The Spice Girls were simple. Daenerys Entertainment had been scouting for young pop stars for years, so replicating their success would be easy. Even if it failed, it wouldn't be a big deal.
However, the Harry Potter series was a different story. Losing such a massive IP to the butterfly effect would be a real shame.
In the study of the Boeing 767, Simon was multitasking, pondering these thoughts when A-Girl knocked and entered, handing him a freshly compiled document. "Boss, this is from Chris Lee."
At Jonathan's gathering last Saturday, Simon had met Chris Lee, the president of Sony's Columbia Pictures. After a brief conversation, Simon sent a message the next day, asking Chris to compile a list of all the film projects Sony Pictures was currently developing.
It was a test.
Sony had been struggling in Hollywood for years. In the past, foreign companies barely surviving in Hollywood aligned with Simon's plans. But times had changed. Since Daenerys Entertainment no longer intended to hold back and seek coexistence, it was time to kick the Japanese out of Hollywood.
In the original timeline, Sony had managed to survive the difficult period around 2000 with hits like Men in Black and Spider-Man, firmly establishing itself in Hollywood. Now, if Simon wanted to push Sony out, he needed to ensure they didn't produce another Men in Black-style success.
Chris Lee was the pawn Simon had chosen for this test.
The fact that Chris had sent the documents meant he not only understood Simon's intentions but had also decisively offered his allegiance.
Simon took the file from A-Girl and flipped through it, noticing that Chris had provided even more detailed information than requested, including Sony's slate for the year and internal evaluations of various projects.
After years of losses, Sony's Columbia and TriStar labels planned to release only 11 films this year—7 from Columbia and 4 from TriStar.
Apart from The Devil's Own, which had already flopped during the Easter season, the major releases for 1997 included Anaconda and Absolute Power for the summer, and As Good as It Gets and Starship Troopers for the holiday season. The rest were smaller films with budgets under $30 million.
This was quite different from Simon's memory of Sony's 1997 slate.
In the original timeline, 1997 had been a comeback year for Sony, with four films in the annual top 10: Men in Black, Air Force One, As Good as It Gets, and My Best Friend's Wedding.
These successes had helped Sony survive its toughest period and set the stage for its eventual firm footing in Hollywood with the Spider-Man series after the turn of the millennium.
This time, things had changed significantly.
First, Daenerys Entertainment's dominance and Sony's consecutive losses had forced the Japanese electronics giant, like other studios in Hollywood, to reduce its output. Eleven films from its two labels weren't too few—Fox, for example, had fewer than 10 this year. But compared to the original 1997 slate, which included big-budget films like Men in Black, Air Force One, The Devil's Own, Starship Troopers, and The Fifth Element, this time, only four films had budgets over $50 million: The Devil's Own, Absolute Power, As Good as It Gets, and Starship Troopers.
A closer analysis of the summer and holiday releases revealed some interesting details.
Absolute Power was a crime drama directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. After Steve Ross's death, Eastwood had stopped working exclusively with Warner Bros. and, given his consistent box office success, had become a favorite among major studios. Sony had lured him to direct this $50 million film.
Anaconda was a typical Hollywood monster adventure film. In the original timeline, it starred Jennifer Lopez and was considered a bad movie, though it performed decently at the box office and spawned a series of direct-to-video sequels, much like Species.
This time, because Jennifer Lopez was busy with American Idol, the lead role went to Demi Moore.
This was another ripple effect of Simon's influence.
Without Daenerys Entertainment's rise, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore would have thrived in the 1990s.
Even after Ghost, Demi Moore had no major hits but still landed big-budget films like G.I. Jane and Striptease thanks to the influx of money into Hollywood. Regardless of how these projects performed, Demi Moore consistently earned over $10 million per film.
Of course, by 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, her salary had dropped to $2 million.
Now, with Daenerys Entertainment's dominance, other studios were struggling, and the flow of money into Hollywood had significantly decreased. Simon had also absorbed some of that capital, directly reducing the opportunities for stars to cash in. The era of $20 million paychecks for Hollywood A-listers hadn't arrived, and Simon had successfully capped salaries at $15 million.
A smaller butterfly effect was that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore weren't doing as well as they had in the original timeline.
Without Pulp Fiction reviving Bruce Willis's career in the late 1990s, the Die Hard star had fallen back to second-tier status.
As for Demi Moore, she had to take on Anaconda, a film that clearly wasn't going to be a critical success. Compared to Jennifer Lopez, who had just crossed over from music, Demi Moore's star power was higher, but the film's budget was still only $45 million, just under the $50 million blockbuster threshold.
As for the box office prospects, according to Chris Lee's internal information, Anaconda wasn't looking good.
Then there was As Good as It Gets, set for the holiday season.
This was a romantic comedy from James L. Brooks, the filmmaker behind hits like Terms of Endearment and Big, starring Jack Nicholson. In the original timeline, it was both a critical and commercial success, earning Nicholson another Oscar and landing in the annual top 10.
Finally, Starship Troopers was another box office disaster relative to its $100 million budget.
Overall, with The Devil's Own already a failure, even if As Good as It Gets performed as well as it had in the original timeline, it would be hard to reverse Sony Pictures' overall decline.
Barring any major surprises, Sony Pictures would likely end 1997 with another loss.
After reviewing Sony's 1997 slate, Simon casually wrote My Best Friend's Wedding on the notepad, then crossed it out.
This film, originally a top 10 hit, had clearly been tailor-made for Julia Roberts in the original timeline. Its disappearance was understandable. Since Simon had thought of it, he might as well make it—a simple effort for a potential $100 million film.
Next, Simon added Air Force One to the list.
