Hunting in Hollywood

Companies typically choose to list their IPOs on a Thursday or Friday, allowing the weekend market closure to provide a buffer in case any unforeseen issues arise.

America Online listed on July 12, which was a Friday.

This IPO proceeded smoothly without any issues.

Even with expectations set, the 106% stock price increase on that Friday took many by surprise. The closing price of $43.25 and a market cap of $7.46 billion increased Simon Westeros's wealth by $4.9 billion, stirring excitement among many.

A company still burning through cash achieving a 72 times earnings ratio on its IPO day sparked discussions on whether the stock price was justified, despite admiration and envy from all quarters.

Amidst these discussions, the stock price of America Online inevitably began to adjust the following week.

Still, from July 15 to July 19, America Online's market cap never dropped below $5 billion.

After paying all fees to investment banks, lawyers, and others, America Online ultimately raised over $430 million from the IPO.

Following the IPO success, America Online immediately launched its second-phase free trial program.

With sufficient fame already accumulated, the new free trial was less generous than the first half of the year. Users had only one hour of free access per day; exceeding that required becoming a paid subscriber.

Additionally, free trial users had to pay a deposit for installation equipment, which would be refunded after the trial ended and equipment, such as modems, were returned. If users became subscribers, the deposit would be converted into their subscription fees, along with some additional subsidies.

Beyond the second phase of the free trial, America Online planned to significantly increase its investment in building its basic network infrastructure, which was its most costly endeavor.

The deposit scheme primarily aimed to boost America Online's cash flow.

On the same day as America Online's IPO, July 12, Daenerys collaborated with Warner Brothers on "Outlaws," which premiered in North American theaters.

Harrison Ford had tried a similar action movie involving conspiracy and survival three years prior, directed by Roman Polanski and titled "Night in Paris," but it hadn't made much impact at the box office.

"Outlaws," however, surpassed "Night in Paris" in both critical reception and promotional efforts.

With its compelling story completion, the film scored a 9.1 on aggregate media platforms. The Los Angeles Times praised it as "fluid and tense, offering an adrenaline-pumping tightness."

Warner Brothers had focused much of its attention on "Batman: The Dark Knight," inevitably sidelining "Outlaws."

Yet, on its opening weekend with only 2,340 screens, "Outlaws" still managed a strong box office of $37.61 million, averaging over $16,000 per screen.

Its $37.61 million opening weekend ousted "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "Terminator 2" to claim the box office crown for the week.

In contrast, Disney's new film "Tiger Scout" only earned $5.27 million in its opening seven days.

By July 19, two new movies premiered in the latter half of the summer season: Universal Pictures' "A World Apart" and Orion Pictures' "Abbot and Costello's Adventures 2."

"A World Apart" was a gangster movie similar to "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Scarface," set in old America.

"Abbot and Costello's Adventures 2" was a sequel to the sci-fi comedy from Orion two years earlier, which had grossed over $40 million in North America.

Additionally, Keanu Reeves starred in this comedic series.

Keanu had just transitioned to a tough-guy role at the beginning of the year with Kathryn's "Point Break," gaining considerable popularity. His goofy performance in "Abbot and Costello's Adventures 2" felt like a potential image destroyer.

From July 19 to July 25, "A World Apart" opened on 1,513 screens, earning just $8.79 million at the box office, barely making over $5,000 per screen.

As a key project for Orion, "Abbot and Costello's Adventures 2" had a decent start with 1,620 screens, making $15.66 million in its first week, nearly double the per-screen average of the first film.

However, the film's critical reception was mixed, indicating a challenging long-term box office run.

With the average box office performances of the two new films, "Outlaws" retained the crown for the week with a mere 11% drop in its second week, earning an additional $33.36 million, bringing its two-week total to $70.97 million.

Given Harrison Ford's $10 million salary, the production cost of "Outlaws" eventually reached $40 million, with a marketing budget of $20 million.

With $70.97 million in North American box office revenue under a tiered revenue

-sharing contract with theaters, Daenerys and Warner Brothers had already recouped most of the production and marketing costs within two weeks.

Two consecutive weeks of over $30 million starts indicated that "Outlaws" still had significant box office potential.

Outside of the weekly average box office of "Outlaws," it's worth noting that from July 19 to July 25, "Batman: The Dark Knight," in its seventh week, officially crossed $300 million in North America, reaching $301.51 million.

However, "Batman: The Dark Knight" slid to fourth place in the weekly box office, trailing "Outlaws," "Terminator 2," and "Abbot and Costello's Adventures 2," with $15.11 million.

Based on its box office trajectory since its premiere, Warner Brothers' distribution department estimated that the final North American box office for "Batman: The Dark Knight" would likely be between $360 and $390 million, with the $400 million mark out of reach.

Moreover, "Batman: The Dark Knight" had already crossed $300 million internationally a bit earlier than domestically.

With several overseas markets yet to release, Warner Brothers predicted that "Batman: The Dark Knight" would achieve an estimated international box office of $500 to $550 million, roughly on par with the first film. The global box office would match that of "Batman Begins," at around $900 million.

In its fourth week, "Terminator 2" earned $23.22 million from July 19 to July 25, ranking second in weekly box office and reaching a four-week total of $153.30 million.

Simon noted that "Terminator 2's" North American domestic box office was likely to surpass the $200 million mark from the original timeline.

This was not surprising.

In the original timeline, "Terminator 2" was produced by the outsider Carolco Pictures and distributed under Columbia Pictures' TriStar label. Neither company could match the production and marketing resources of Daenerys and Fox.

Of course, this time, "Terminator 2" would not claim the title of the highest-grossing film of 1991.

