Chapter 276: The Beginning of the Story

Malibu.

July 10th, Monday.

In a villa on the west side of Point Dume, a new week began, and Simon woke up promptly at 6 a.m.

He had been up late the night before, discussing the cabin design of a Boeing 767 with Janet over the phone until late. The bedroom was still scattered with design drafts faxed from Melbourne.

Having decided to purchase a Boeing 767, Simon had contacted Boeing after his last trip from Melbourne.

However, Simon then sent Boeing's sales representatives directly to Melbourne to discuss the details with Janet. His only decision was the choice of model.

The latest model in the Boeing 767 series was the 767-300ER, but Simon chose the 767-200ER.

The 200ER is slightly inferior in terms of body length and payload compared to the 300ER, but its cruising range and other data are comparable to the 300ER, capable of easily completing trans-Pacific journeys of over 10,000 kilometers. Simon had always rented the 200ER.

Moreover, the key reason for choosing the 200ER was that this medium-sized airliner requires less from airports for takeoffs and landings, needing only a 1.7-kilometer runway for a full load, which most airports around the world can accommodate. In contrast, the 300ER requires a 2.4-kilometer runway, beyond the capacity of many smaller city airports. During Simon's last trip to Europe, both Cannes and Florence had runways under 2 kilometers.

After choosing the model, Boeing's quoted price was $60 million.

After contacting Boeing's sales representatives, Janet's first action was to negotiate the price. Simon wasn't a customer who ordered 10 or 20 planes at a time, but as a public figure, his purchase of a Boeing product as a private jet could serve as better brand promotion than those larger customers.

And indeed, purchasing a private jet is negotiable.

After negotiations, the final price was set at $50 million, nearly a 20% discount. Of course, this was just the price for the plane itself; interior equipment and decoration would be extra.

Simon was never stingy with money, but he hated being taken for a fool. He was very pleased that his woman could save money equivalent to a top-tier villa in this deal. After signing the contract, considering assembly and decoration time, the plane was expected to be delivered for use around November.

Dressing and tidying up the drafts around the bedroom, it was back to being neat.

This was actually Jennifer's doing.

With Janet not in Los Angeles and Catherine gone to New York, Simon's properties in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Beverly Hills, and the villa on the east side of Point Dume were all managed by Jennifer. The female assistant regularly organized cleaning of these properties every week, leaving Simon with no need to worry.

In New York, the two properties were recently looked after by Catherine, with Angela Ahrendts, president of Gucci America, taking over when Catherine was away.

As for Europe, after completing the acquisition of Gucci, Sofia originally planned to give up the company's leased Falcon 50 business jet to save expenses. However, it was retained for rapid travel between different European cities to manage Simon's numerous properties.

Janet had warned Simon that having too many houses sitting empty for too long might lead to deterioration, but with regular meticulous maintenance, Simon no longer worried about this.

After washing up, working out, and showering.

7 a.m.

He left home on time.

Breakfast was at a nearby restaurant, where he also met with the architectural team leader of the Point Dume estate to discuss the construction progress of the 'Iron Man villa'. Simon approached the construction of that villa with the same attitude as he would for the envisioned Westeros Tower, aiming for art-level high standards without rushing, seeking only perfection.

After breakfast, he drove to Santa Monica.

Simon opened today's "Los Angeles Times" in his car, first looking at the front page index.

Skipping over words like "The Sixth Sense" and "counter drop," he found a headline about the "US-Iraq Business Forum Ends Successfully" and directly flipped to the international news section.

Today was the 11th day since "The Sixth Sense" was released. Simon had done everything he could, and the first-week box office had reached his best expectations. There was no need for him to worry too much about what came next.

In contrast, the recently concluded "US-Iraq Business Forum" was something Simon had been closely following.

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War ended last year, leaving Iraq's economy and civilian life in dire straits after eight years of conflict.

Saddam received "enthusiastic" support from many Western allies in the war against Iran, allowing the war to last for eight years. Now, to rebuild Iraq after the war, these partners' assistance was necessary.

The partners were indeed eager.

Although it was a US-Iraq Business Forum, oil giants from major Western countries like the US, UK, and France all gathered in Baghdad.

During the two-week forum, Iraq hoped to receive $40 billion in financial support from its Western allies to revitalize its economy.

The allies were generous, agreeing to the request but also putting forth their conditions. Iraq needed to privatize, or mostly privatize, its oil resources so that international oil giants like Exxon, CFP, and Shell could better assist in developing Iraq's oil resources and help revive its economy.

According to geological data from the 1980s, Iraq was the world's largest undeveloped oil field outside of the Soviet Union, with overall reserves slightly less than Saudi Arabia's but with huge potential.

Seeing the "allies" demanding direct control over Iraq's oil sovereignty, Saddam, whose head had not been kicked by a donkey, could not agree.

Without oil, what would be left of Iraq?

Therefore, the business forum ultimately did not reach any substantive agreement, leaving only superficial harmony among the parties.

Simon observed all this with a cold eye, understanding that this was likely the beginning of many stories over the next twenty years.

Arriving in Santa Monica, Simon headed straight to Daenerys Special Effects headquarters, where he had a meeting with the "Batman" special effects team to discuss final modifications to some CG shots.

Jennifer was already waiting for Simon at the Daenerys Special Effects headquarters.

Instructing his female assistant to gather more information about the "US-Iraq Business Forum," Simon also received his work schedule for the day from her.

