While Simon's family was vacationing in Australia, the North American media and public remained focused on the box office performance of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
From January 5th to January 11th, the first full week of box office in 1996, the North American film market experienced a significant cooling off as the holiday season ended. In its third week of release, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice saw its first notable box office decline since opening.
However, the actual drop was only 43%, significantly lower than the predicted 50% drop that many media outlets had forecasted.
Given the movie's second-week performance, with a weekly box office exceeding 99% of Hollywood films at $128 million, even after the drop, the third week's earnings still reached $73.46 million. After three weeks in theaters, the total box office gross for this DC Universe behemoth had reached $379.51 million.
Initially, there was some uncertainty about whether Batman v Superman could reach $600 million domestically. But with the third week's results in, the focus shifted to just how far beyond $600 million the film might go.
With a total of nearly $380 million in three weeks and just $220 million needed to reach the $600 million mark, it was almost certain the film would surpass this milestone barring any extraordinary event like the outbreak of a third world war.
In fact, some even believed it could gross another $300 million or more.
If that happened, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could potentially become the first film in North American history to break the $700 million domestic box office barrier.
This wasn't out of the question.
Adjusted for inflation, many older films like Gone with the Wind would have reached the $700 million level domestically by 1996's standards.
Because of the success of Batman v Superman, other films in the North American market at the time paled in comparison. Even with the 53rd Golden Globe Awards scheduled for January 21st, and all companies, including Daenerys Entertainment, making efforts to promote their nominated films for the upcoming Oscars, the media and public attention around award season was much lower than the previous year.
The Golden Globes might have attracted more attention, but Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice didn't submit for consideration.
Why?
It wasn't because they feared not being nominated or because the producers weren't interested. The main reason was to maintain secrecy.
Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes announce nominations before the Christmas season in December. They don't require a film to be released before the nominations are announced; it only needs to have a special screening for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) members in Los Angeles to qualify.
The 53rd Golden Globe nominations were announced on December 11th, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released on December 22nd. Had they screened the film early for HFPA members, it could have easily secured a nomination in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category.
However, both Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. went to great lengths to keep the film's plot under wraps before its release. Given the high level of interest, various media outlets were doing everything they could to uncover spoilers.
Neither side was willing to risk anything.
And considering the HFPA's less-than-stellar reputation for ethics, which in the past had seen members bribed with concert tickets, there was a real fear that the plot might leak if they screened the film early.
So, they decided to skip the Golden Globes entirely.
As a result, despite Batman v Superman still being the hottest topic in January, the Golden Globes couldn't benefit from its popularity.
Now, people were more interested in whether Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. After all, films with similar box office success, like Gone with the Wind, Jaws, The Exorcist, and Star Wars, had all secured at least one Best Picture nomination.
Given its potential to create even greater box office records, there was no reason Batman v Superman wouldn't receive a nomination.
As the award season progressed, 1996 looked to be an unusually competitive year for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, despite being what Simon saw as an "off-year" due to the lack of a clear frontrunner like Forrest Gump.
Even for Daenerys Entertainment, the competition was stiff.
Simon personally favored Catherine's new film Detroit, but it received no Golden Globe nominations and was unlikely to fare better at the Oscars. Its limited release saw lukewarm reviews and a modest $6.97 million opening from 1,531 screens. A domestic gross of over $10 million would be considered a success.
The main problem was that neither the media nor the public had much interest in the film's historical subject matter. In a time when political correctness was becoming increasingly pervasive, no one was sure how to approach the 1960s race riots depicted in the film.
Should it be praised as a moment of awakening for the Black community, a shout for resistance?
That would be absurd.
But to criticize it?
Who would dare?
Any critique would likely lead to accusations of racism, protests from civil rights groups, and possibly even cost some media personalities their jobs.
As a result, the film was largely ignored.
Simon had ways to stir up interest and secure a nomination for Catherine, but he chose not to.
It was a form of protection.
Ultimately, it came down to political correctness.
As for the $30 million investment in the film, it was of little consequence to Daenerys Entertainment.
With Detroit exiting the awards race, Daenerys Entertainment still had two core films with Golden Globe nominations: Sense and Sensibility for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Beauty and the Beast for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
These decisions were the result of careful internal deliberation.
Even without Detroit, Daenerys Entertainment still had potential Golden Globe contenders like The Brothers McMullen, The Man from Earth, Jurassic Park II, Apollo 13, and Dead Man Walking.