On July 26, the winding down of the 1991 summer season introduced two new films: MGM's collaboration with Daenerys on "Few Good Men" and Paramount's horror film "The Disassembled Man."

The new version of "Few Good Men," starring Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore, had been revised to tell the story of a down-and-out but upright middle-aged lawyer defending two Marines accused of murder.

From the start, "Few Good Men" was positioned as a courtroom crime drama similar to last year's hit "Presumed Innocent" starring Harrison Ford. The film couldn't be marketed like a blockbuster and was expected to rely on strong word-of-mouth.

Fortunately, despite the story changes, the film received excellent media reviews, and the trio of Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Demi Moore was enough to draw audiences.

In its opening week, "Few Good Men" garnered $26.73 million from 1,902 screens. While not reaching the heights of "Batman: The Dark Knight," "Terminator 2," or "Outlaws," its per-screen average of over $13,900 met the expectations of Daenerys and MGM.

Moreover, in its second week starting August 1, "Few Good Men" saw only a 13% drop in box office, earning an additional $23.39 million. This trajectory solidly placed it as yet another member of the $100 million box office club.

On August 2, Kevin Costner's new film "Robin Hood" brought another surprise for Warner Brothers.

This period action film produced and distributed solely by Warner Brothers was strategically released on August 2, highlighting its prominence in the summer lineup. Yet, it managed an impressive $39.19 million in its opening week, outperforming the July 12 release of "Outlaws."

Following that, on August 9, New World Pictures under Daenerys Entertainment premiered "The Silence of the Lambs," essentially marking the close of the 1991 summer season.

With a 9.6 score on aggregate media platforms, "The Silence of the Lambs" signified a near-perfect end to the season.

Before its release, the outside world had not paid much attention to this film, which had a modest production budget of $15 million and was distributed by New World Pictures, a label under Daenerys Entertainment.

However, Hollywood insiders were closely watching the film, mainly because of its lead actress, Sandra Bullock. This rising star, who had rapidly ascended with Simon Westeros's "Run Lola Run," had enjoyed such a smooth career trajectory in recent years that she had become the envy of many Hollywood actresses.

Moreover, there were rumors that "The Silence of the Lambs" was a project personally selected by Simon Westeros for Sandra Bul

lock, making it impossible for the industry to ignore.

Once again, the accuracy of Simon Westeros's vision was proven.

Upon its release, "The Silence of the Lambs" sparked intense media discussion due to its plot, performances, and religious undertones.

Featuring Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall, whose performance was no less chilling than Anthony Hopkins's original portrayal, The Hollywood Reporter praised, "Robert Duvall's chilling performance is enough to earn him a second Oscar." Both director Jonathan Demme and lead actress Sandra Bullock were frequently mentioned in the media.

The New York Times even predicted that "The Silence of the Lambs" could become the second horror film after "The Exorcist" to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

With intense media buzz and an aggressive marketing campaign by New World Pictures, "The Silence of the Lambs" opened with $23.93 million from 1,561 screens, averaging over $15,000 per screen in its first week.

While not a stunning start, the media heat surrounding the film left no doubt about its potential to break the $100 million mark.

As the summer season officially closed, the media suddenly realized that the 1991 summer slate included a series of blockbuster films, all potentially breaking the $100 million mark in box office or expected revenues. In order of release, they were "City Slickers," "Batman: The Dark Knight," "Terminator 2," "Outlaws," "Few Good Men," "Robin Hood," and "The Silence of the Lambs."

Of these seven films, although only "The Silence of the Lambs" was solely distributed by Daenerys Entertainment, four others were also associated with Daenerys, with only "City Slickers" and "Robin Hood" belonging to Columbia Pictures and Warner Brothers, respectively.

Given the highly speculative nature of the film industry, such a successful ratio of hits was unprecedented.

Compared to previous years, the media and industry insiders grew increasingly curious about how this situation had come about and whether Simon Westeros possessed a Midas touch.

These superstitious views were naturally unanswerable.

However, an article in The Hollywood Reporter in mid-August provided a relatively reasonable explanation.

Simon Westeros, or rather Daenerys Entertainment, had clearly absorbed most of Hollywood's resources in recent years.

Take "Batman: The Dark Knight," for example. Its unprecedented opening on over 3,000 screens and an $80 million marketing budget ensured the film would dominate the movie schedule, theater platforms, and promotional channels, squeezing out other films in a significant way.

Others, like "Terminator 2," "Outlaws," and "Few Good Men," followed a similar pattern.

Daenerys Entertainment's strategy of co-producing with other studios seemed to relinquish half the profits but also monopolized the resources that should have belonged to these studios' own films.

Furthermore, the recent rise of "blockbuster" films also deviated from Hollywood's traditional reliance on luck.

From their inception, blockbuster films were designed with a strong box office appeal.

In summary, with sufficient budgets, talented creative teams, and the latest cinematic technology, and with Simon Westeros—a film genius—overseeing everything, these films' subsequent distribution benefited from the best annual release slots and the most relentless promotional efforts. As long as the quality was not too poor, achieving blockbuster status was not overly difficult.

Therefore, the increasing dominance of Daenerys Entertainment-produced films in Hollywood was largely no accident.

Other major studios' eagerness to collaborate with Daenerys, aside from phenomenon-level super hits like "Batman: The Dark Knight," made it hard to say whether they were getting a great deal or making a costly mistake.

Simon had always been concerned that his almost prophetic 'talent' in film would cause unnecessary trouble. The article in The Hollywood Reporter, though it might awaken other major studios, was exactly the kind of outcome Simon hoped to see.

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