As October began, the end-of-year schedule was approaching, and many films started their final promotional phase.
From Halloween onwards, Daenerys Entertainment's key projects for the end of the year included four films: "Se7en," "The Lion King," "Mission: Impossible," and "Schindler's List." Additionally, there was a DC Extended Universe film, "Cyborg," for which Simon served as the producer, but the project was entirely handled by Warner Bros.
In the afternoon, there was a special family activity planned.
Simon brought Janet and their little one to Daenerys Studios to watch the finished product of "The Lion King," marking Simon's first visit to the studio since his holiday began.
Unfortunately, the little Melbourne, who wasn't even two years old, showed no interest in the animated film and was carried out by A-girl after less than ten minutes in the screening room.
Simon, "half-heartedly," accompanied Janet and a few Daenerys Entertainment executives to watch the entire film.
Unlike the other movies, "The Lion King," as the most important project for the end of the year, couldn't be entirely left unchecked by Simon.
Compared to the 2D version from his memory, the 3D version of "The Lion King" was perfect in every detail to Simon. The film's production budget alone reached $60 million, far exceeding Pixar's first movie, "Toy Story," which had a $35 million production cost, with most of the budget spent on perfecting the various 3D technologies needed for the film.
Although the expenditure was significant, the entire management of Daenerys Entertainment believed that the investment was worth it.
"The impressive box office and massive merchandise revenue of "Toy Story" had already demonstrated the vast market potential for 3D animated films. Even if "The Lion King" didn't perform well at the box office, the technology accumulated through this film could be applied to other animated movies, unlike live-action films, which typically involve one-time investments."
Due to the confidence in "The Lion King," the film's marketing budget was also set at $30 million.
With a total investment of $90 million in production and marketing, apart from Simon, no one at Daenerys Entertainment expected the film to recoup its costs solely through North American distribution. They were more focused on the merchandise revenue of "The Lion King" and its impact on Daenerys Entertainment's entire industrial chain, including music, games, and theme parks.
Given the importance of this project, the film's release date was carefully selected.
November 19.
This was the first week of the Thanksgiving holiday season and would extend through the entire end-of-year period, providing the film with the maximum market exposure.
To make way for "The Lion King," Warner Bros.' initially planned Thanksgiving release of "Cyborg" was moved to December 24 by leveraging Daenerys Entertainment's influence. "Mission: Impossible," scheduled for release a week after "The Lion King," wouldn't cause too much conflict due to their different genres.
Simon had considered pushing "Mission: Impossible" to the Christmas season as well, but that would be too obvious and unnecessary.
"The Lion King" had been known in Hollywood for a long time because it was a gift from Simon to Janet. Other Hollywood studios didn't need to guess to know that Daenerys Entertainment was highly invested in this project. As a result, potential competitors, such as animated films or family comedies, consciously avoided the Thanksgiving slot.
Now, it was just a matter of seeing if the 3D version of "The Lion King" would be as beloved by audiences as it was in the original timeline.
After the screening ended, Janet kissed Simon on the cheek and left the screening room.
Simon stayed to listen to the executives' reports on the progress of "The Lion King's" marketing and merchandise promotion strategies before leaving the screening room.
The screening room was located on the second floor of Pixar Studios' office loft within the studio.
After the screening and meeting, everyone went about their own business. Simon then went to another office in the Pixar work area, where John Lasseter personally introduced the storyboard for another recently completed 3D animated film.
"Beauty and the Beast."
As a French fairy tale created in the 18th century, "Beauty and the Beast" no longer had copyright issues. When Simon learned that Disney had abandoned the project, he quietly initiated preparations for it at Pixar.
With "The Lion King" now completed, the team responsible for it would directly start working on "Beauty and the Beast."
Of course, this would also be a 3D version.
Additionally, the production of "Toy Story 2" was more than halfway done, with an initial release date planned for the end of next year.
Finally finished with work, Simon found Janet and their son playing in the rest area. He noticed Veronica was also there, patiently playing with Melbourne and building blocks.
It was Friday, October 1.
Veronica had been arriving around this time lately, and Simon would soon leave to spend the weekend in San Francisco with his assistant.
After greeting everyone and playing for a while, they all returned to the Cape Dumay Estate together.
"AOL's finances aren't in too bad a shape, but the company seems overly aggressive. Comprehensive technical audits and the de facto price cuts with monthly plans will certainly lead to continuous losses for the company. If they continue to expand into other regions of the USA, losses could reach $1 billion next year."
At the Cape Dumay Estate, Veronica was reporting her recent work findings to Simon.
Over the past six months, AOL not only began a full upgrade to ADSL but also officially launched a minimum $29 monthly plan, completely changing the previous hourly billing model, effectively a massive price cut.
Although exclusive agreements had initially restricted several major operators from entering the ISP field within AOL's operating area, the promising future of the internet industry had led to the emergence of many small internet service providers in AOL's territory over the past few years.
The ADSL network upgrade and monthly plan gave AOL a decisive market advantage, delivering a devastating blow to other competitors.
Ideally, with these two major weapons, AOL should solidify its existing territory before expanding, which would seem more prudent. However, both ADSL and monthly plans were replicable, especially the latter.
Therefore, AOL had to quickly invade its competitors' territories before they could react.
To achieve this goal, there was only one way: burn money.