Apollo 13 had already received a Best Drama nomination in the past.
This time, they chose to forgo that opportunity.
Sense and Sensibility had previously won the Best Drama category, beating out Apollo 13 and Braveheart.
For the other studios, films like Waiting to Exhale, which starred Cannes Best Actor Forrest Whitaker and was both a box office and critical success, were completely shut out. Even Martin Scorsese's Casino only garnered a Best Director nomination.
And this was just the Golden Globes.
As for the Oscars, with only five spots available for Best Picture nominations, Daenerys Entertainment alone had five films eligible: The Man from Earth, Apollo 13, Beauty and the Beast, Sense and Sensibility, and Dead Man Walking.
This doesn't even include Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which Warner Bros. was responsible for distributing.
Unfortunately, even though Daenerys Entertainment wasn't chasing the Best Picture award, the Oscar committee, seeking balance, would likely only give them two nominations at most. And with Batman v Superman potentially counting as half a nomination for Daenerys Entertainment, only one other film could be chosen.
Which one?
This decision wasn't easy.
To maximize benefits, Beauty and the Beast seemed the best choice, as it was still in theaters and a nomination could boost its box office performance.
But the film had been overshadowed by the overwhelming success of Batman v Superman.
With its box office momentum stalled, Beauty and the Beast would likely be pulled from theaters by February, long before the Oscars in March.
Thus, pushing for an Oscar nomination for Beauty and the Beast no longer made much sense.
That left Sense and Sensibility and Dead Man Walking.
Simon ultimately chose Sense and Sensibility.
This film, based on Jane Austen's novel, had been released in October of the previous year and, thanks to strong word of mouth, had grossed over $43.18 million domestically on a budget of just $16.5 million. It was a commercial success and critically acclaimed.
Historically, Sense and Sensibility had won the Golden Globe for Best Drama and received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, only to lose to Braveheart. The general consensus was that it wasn't due to any shortcoming in the film itself, but rather because an Asian director couldn't compete with Mel Gibson, a Hollywood heavyweight since the 1980s.
Simon's choice of Sense and Sensibility was also a strategic one aimed at building goodwill with Hollywood's art-house community.
In recent years, Daenerys Entertainment had produced so many excellent films that some were inevitably pushed out of the awards race. The result was that filmmakers who sought recognition at awards shows began partnering with other studios.
Simon had strategies to deal with this.
In addition to the Oscars, Daenerys had been working to secure recognition at international film festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, providing filmmakers with an alternative to domestic accolades.
This choice was a statement.
By selecting Sense and Sensibility, Simon was signaling to filmmakers that Daenerys Entertainment wasn't solely focused on commercial films.
The scene shifted to Park City, Utah.
It was January 20th, the day before the Golden Globes.
This year's Sundance Film Festival had opened on January 18th and would conclude on January 28th.
Despite Daenerys Entertainment's increasing dominance in Hollywood, Simon hadn't become complacent. In fact, he was more focused than ever, hosting his annual party at the Westeros Villa during the Sundance Film Festival. Daenerys had discovered many
talented filmmakers over the years, but for Simon, there was no such thing as too much talent.
The more talented filmmakers Daenerys had, the broader its range of choices, and the stronger its influence.
This year's Westeros Villa party was set for January 20th, a Saturday.
Simon attended in person.
In truth, the party was more symbolic. Most of Daenerys Entertainment's talent scouting at Sundance occurred outside of the event.
For filmmakers, simply being invited to the party was an honor and a mark of recognition. Yet, the party's significance, thanks to Simon's reputation and Daenerys' market dominance, had grown to the point where it was becoming more influential than the Sundance Film Festival itself for those aspiring to enter the film industry.
As word spread that Simon Westeros was taking Sundance more seriously, filmmakers from around the world began paying more attention to the festival.
Since the release of Run Lola Run, Sundance had experienced a few years of decline due to its limited history and lack of prestige.
But now, with increased global interest and the influx of filmmakers and tourists, combined with the success of directors like Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino, who had launched their careers at Sundance, the festival's popularity was soaring.
This year's Sundance Festival was shaping up to be another star-studded event.
Even Simon himself couldn't help but marvel at the list of films and filmmakers included in this year's lineup, many of whom he recognized from beyond North America.
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