A little after five in the afternoon, the 'Misery' audition for the male lead wrapped up.
Only three finalists remained for this final round, closed door session; the last to read was Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith's husband.
Simon hadn't thought the tough guy typed Don Johnson could pull off a novelist, but after Griffith family connections leaned on him and he watched Johnson's carefully prepared tape, he changed his mind.
Besides, Don Johnson and Susan Sarandon were the same age, an off-beat on-screen chemistry was possible.
They talked about the character, ran scenes, and finally Susan Sarandon herself came in to test with him. The audition ran ninety minutes, and the part was basically his; now it was just haggling over salary.
At the end of the day, everyone left the room laughing.
When the others had gone, Don hung back. "One more thing, Simon, Mel and I are having Dakota's christening next month on the sixteenth. Hope you can come; you're the one who named the little fellow".
Months earlier at the 'Lethal Weapon 2' celebration party, Simon had jokingly suggested the 'original' name of Dakota Johnson for their unborn daughter; he'd nearly forgotten.
When the baby arrived in October the Johnsons really used the name, and leaked that Simon had chosen it.
The newborn girl drew press, Vanity Fair paid big for a shot, and the family's November cover story again mentioned Simon's christening gift.
Simon's claim that Dakota means 'eternal smile' even sparked a squabble among linguists.
"The sixteenth…?" Simon mused. "I may not be in L.A., but if I am, I'll be there".
'Batman Begins' opened on December 22nd; Warner Bros.' L.A. premiere was set for the twentieth, and Simon planned to stay away from the promo circus until then.
Don, unaware of the schedule, beamed and stuck out his hand. "Then it's settled".
They shook. "Of course", Simon smiled.
With 'Misery' cast, only 'A League Of Their Own' remained on next year's ten-picture slate.
With CAA now off the blacklist, the offer formally went to Tom Hanks.
After 'Big', Hanks was a firm A-lister, yet without the old-guard box-office clout, so the quote was a straight $5 million, Simon didn't plan to haggle.
Fresh from swallowing Columbia, Sony was in a free-spending mood, but Simon capped the 'A League Of Their Own' budget at $25 million.
Hanks took $5 million, Geena Davis $2 million, and Penny Marshall, now top-tier after 'Big', took $5 million.
The three leads claimed $12 million; $10 million more for the shoot left crumbs for the rest. Madonna's cameo was out, and many supporting players would work for weekly scale.
(Weekly scale is the minimum salary a production must pay a performer for a week of work)
Still, a Simon Westeros project never lacks actors, even at scale, quality shows up.
Beyond active productions, Simon kept hunting for the remaining slots on his ten-picture list.
The next day, Thursday, November 16, 1989.
'Look Who's Talking' opened tomorrow; its premiere was set for early evening at the Chinese Theatre.
Festivities began at five; Simon walked the carpet alone, posed, slipped inside. By eight the screening was over and guests migrated to a nearby hotel after-party.
He meant to duck out early, but Terry Semel cornered him.
In the ballroom, after small talk, Semel drew him aside. "It's settled, Time's Man of the Year for next month"
Reading the grin, Simon said, "Me?"
"Who else? You should have had it two years ago. Schedule a cover shoot; this interview you can't duck".
Time's Man of the Year.
Simon sighed; he knew exactly what it meant.
The weekly's covers are world-famous; some people fake their way onto one.
Man of the Year is the crown jewel.
A slot no one simply stumbles into.
Last year pundits had tipped him for 1988, but Time gave it to "The Endangered Earth", claiming Simon was too young.
This year he'd miraculously aged into 'standard'.
Hardly a coincidence, more like an inevitability.
Easy to see Warner's hand: Time Inc. had shaken Paramount and sealed its merger with Warner.
At twenty-one Simon topped the national rich list, and with 'Batman Begins' opening next month, the honour couldn't go to anyone else.
No media is ever perfectly neutral; once Time became part of Time Warner, the tilt was simply good business.
Simon clearly remembered that in the original timeline, after 'Wonder Woman' was released, every key creator on the Warner Bros. pet project was coddled by Time Warner's outlets, so coddled that the utterly unqualified director Patty Jenkins somehow landed on Time's Person of the Year short list, on the laughable claim that she had redefined how the world should see women.
Still, Simon didn't refuse; he only said, "Terry, I'm leaving for Europe this weekend".
