Simon hadn't expected Nicole to say that so suddenly. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Really? You'll be obedient?"
Nicole Kidman caught something strange in the warmth of his smile. But since the words were already out, she nodded. "Really."
"Then..." Simon's gaze flicked to the bottle of mineral water she'd just set on the little round table. He pointed at it casually. "Drink that."
Nicole blinked, confused. "Huh?"
"I said," Simon repeated, gesturing again, "drink that bottle of water."
Nicole understood.
This was a test, right?
It was just water. Easy.
She didn't think much of it. She picked it up, brought it to her lips, and drank, all the while angling her eyes sideways at him in that quick, clever way that could hook a man without even trying.
Simon watched with interest as she finished the bottle. Then he handed her the one in front of him. "And this one."
Nicole stared at the bottle that had already been in his mouth a few times. She didn't feel disgust, exactly, but she still hesitated. "Why do I have to drink so much water?"
"Nothing special," Simon said, shaking his head. "You said you'd be obedient. I'm just trying it out."
Nicole rolled her eyes at him, her gaze shimmering. "I mean... if there are so many things you could make me do... why water?"
Simon nodded. But his expression turned cool. He leaned back against the sofa. "Go back to the hall. I want to be alone for a bit."
Nicole pressed her lips together, looking wronged. When Simon didn't budge, she had no choice but to lift the bottle again.
It had been in his mouth. As she sipped, a strange feeling rose in her chest for no reason at all. Without thinking, she let the tip of her tongue brush the rim.
Of course, she felt nothing.
After finishing the second 500ml bottle, Nicole set the empty down, wiped the corner of her mouth, and looked at him, testing the waters in a small voice. "So... do I have the Wonder Woman role now?"
Simon shook his head. "No."
She really wanted to jump over and claw at that hateful, handsome face.
Obviously.
She could only want it.
Nicole forced herself to keep the wounded act going, eyes glossy as if she might cry any second.
Simon simply checked his watch. "There are about a hundred minutes left in the movie. Go back to your seat. Before the film ends, you are not allowed to leave."
Nicole blinked.
She'd just chugged a full liter of water in one go.
"Simon, you're awful."
Simon shrugged. "You said you'd be obedient."
"I meant if you were willing to give me Wonder Woman..."
"I said no. But if you can prove you really are obedient, then when a suitable role comes along, I'll definitely consider you first."
Nicole bit her lip, still glaring at him lightly. "You promise?"
"I don't promise." Simon sat up again. Ignoring the glances from nearby staff, he reached out and tipped her chin up with a single finger, then withdrew it just as quickly. "Honestly, that kind of promise doesn't interest me at all, Miss Kidman. In Hollywood right now, if I wanted, I could find a hundred girls more obedient than you. So you don't have the right to bargain with me."
His finger had barely touched her, but Nicole lifted her chin under that small tilt, like a swan trying to keep its pride.
She tried to hold his gaze in stubborn defiance, but he didn't respond at all. He simply picked up a copy of Variety from the table and started flipping through it as if she weren't there.
A moment later, Nicole finally gave in. She pointed toward the restroom, her voice small and aggrieved. "Can I go over there first?"
Simon smiled and nodded, suddenly agreeable. "Of course. You can go anytime. The thing I hate most is forcing people."
Like hell.
While she was still hesitating, Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Terry Semel appeared backstage. Spotting Simon, he walked over without pause.
Knowing Semel had business to discuss, Nicole stood, greeted him, and after a beat of indecision, obediently returned to the hall.
She'd already drunk both bottles. She couldn't exactly let that be for nothing.
If she did what he said, that bastard probably wouldn't refuse to give her any benefit at all.
A lot of people in the industry knew why Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas suddenly had a newcomer actress in it, and they also knew why an actress with little star power like Demi Moore could abruptly land the lead in Daenerys Entertainment's major project Ghost.
Compared to the kind of men who pulled their pants up and turned cold the next second, he at least had some credibility.
Simon watched Nicole head straight back into the hall, the smile at his mouth deepening.
She was only twenty-two, a sheltered young lady who hadn't seen enough of the world. Most girls that age had only just graduated college. Nicole had no chance of seeing through Simon's darker intentions.
In certain states, the mind was extremely fragile.
When someone endured all the way to their limit, they would leave a very, very deep impression of the one giving the orders.
Terry Semel had already watched this film, Batman, many times since the early cut. In the auditorium, he'd been paying more attention to the crowd's reactions than to the movie itself.
Film was the most uncertain business in the world.
Even movies praised by every professional during internal screenings could still flop in theaters. And films nobody noticed beforehand could turn into surprise hits.
This was the first large-scale premiere facing a full general audience, and in just over thirty minutes, Terry Semel was already sure from the feedback of more than 1,200 viewers that Simon Westeros's new film would win audiences over and earn the market's approval.
Warner Bros. had been blazing hot this year.
Summer's Lethal Weapon 2 and Thanksgiving's Look Who's Talking had both crossed the hundred-million mark, breaking Warner's embarrassing streak of several years without a domestic film topping a hundred million.