The morning's work was already set, and he had lunch scheduled with Jonathan Friedman.

Starting at 1 p.m.

Checking the production progress of "Toy Story," one hour; "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" video game demonstration, one hour; a brief progress report from the company's financial audit team, half an hour; a visit from Blockbuster Chairman Wayne Huizenga, half an hour; reviewing the rough cut of "Angel's Mission" and discussing feedback with the creative team, two hours.

At 6 p.m., he had another working dinner with Amy.

Additionally, the schedule listed some documents Simon needed to review as soon as possible, which could only be done after returning home in the evening.

Entering the office building of Daenerys Special Effects, Simon glanced through his work schedule as he walked. His assistant handed him the weekend's box office report.

Simon browsed it briefly before shifting his focus to the day's tasks.

Compared to Simon's calm, the rest of Hollywood was somewhat unsettled early that morning upon seeing the weekend box office report.

From July 7th to July 9th, "The Sixth Sense" successfully withstood the pressure from all new and old films. Contrary to its opening weekend, the movie's second weekend box office not only didn't decline but also achieved a 6.8% increase, bringing in another $24.73 million over three days.

Although some media predicted that "The Sixth Sense's" second-weekend and overall weekly box office ratios would return to the normal range of 60% to 70%, with weekday sales unlikely to maintain the high proportion seen in the first week when the word of mouth was just spreading, the $24.73 million figure for the second weekend still exceeded even Daenerys Entertainment's own team's best expectations.

In ten days, "The Sixth Sense" quickly accumulated a total of $66.08 million in North America.

In comparison, "Ghostbusters II," due to a significant drop in its second week, only had a ten-day total of $58.76 million. "Indiana Jones 3," if not counting the two days of advance screenings, had a ten-day box office total of $67 million. While slightly better than "The Sixth Sense," compared to "The Sixth Sense's" counter-drop, "Indiana Jones 3" saw a 27% drop in its second weekend.

After "The Sixth Sense," "Lethal Weapon 2" took the second place with an opening three-day gross of $20.38 million.

If not for "The Sixth Sense's" surprise success, Warner Bros. would have been nearly ready to throw a celebration for "Lethal Weapon 2."

Disney's June release, "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 $18 million production budget, this film was already a significant success.

Entering its sixth week, "The Bodyguard" saw a 27% drop, making $5.76 million over the weekend and ranking fourth. This romance film, despite numerous negative reviews, has accumulated $93.69 million over five and a half weeks, nearing the $100 million milestone.

"Ghostbusters II" and "Die Hard 3," which led "The Bodyguard" last week, both saw significant drops this weekend and were surpassed in rankings.

"Ghostbusters II" experienced a 41% drop, barely holding the fifth spot with $5.26 million over three and a half weeks, accumulating a total of $85.52 million.

Beyond the top five, the new film "The Boss's Vacation" ranked seventh, behind "Indiana Jones 3," with an opening weekend of $4.5 million.

Surprisingly, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" performed well with 517 screens, earning $3.93 million over the weekend, with a projected total of over $6 million for the week.

Simon had hoped for this film to fail, but the $6 million opening week meant it achieved a per-theater average of over $10,000, indicating strong sales. Compared to commercial films, art films often sustain smaller declines, suggesting "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" might match or exceed its original earnings in North America.

Despite not being too dismayed by missing out on a film with a potential North American gross of only $20-30 million, Simon couldn't help feeling frustrated.

With a production cost of just $1.2 million, if "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" reached $30 million in North America, its box office revenue alone would surpass many major productions.

Daenerys Entertainment's interest in the film was no secret in the industry. The success of "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" meant Daenerys would face fierce competition for future projects and scripts.

Indeed, the unexpected box office success of Lawrence Kasdan's long-dismissed "The Bodyguard" meant Hollywood would keep a close eye on Daenerys Entertainment for a long time.

While Simon paid attention to "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," Hollywood buzzed about "The Sixth Sense."

"Why is this film so successful?"

"Someone might have a similar idea."

"Information on the cast and crew."

"Is it possible to sign the young star for future projects?"

"Do we continue to let Daenerys Entertainment dominate like this?"

...

Simon worked methodically as the discussions continued.

But time waits for no one.

On July 14th, the new week's box office data was released.

Industry predictions that "The Sixth Sense's" weekend to weekly box office ratio would normalize proved accurate.

In its second week, "The Sixth Sense" couldn't maintain its counter-drop from the previous weekend, with a 9% overall drop in box office numbers compared to the week before.

Yet, the $39.26 million figure still stirred mixed feelings among many. For context, "Indiana Jones 3" made $30.85 million in its second full week, and "Ghostbusters II" only made $19.92 million.

In its second week, even after adding some screens, "The Sixth Sense" maintained an average per-theater revenue of $20,352, surpassing the best first-week figures of both "Indiana Jones 3" and "Ghostbusters II."

With such strong box office performance, Daenerys Entertainment managed to secure an additional 379 screens from theaters, expanding "The Sixth Sense's" total screen count to 2308.

Additionally, the new week's releases were reduced to two: United Artists' "Licence to Kill," a James Bond series installment, and Disney's re-release of the classic animation "Peter Pan."

However, with "The Sixth Sense's" momentum, the declining 007 series, represented by "Licence to Kill," faced an uphill battle, while "Peter Pan," as a re-release, was hardly a concern.

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