After the false alarm, Daenerys Entertainment's operations quickly returned to normal.
The incident made Amy and the other key figures in the Westeros ecosystem acutely aware of how fragile Simon's commercial empire was in certain respects.
When rumors suddenly poured out of Melbourne, Amy even heard that Los Angeles County had briefly considered forming a task force to prepare for taking over Daenerys Entertainment. Legally, Simon was entirely alone, he had no statutory heirs.
Janet was undeniably the closest person to him, but legally the two had no relationship at all.
Moreover, during the episode no one had imagined that a young man in his early twenties would have thought to draw up a will.
While rushing to Melbourne and confirming their boss was safe, Amy and James together urged Simon to update his will and designate asset proxies for certain contingencies. They knew he had left documents with George Norman, but with billions at stake, extra caution was warranted.
The litigation over Howard Hughes's vast estate following his 1976 death, still dragged on more than a decade later.
Plenty of evidence confirmed Hughes had left a will, but without clear statutory heirs, every real and fake document was invalidated under the pressure of enormous profit motives. Hughes's fortune became a feeding frenzy.qqqqqq
Simon had no intention of ending up like Hughes, so he followed their advice and redrafted comprehensive wills and proxy arrangements with multiple safeguards.
Entering March, following Rain Man, the other two Daenerys holiday releases, Steel Magnolias and Dead Poets Society, also crossed the $100 million mark domestically.
Thus, 1988 produced eleven North American $100 million club films in total, seven of them Daenerys titles. The remaining four were Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Paramount's Coming to America, Fox's Big, and Paramount's Crocodile Dundee II.
The Naked Gun and Twins, both strong holiday performers, were squeezed by Daenerys's multiple blockbusters and failed to reach the milestone.
Both were still in theaters, but current data projected The Naked Gun at around $73 million domestic and Twins near $95 million.
Of Daenerys's seven $100 million+ films, six already ranked in the 1988 top ten; only Dead Poets Society was still chasing tenth-place Crocodile Dundee II.
Though not an awards-season juggernaut like Rain Man, Dead Poets Society had plenty of recent buzz and should easily overtake the summer holdover.
Meanwhile, The Bodyguard and The Sixth Sense had wrapped smoothly, and John Hughes's Uncle Buck was past the halfway mark. Daenerys had officially announced release dates: June 2, June 30, and August 11, respectively. Early promotion was underway.
On February 24, following Blue Steel, the Gaumont label released its first film: Whit Stillman's Metropolitan. The upscale indie had earned no awards at January's Sundance but garnered strong reviews.
Metropolitan cost $3 million, far above Stillman's original plan to shoot for a few hundred thousand with friends and family.
With recognizable actors and solid word-of-mouth, it opened on 127 screens to $1.39 million a per-screen average over $10,000, breakout territory for an indie.
Ira Deutchman allocated $2 million for marketing.
The $1.39 million opening, followed by measured expansion and long legs, projected $8–10 million domestic enough for Daenerys to recoup full costs from North America alone.
Though the total might not match some Daenerys blockbusters' opening weekends, that was exactly Gaumont's niche. Simon was already very pleased with Ira's handling.
Easter fell early this year, March 26.
After Metropolitan, Gaumont's next title Sisters was set for March 17; New World's Hellraiser II would hit the Easter frame on March 24.
Overseas.
Building distribution channels from scratch meant slow progress for Robert Rehme. Still, the hot copyrights of Scream, Steel Magnolias, Dead Poets Society, and Rain Man opened doors smoothly.
Daenerys expected to secure split-rights deals in major overseas markets for the four holiday hits by mid-year. Once those channels were established, future overseas releases would accelerate dramatically.
Add the many projects in active prep, Pretty Woman, Ghost, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Driving Miss Daisy, and more, and Daenerys's film division had truly entered a sustainable, virtuous cycle.
Los Angeles.
Sophia Fache had left Melbourne and arrived yesterday.
Fall fashion weeks were critical to Gucci's revival. Despite Simon's funding and promises, she flew in personally to discuss media support face-to-face with Amy.
Gucci also had a Beverly Hills flagship; Sophia planned financial audits and personnel changes there and in New York, tasks requiring Daenerys assistance, as she lacked her own accounting teams for now.
After signing the share transfer, Sophia had promptly named herself Gucci president. With Melisandre holding absolute control, the board was dissolved; remaining Guccis received only advisory titles.
It was Saturday.
Sophia spent two days immersed at the Beverly Hills store, then headed early to Malibu.