Unlike the original AOL, which mostly rented other operators' lines to provide internet access, the current AOL, under Simon's enforced development strategy, placed great emphasis on building its own network infrastructure.
To date, AOL owned two main fiber optic backbones running across the USA from east to west, with over 150,000 kilometers of independently owned fiber optic cables across North America, indicating significant capital investment.
In history, many operators went bankrupt after the internet bubble burst due to excessive investment.
However, large-scale infrastructure investment itself wasn't wrong.
Many companies that went bankrupt after the internet bubble burst did so due to blind investments and financial frauds like the Enron scandal.
Many tech entrepreneurs didn't know what they should do, merely following the crowd.
AOL, however, had a clear development goal.
It was building a national ADSL high-speed broadband network and pushing for the integration of telephone, television, and broadband into a single network after the federal government lifted telecom regulations.
ADSL technology was the future for internet service providers. AOL in the past quickly declined because it missed the upgrade from dial-up to ADSL and shifted its focus to the highly speculative internet media.
The current AOL had also started a portal business, but as long as Simon controlled the company, he wouldn't allow AOL to repeat its past mistakes.
Although aggressive, the current ADSL upgrades, monthly plans, and comprehensive expansion were heading in the right direction.
According to an internet industry principle Simon remembered, it was an all-encompassing attack against competitors, proactively pushing the industry environment to its worst state, eliminating competitors one by one.
For other startups or newly entered ISP operators, this strategy would be impossible, lacking both the courage and resources to implement it.
However, AOL, with over 26 million users in North America, had the confidence and the powerful Westeros system backing it.
If the entire North American market could be unified, not only would a $1 billion annual loss be acceptable, but Simon had enough resources to let AOL lose money for over five years.
Five years would be enough to eliminate most competitors.
Simon didn't hide these thoughts from Veronica, explaining them seriously. Finally, he said, "As long as AOL is on the right path, temporary losses are acceptable. My only requirement is complete transparency in the company's operations and finances, at least to me, with no concealment or fraud."
Veronica didn't fully understand how Simon could be so sure of AOL's current development direction, but she didn't question him further. She realized Simon just needed her to keep a close eye on the company, not worry about anything else.
After chatting with Veronica for half an hour, Simon checked the time, said goodbye to everyone, and left with A-girl and a team of bodyguards for the airport.
At Los Angeles International Airport.
Simon's private Boeing 767 was ready, with additional people waiting for him.
One was an agent from ICM, a middle-aged white man around forty years old. The other was a tall, beautiful young woman in her twenties with obvious model attributes—indeed, she was a model named Natasha Henstridge.
Seeing Simon, the middle-aged man eagerly approached. "Hello, Mr. Westeros, I'm Raul Bradley, Natasha's agent."
Simon shook hands with him, glanced at Natasha Henstridge, and said, "Let's board the plane first."
Everyone had no objections.
They all boarded the plane, and ten minutes later, the Boeing 767 took off from the runway.
Once the plane was stable, Simon briefly gave some instructions and then took Natasha Henstridge to the
front cabin.
Raul Bradley watched them leave, feeling a mix of envy and regret. The envy was, naturally, for Simon; the regret was that he would never have a chance with such a beautiful woman.
"Mr. Bradley?"
A voice by his ear brought Raul Bradley back to reality. He straightened up and looked at A-girl. "Raul, Miss Norris, you can call me Raul."
A-girl nodded. "Regarding 'Species,' the boss has made a decision. Next, you need to arrange acting training for Miss Henstridge."
Raul Bradley nodded and, after a moment's thought, said, "I've discussed this project with MGM. You know, Natasha has no acting experience. Isn't the film's production schedule a bit rushed?"
"No," Allison shook her head. "The boss said the lead role in this movie doesn't require acting skills."
Raul Bradley nodded again, feeling a mix of agreement and irony.
How many people in Hollywood would dream of such an opportunity that doesn't require acting skills?
"So, that's it for the movie," Allison continued. "Next, regarding Miss Henstridge's arrangements. First, ICM needs to assign her an assistant, and it must be a woman. Secondly, and this is very important, Raul, ICM must ensure that no other women appear around Miss Henstridge for the next year. Do you understand?"
"Of course," Raul Bradley nodded, then hesitantly asked, "Only for one year?"
Allison's tone remained unchanged. "At most one year, perhaps three months, maybe one month, or just one week."
"…"
Ignoring Raul Bradley's changing expression, Allison continued, "Today, after returning, Miss Henstridge can choose a house in Los Angeles. ICM just needs to send me the bill."
Raul Bradley hesitated. "What's the price range?"
Allison looked at him with interest. "That, Miss Henstridge can choose for herself, as long as she feels it's appropriate."
Raul Bradley recalled some rumors in the industry and nodded, feeling a bit envious again.
Since Westeros said she could choose freely, even a two or three million-dollar mansion wouldn't be a problem. But thinking more carefully, if she really did choose such a mansion, its maintenance might be a problem for the vase.
As a barely second-tier model, Natasha Henstridge's income wasn't high. Even if this role in "Species" made her famous, her vase status would still make her a second-tier in Hollywood.
Allison waited for a moment and then asked, "By the way, Raul, did you bring Miss Henstridge's medical report?"
"Oh, yes."
Raul Bradley's expression turned a bit strange but quickly handed over the document from his briefcase.
Allison took the file, seriously reading through it without saying anything more.
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