Another top 10 film.
Even if the budget was a bit high and the cost-performance ratio wasn't ideal, it would be a good project for MGM or another studio.
As Simon continued flipping through the documents, he noticed that Air Force One was still on Sony's development list. However, due to the disastrous experience with Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own, Sony's executives had delayed the project. With The Devil's Own's box office failure, it was unlikely Sony would move forward with Air Force One.
Seeing this, Simon didn't hesitate to make a note on the document.
Since Chris Lee had offered his allegiance, Simon would reciprocate. This project could be quietly shelved and later revived after the Japanese were ousted, becoming a feather in Chris's cap.
Next, Simon came across Godzilla.
Sony was in talks with Japan's Toho for the rights, but no deal had been reached yet.
Simon immediately marked it as a target.
The 1998 Roland Emmerich version of Godzilla had been panned for turning the King of the Monsters into a T-Rex, but thanks to the global fame of the IP and its impressive special effects, it had still grossed nearly $400 million worldwide, allowing Sony to break even and turn a profit.
This time, Roland Emmerich was under Daenerys Entertainment's umbrella. If Sony secured the rights, it would be hard to do worse than Emmerich's version.
Given Godzilla's global fame, the box office potential was significant, and it could even become a surprise hit.
Simon didn't want to see Sony Pictures produce any more blockbusters.
After some thought, Simon turned to his computer and sent an email to Amy Pascal, asking her to try and intercept the project by negotiating with the Japanese.
At the end of the document, Simon found a major pitfall.
Kevin Costner was pitching a project called The Postman, a sci-fi story adapted from a novel about a post-apocalyptic wanderer who finds a postal uniform and becomes a spiritual leader among survivors.
Costner was clearly determined to redeem himself after Waterworld's failure by sticking to post-apocalyptic films.
However, Simon remembered The Postman as another box office disaster.
In the original timeline, Warner Bros. had invested in the film, which was released at the end of 1997 and then quickly forgotten. Now, with everyone struggling, Costner hadn't secured funding yet, and Sony was just one of the potential backers. According to Chris Lee's information, Sony wasn't particularly interested.
The question was how to make Sony interested.
The solution was simple: Daenerys Entertainment could express some interest, much like how they had recently snatched the script for Very Bad Things. This tactic had worked well in Hollywood.
Of course, there was a risk of backfiring.
After careful consideration, Simon decided not to use this trick again. Instead, he would let Chris Lee handle it. Even if Sony's top brass kept a tight leash on the studio's team, there had to be some room for maneuvering.
As for how to do it?
Simon had full confidence in Hollywood insiders' ability to charm investors.
This would be another test.
After roughly outlining these plans, Simon quickly typed up a memo on his computer, sent it to A-Girl's email, and asked her to print it and deliver it to Chris Lee.
He also instructed her not to use email.
After all, this kind of thing shouldn't leave a paper trail.
With that done, Simon continued working until the Boeing 767 landed at London's Heathrow Airport at around 9 PM local time on April 10th.
By the time he arrived at the mansion on Kensington Gardens Street, it was already late at night.
As soon as Simon entered, a small figure rushed toward him. He bent down and opened his arms, catching the five-year-old girl who clung to him like a koala, mumbled "Daddy," and then rested her head on his shoulder, quickly falling asleep.
It was clearly past her bedtime.
Yulia Shurikhina, accompanied by Ivanna Antonenko and Natalia Banshikova, approached. Seeing her daughter Nina being cradled so tenderly by Simon, Shurikhina felt a warmth in her heart but still reached out and said, "Sir, let me take her."
Simon shook his head. "No need. Where's her bedroom? I'll take her up."
As he said this, Simon thought of the six women currently pregnant with his children.
All of them were confirmed to be boys.
Six sons.
Simon felt the pressure. Not a single little sweetheart among them.
This little girl in his arms, though he didn't see her often, gave him the feeling of having a little sweetheart.
Shurikhina led the way upstairs.
Ivanna Antonenko instinctively wanted to follow, regretting not having her daughter Vera wait as well. If Simon had shown the same affection to Vera, her position in his life would surely have been elevated. Natalia Banshikova, however, didn't join the commotion. Instead, she greeted A-Girl and Carmen Kass, helping to arrange the luggage and accommodations for Simon's entourage.
When they reached a bedroom upstairs, Simon tried to place the sleeping girl on the bed, but she immediately woke up and clung to him again, demanding to be held.
Simon had to hold her for a while longer, but when he tried to put her down again, she woke up once more.
Shurikhina stepped forward and gently said, "Sweetie, Daddy needs to rest too, and you'll see him tomorrow. Don't be clingy."
The little girl, still wrapped around Simon, asked, "Then can I sleep with Daddy and Mommy?"
Shurikhina blushed and immediately shook her head. "No."
The girl was confused. "Why not?"
"…"
Seeing Shurikhina at a loss for words, Simon smiled and said, "Because Nina is a big girl now, and big girls don't sleep with their parents."
The girl, still not understanding the logic, blinked her sleepy eyes and said, "Nina's not big. Nina's only five."
"Five is already a big girl," Simon said patiently. "Be good. If you don't listen, Daddy won't come to see you again."
The girl tightened her grip on Simon, her face showing a hint of. She looked at her mother, who nodded, then turned back to Simon. "Then Daddy has to read me a bedtime story."
"Okay, but Nina has to lie down in bed first."
"Okay."
After some coaxing, the girl finally let go of Simon and climbed into her bed, struggling to keep her eyes open. But children aren't good at staying up late, and Simon had only read two pages from a children's book before the little one was sound asleep.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/INNIT
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.