Daenerys had organized a PR party there.
Ongoing Oscar campaigning had turned the Palisades mansion into tabloid bait, forcing venue changes.
Tonight's party was at a new Malibu estate Amy had just purchased in Paradise Cove, not far from Point Dume.
Post-'87 crash, North American real estate continued sliding; Malibu was no exception. The early-'80s development boom had stalled, prices at decade lows.
Amy sensed that with the Daenerys studio and Point Dume estate under construction, Malibu would soon attract Hollywood elite.
Buying now was perfect timing.
Her 1988 bonus wouldn't arrive until late March, but she'd already started hunting and secured a prime oceanfront property.
Dusk approached; guests were mostly arrived. Amy, greeting alongside her restaurateur boyfriend, finally caught a breather.
Once the party officially began, she slipped into the adjacent sitting room.
As Simon had casually predicted, Sophia and Nancy Brill had hit it off instantly. Both early arrivals, they'd been deep in conversation over an hour.
Amy settled onto the sofa beside them with a glass of red wine. "What are you two plotting?"
Nancy answered, "Sophie wants the little boss to shoot Gucci ads herself. I think it's a bad idea. Sure, he could make stunning spots, but the brand boost from that kind of stunt isn't as big as people imagine."
Amy looked at Sophia, puzzled, Nancy's train of thought could be hard to follow.
Sophia smiled and clarified, "For Gucci promotion, I'd love Simon to direct a campaign personally. Nancy suggested something else: a fashion documentary centered on preparations for this fall's fashion weeks."
"Fashion documentary, that's fresh. If you go ahead, I can help."
Sophia said, "I couldn't do it without Daenerys support anyway."
Amy realized she was serious and grew thoughtful. "If we do it, we could place it under Ira's Gaumont label and treat it as an art film. But Sophie, aren't luxury brands supposed to stay reserved and understated? Wouldn't this be too flashy?"
Before Sophia could reply, Nancy shook her head. "Brands that stay too quiet usually disappear. I've studied Bernard Arnault's turnaround of Dior. When he bought the nearly bankrupt Boussac Group, Dior was on life support. He sold off most assets, focused on Dior, and revived it in a few years. His main tactic: massive advertising and eye-catching PR to maximize exposure. We actually have an even bigger advantage."
Amy nodded and turned to Sophia. "In that case, talk to Ira later."
Sophia, already envisioning the film, agreed and asked Amy, "What about you, what's keeping you so busy?"
Amy laughed. "Everything. I feel like I'm flying."
Nancy murmured beside her, "I could take some off your plate."
Amy poked her in the ribs. "Don't worry, I'm never giving you the chance to replace me."
The old tension was gone. With Simon fully hands-off lately, Amy had to sign off on major decisions herself; the pressure left no room for petty thoughts.
If needed, she genuinely wouldn't mind Nancy sharing the load now.
But Nancy was swamped too, consumer products, Blizzard, the new Daenerys Analytica Company all demanded huge time, plus her forceful style at Blockbuster left no spare energy.
Nancy swatted Amy's hand away. "Speaking of which, what really caused the boss's collapse? I don't buy overwork. Something felt off."
"Doctors found nothing," Amy said, still puzzled. She glanced at Sophia. "You just came from Melbourne, what do you think?"
"I'm even less sure."
Sophia shook her head casually, but memories of their time alone in the Tasmanian cabin surfaced. Though they hadn't spent much time together, she could sense clear changes in Simon since the incident.
She just couldn't quite pinpoint them.
Or didn't want to articulate them too clearly.
The three chatted a bit longer, then rose to mingle.
Sophia, with Nancy's introduction, found Ira Deutchman working the crowd and raised the Gucci documentary idea.
Ira's focus lately was Oscar campaigning for Rain Man and others, but he quickly grew intrigued.
Successful fashion documentaries were rare, most were closer to interview shows confined to TV. That very gap offered opportunity.
Gucci, the brand and the family had been tabloid fodder for years.
Handled right, the film could even play theaters.
Budget would be modest, three to five million by past experience. As brand promotion, Gucci would cover part of the cost as sponsorship, lowering it further.
Ira controlled a $30 million discretionary fund. Beyond distribution for Metropolitan, Sisters, and The Heathers, Gaumont had only greenlit My Left Foot and Driving Miss Daisy, combined under $10 million leaving ample room for new projects.
They discussed briefly and quickly locked in preliminary development.
After the party, Ira arranged to continue detailed talks with Sophia tomorrow; ever-energetic Nancy eagerly joined.