"That's no problem. As long as you cooperate, they'll send someone to Europe to shoot you and do the interview, probably the end of the month".
"Have them call my assistant when the time comes", Simon nodded; after years in the spotlight he felt little thrill and changed the subject. "Suing Sony for a billion on behalf of the Guber-Peters Company, pretty ruthless".
Sony had already decided to install veteran Hollywood producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters at Columbia Pictures, handing them not only fat pay packages but a $200 million cash buy-out of their production outfit.
The hitch: Guber-Peters had been housed at Warner Bros. The moment Sony closed the purchase, Warner hit the newcomer with a $1 billion lawsuit, claiming the company was in breach.
Terry Semel laughed when Simon brought it up. "You know Steve, he hates the Japanese reaching into Hollywood. This is our turf".
Simon knew Warner would ultimately squeeze $600 million out of the Japanese, Sony's first tuition fee in Hollywood. He admired Steve Ross's hardball even as he warned himself not to make the same mistake.
The morning after the premiere, 'Look Who's Talking' opened wide across North America on 2,206 screens.
Universal had slotted the sequel to its 1985 box-office champ 'Back To The Future' for Wednesday, 22 November.
To dodge that juggernaut, six new films were rushed onto 17 November; among them, Daenerys/Warner's 'Look Who's Talking', Paramount's 'Harlem Nights' and Orion's 'Prancer' all landed around 2,000 screens.
Daenerys and Warner's 'Look Who's Talking' was no push-over, yet the other studios seemed to think it the easier neighbour.
Next week, aside from Highgate Film 'The House Of Gucci', the newly christened Gucci documentary from Daenerys Entertainment, 'Back to the Future Part II' would own Thanksgiving.
Ira Deutchman wondered why Simon insisted on pitting 'The House Of Gucci' against the sequel, but Simon offered little explanation.
In memory, 'Back To The Future: Part II's grosses were half of the original's over $200 million domestic haul. Universal threw everything at it, production alone cost $40 million, and while it still cracked $100 million, it fell far short of expectations; calling it a failure was fair.
With 'Back To The Future: Part II' less invincible than feared, 'The House Of Gucci' would hardly be crushed.
Preparation had long been under way; once Simon gave the nod, Nancy reconvened the EA-acquisition meeting that Friday, James Raybould even flying in from the East Coast.
Cersei Capital's money couldn't be repatriated quickly, so Nancy planned to approach EA this weekend, likely without that pot. Even so, year-end tallies would let Daenerys Entertainment land EA for under $350 million without Cersei's help.
After the EA session Simon dismissed the rest and formally ran the MCA-buyout plan past Amy and James.
Having midwifed Sony's purchase of Columbia, Michael Ovitz was probably already nudging Matsushita toward MCA, Universal's parent, but that deal, like Sony's, would drag on, giving Simon room to hijack it.
Until now Simon had only hinted at the MCA scheme to his Female Assistant; Amy and James were stunned, then electrified.
If they bagged MCA, Daenerys Entertainment would vault past every rival in Hollywood, instantly plugging its gaps in records, TV, content libraries and theme parks.
Of course, obstacles remained.
MCA's current market cap was near $4 billion; Amy and James figured Daenerys would need $8 billion to secure it.
Chairman Lew Wasserman's $8 billion asking price to Sony the previous year was common knowledge.
Knowing North America's coming economic dip, Simon was more sanguine: the tag wouldn't be that high. Even if it hit $8 billion, the figure wasn't out of reach.
After winding up his junk-bond plays, Cersei Capital alone could field $8 billion. Then Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and the ensuing Gulf War oil shock, would let him pile up still more.
In the '90s the studios would only get pricier; the sooner Universal fell to Daenerys, the better.
Still, nothing would happen overnight.
For now he merely wanted Amy and James to start groundwork. Compared with the sub $200 million EA, MCA was a behemoth; any move would wait until next year.
This time he wasn't aiming for a hostile bid, so he told James not to accumulate MCA stock yet. Saving a couple of hundred million meant little if it provoked Lew Wasserman into thinking a raid was coming.
Saving one or two hundred million at the cost of management hostility was poor economics on a multibillion dollar play.
Janette was due at Los Angeles International Airport around two; after lunch with the others, Simon headed off to meet her flight.