Chasing Stars in Hollywood

That night, Simon did not return to the hillside villa in Woodside. After attending the reception at Tim Berners-Lee's house, he went to spend the night with housekeeper Alice Ferguson at her apartment in Atherton.

There was a bit of strategy behind this decision.

The previous afternoon, Simon had ended up in bed with another female assistant. Noticing Celia's ambitious behavior, reminiscent of Sophia's past, Simon did not want to give her too much hope, so he deliberately kept his distance.

The next morning, he specifically called Zoe Parks, who had once been a bit flirtatious with the housekeeper, to prepare breakfast. Naturally, the A girl followed along.

Thus, the breakfast table had one man and three women.

During the meal, Simon watched the rosy-cheeked housekeeper, who was casually eating salad while looking at her laptop screen. He said to the baby-faced girl, "Zoe, you don't need to follow me back this weekend. Take Alice to Hawaii for a couple of days. And remember, don't get tanned."

Having been caught being intimate with the housekeeper, Zoe seemed to have been labeled a lesbian by her boss.

However, since Alice joined Eaglet, Zoe had actually had little contact with her. Hearing Simon's suggestion, Zoe looked pitifully at her boss and then at Alice.

A weekend in Hawaii sounded nice, but if it meant being with a workaholic who handled emails during breakfast, it didn't seem appealing.

Just like the forced break last time, Alice glanced at Simon, who had bullied her mercilessly the previous night, and instinctively said, "I have work to do."

Simon, echoing his response from earlier in the year, said, "You don't have work now."

Alice stared at Simon with her clear blue eyes. Realizing her resistance was futile, she turned her attention back to her laptop.

Fine, Hawaii it is. It's just a change of work location.

However, Simon seemed to sense her thoughts and added, "You're leaving this afternoon. Only bring a change of clothes. The laptop stays. And, I'm lending you my villa in Hawaii. Remember to clean it over the weekend."

Alice immediately looked up and tried to negotiate, "Tomorrow morning?"

"Today afternoon," Simon insisted, adding, "And from now on, every weekend, Zoe will accompany you."

After another moment of staring, Alice conceded.

As a boss, Simon wished his employees could work tirelessly. As a man, he didn't want his women to be worn out from overwork.

Unlike B, C, and D, who had already left, the housekeeper and Simon maintained their initial arrangement. The mansion in Atherton's Lindenwood neighborhood was bought by Simon and given to Alice. Claire and the others didn't have such perks and needed to fend for themselves after leaving.

After breakfast, they all left the housekeeper's mansion together. Simon's destination was Tinkerbell, Claire's company, and he dropped Alice off at Eaglet's headquarters on the way.

Arriving at Tinkerbell's office building, Claire was already in a meeting, so Simon borrowed her office to start his workday.

It was May 20, a Friday.

Another Hollywood box office week had begun.

In the past week, from May 13 to May 19, Michael Bay's "Stargate" unsurprisingly topped the weekly box office chart, grossing $36.61 million in its first seven days.

Despite several big-budget films set to release in the coming weeks, with such a strong opening, "Stargate" was likely to cross the $100 million mark in North America as long as its second-week drop wasn't too steep.

In comparison, the other two new releases, including the Meg Ryan-starring romantic drama "When a Man Loves a Woman," grossed only $11.29 million in its first week.

To save on the budget, Disney had cast the relatively lesser-known Andy Garcia as the male lead. Although Garcia, a long-time Hollywood actor, had earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "The Godfather Part III," he lacked strong box office appeal. In "When a Man Loves a Woman," he failed to generate the same chemistry with Meg Ryan that Ryan had enjoyed in "Sleepless in Seattle" and "When Harry Met Sally."

As a result, with a final budget of $25 million and Meg Ryan's hefty $7 million fee following her success in "Sleepless in Seattle," the film's opening week earnings of $11.29 million were disappointing. Considering its mediocre reviews and the upcoming competition, this romantic drama's total North American box office was likely to be around $30 million.

While Disney might break even through overseas and subsequent releases, it was effectively a wasted effort and another squandered prime summer release slot.

Meanwhile, the new film by Black director Spike Lee, "Crooklyn," performed even worse, earning only $3.91 million in its opening week.

Following the success of his previous film "Malcolm X," Spike Lee secured $15 million from Columbia Pictures for his new project. With an opening of $3.91 million, the domestic box office was expected to be around $10 million. Given the limited international market for African-American themed films, Columbia essentially took a loss on this project.

Interestingly, Spike Lee had a solid working relationship with Universal Pictures in previous years, with three consecutive films produced by Universal. However, due to the merger turbulence following Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA, this relationship did not continue with Daenerys Entertainment, which was a regret.

As one of Hollywood's most talented Black directors, although Spike Lee's films generally didn't achieve high box office due to their niche appeal, their low production budgets often ensured profitability or minimal losses. Thus, he was a director worth courting, similar to Woody Allen.

After reviewing the previous week's box office report, Simon sent an email to Ella Deutschman, asking him to reach out to Spike Lee. Taking advantage of the recent failure, he suggested securing Lee's next film, with the potential loss being inconsequential. This move would increase the diversity of Daenerys Entertainment's film portfolio and significantly enhance the company's brand image.

The new week saw two major films hitting North American theaters: MGM's "Speed" and Warner Bros.' "Maverick."

"Speed," directed by Martin Campbell, who had previously helmed the successful "Wonder Woman," starred Hollywood stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

In the original timeline, the original "Speed," directed by Jan de Bont and starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, wasn't particularly high-profile, yet it achieved a remarkable North American box office of over $100 million with a $30 million budget.

This time, influenced by Simon's 'butterfly effect,' the three main creators were already red-hot in Hollywood, and the production budget had increased from $30 million to $45 million, reaching blockbuster levels.

To compete with the June 3 release of "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises," MGM went all out, opening "Speed" on 2,869 screens with a $20 million marketing budget.

With the official wide release today, "Speed" garnered a media score of 9.4, surpassing last week's "Stargate" score of 8.2, indicating a potential classic.

The other major release, "Maverick," was a bona fide blockbuster.

Adapted from a 1950s Western TV series, the film reunited "Lethal Weapon" director Richard Donner with Mel Gibson and featured Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster. The trio's combined star power even overshadowed "Speed."

With the success of the "Lethal Weapon" series as a foundation, "Maverick" had a budget of $75 million, with Warner Bros. spending $30 million on marketing. The film opened on 2,537 screens.

Daenerys Entertainment typically avoided Westerns, considering them not worth the investment, while Warner Bros. specialized in the genre.

Simon wasn't optimistic about "Maverick." Even if the film's North American box office broke $100 million as it did in his memory, Warner Bros. was unlikely to profit significantly from the project, making it a classic case of working for Hollywood stars.

The project saw Mel Gibson taking home a hefty $15 million paycheck, Richard Donner earning $8 million as a top-tier director, and Jodie Foster receiving $5 million. The three leads were well-compensated, but with such a huge budget, Warner Bros. needed to gross around $250 million worldwide to break even. In the original timeline, "Maverick" grossed only $180 million globally.

Moreover, with "Stargate" ahead, "Speed" competing concurrently, and the highly anticipated "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" releasing two weeks later, "Maverick," with its mediocre reviews, was unlikely to reach its original box office numbers. Breaking $100 million domestically would require a miracle.

The more likely outcome was Warner Bros. suffering a significant loss on this project, thereby increasing its reliance on the DC cinematic universe.

Celia Miller saw her boss again in the evening when they both returned to Los Angeles.

However, the woman did not show any resentment for being neglected by Simon for a night after their intense moment. Instead, during the brief flight back to Los Angeles, she continued to discuss the Westeros system's military strategies with Simon.

During her globe-trotting trip, Celia had been involved in secret negotiations between Westeros mercenaries and the French government. The French authorities ultimately agreed to pay $25 million in compensation to recover all former Rwandan government army French military advisors held by Westeros mercenaries, including all bodies.

The $25 million amount was suggested by Celia after assessing the situation.

It wasn't that the French government couldn't pay

 more, but demanding too much would exceed the secret funds' limit, forcing them to use formal government budget channels, exposing the affair.

Allowing Celia to participate in these negotiations was a small test from Simon, mainly to assess her credibility. The result exceeded Simon's expectations, demonstrating the advantages of having someone familiar with the intricacies of the federal defense system on his team.

Before this, both Simon and Westeros Mercenaries' commander William McCraney had planned to demand an exorbitant amount from the French government. Such an approach would likely have led to a fallout.

Throughout her half-month global journey, Celia also completed personnel infiltration within the Rwandan government and privately met with Leon Kuchma, the current Prime Minister and next presidential candidate of Ukraine. She persuaded the initially hesitant Ukrainian government to allow the Westeros system to establish a private military company in Ukraine and personally oversaw the setup of the mercenary support team in Kyiv.

"In the U.S., I believe our company should focus on recruiting mid to low-ranking retired officers, along with about 300 former special forces members, primarily to provide military training services," Celia said in the front cabin lounge of the Boeing 767. Seeing Simon's approval, she continued, "The lesson from the French government's arrangement in Rwanda, though not publicized, will likely be heeded by other nations. Using private military companies to provide similar services can reduce official soldier casualties and avoid accusations of interfering in other countries' affairs. We have a significant business opportunity in this area."

Simon, reviewing a proposal for establishing a private military company in Australia, nodded and gestured for Celia to continue.

Celia looked at Simon, then decided to veer off-topic briefly. "Simon, regarding the name of the 'Military Consulting & Security Service' company in North America, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Military Consulting & Security Service (MCSS) was the name for the Westeros system's private military company in North America.

In Australia and Ukraine, different names were used instead of branches, with the former being Perth Military Advisory & Security Service, headquartered in Perth, and the latter being Ukraine Frontline Military Service, headquartered in Kyiv.

The common characteristic of these names was their simplicity and slight length.

Hearing Celia's question, Simon looked up and asked, "If we chose a name like Daenerys Entertainment, do you think it would be like this?"

"I think it would be better," Celia said. "It would be unique and easy to remember."

Simon shook his head. "For entertainment and tech companies, memorable names are great. But for a private military company, do you think being constantly remembered is a good thing?"

Celia paused and quickly realized, shaking her head, "It doesn't seem like it."

Simon shrugged. "So, this is just right."

In the original history, Blackwater, established in 1997, quickly made a name for itself in the industry. Mention mercenaries, and many would immediately think of Blackwater, given its hardcore and cool-sounding name.

However, the high profile brought constant trouble for Blackwater, with scandals frequently surfacing and significant orders being lost.

Eventually, Blackwater began to reflect, realizing it wasn't the largest private military company in the U.S.; that title belonged to MPRI. Globally, it didn't even make the top five. Why, then, was it constantly in trouble while the big players weren't?

They finally understood: it was the name!

Blackwater was too conspicuous and eye-catching.

One day, they quietly rebranded to Xe Services.

What does Xe mean?

Who knows?

That's the point!

Learning from Blackwater's lesson, Simon decided that the Westeros system's private military companies needed to have simple, unremarkable names that were hard to remember.

_________________________

[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!] 

[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]

[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]