Now, Batman hitting a hundred million was basically guaranteed.
Even though Warner had to share profits on both year-end films with Daenerys Entertainment, Look Who's Talking alone, with a projected domestic box office over $170 million, would net Warner profits comparable to having its own hundred-million film. As the distributor, Warner earned a distribution fee. Even if they couldn't participate in producing the sequel, they really didn't have much reason to complain.
Of course, the priority right now was Batman, or rather, the DC cinematic universe plan.
If Simon's cinematic universe could truly be achieved the way he'd described, Terry Semel believed Warner's film business for the next ten years would be solid.
Daenerys Entertainment held the rights to DC's three pillars, but according to Simon, DC still had heroes like Green Lantern and The Flash, whose fame wasn't much lower. They could be developed independently and then folded into the shared universe Simon envisioned.
Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Green Lantern.
Multiple heroes teaming up to fight villains and save the world. Even without being a comic fan, Terry Semel could picture the blood-pumping scale of that kind of assembly.
So even though the film in the hall had only played for a bit over thirty minutes, the moment Semel noticed Simon was no longer in his seat, he came looking, eager to lock everything down in one decisive push.
Now that he had the rights to the DC big three, Simon no longer fantasized about getting more superhero rights out of Warner.
But he didn't mind Warner developing heroes like The Flash on their own and bringing them into a shared DC universe with him.
Ever since he'd become the richest man in the country in September, Simon's focus had gradually shifted from simply stacking more money to expanding his influence. Money still mattered, of course, but along the way he also wanted more power and reach in Hollywood and in every field Westeros Corporation touched.
If you only had piles of cash and no matching influence, then the more money you made, the more you looked like a fat lamb to certain people.
A partnership that looked like shared profits was, in truth, how Simon could gain more.
If the DC cinematic universe took off, and if Warner became deeply dependent on it, then Simon's influence over the media giant would be no less than Terry Semel's.
When the time came, slipping one or two people into Warner film projects would be the smallest thing in the world. Simon could draw on resources and channels from print, music, cable television, and more, all from the soon-to-be-merged Time Warner.
As Simon and Semel talked backstage about the future plans for the DC universe, applause suddenly rose from the hall.
It wasn't thunderous, but both men paused mid-conversation and listened.
When a film earned applause during playback, it was the strongest possible affirmation.
They'd both seen the finished cut many times. They didn't even need to hear the dialogue from the auditorium to know what scene this was.
Black Mask, Roman Sionis, had seized control of Sal Maroni's gang and begun plotting to kill Batman.
The last fifteen minutes had been Batman's first clash with Black Mask.
Maroni's corpse had been strung up in public with Batman's symbol, igniting heated debate in the media about whether Batman had the right to enact vigilante punishment. Commissioner Gordon was forced to make a public statement declaring Batman would be arrested.
At the same time, Black Mask set a trap and lured Batman in. They fought brutally, both sides taking damage. As Batman tried to withdraw, he ran into a massive police sweep.
At the critical moment, Batman used an ultrasonic device to summon a swarm of bats. Under their cover, he escaped.
The applause had likely been for Batman getting away.
After all, the audience wasn't fooled the way Gotham's citizens were. They knew what Batman had actually done, and they viewed him as a hero. Watching a hero escape, people couldn't help themselves.
Simon had no intention of returning to the hall before the movie ended. He continued discussing the DC universe plan with Terry Semel.
On the screen inside the hall.
Batman escaped, but he was badly injured and had to lie low for a short time.
The now fully unhinged Black Mask turned his attention to protecting his control over JANUS. He began targeting everyone who knew the truth about Angel's safety defect.
Two engineers responsible for product testing inside JANUS were eliminated first. Then the target shifted to the Gotham Times reporters. The reporter who had tipped Roman off was the first to die. Black Mask also conveniently planted Selina Kyle's fingerprints, collected from the room that had been robbed, at the murder scene, dragging Catwoman into the mess.
The police issued a warrant for Selina Kyle based on the fingerprints and other "evidence" Roman had left behind.
In the comics, Catwoman was a morally gray character without a rule against killing. But in the film, Simon shaped her more as a thief with a conscience. So after being framed, Catwoman began investigating to prove her innocence.
With multiple murders rocking the city, Batman abandoned his recovery and threw himself back into the hunt.
Following a trail of clues, Batman quickly found Vicki Vale. At the same time, she happened to be attacked by Killer Croc.
After several brutal exchanges, Batman subdued Killer Croc at an abandoned dock. The police arrived at the same time.
Despite the earlier conflict, Batman didn't hold a grudge against the police. He also knew Gordon was a genuinely upright man.
Before this, Gordon had already confirmed that Maroni's death had nothing to do with Batman. And though he believed in justice, he wasn't naïve. He understood that sometimes you had to fight violence with violence.
So the two partners from the comics began their first cautious cooperation on film.
From Killer Croc's testimony, Batman learned the mastermind behind it all was Black Mask, the new boss who had replaced Maroni.
But Croc didn't know Black Mask's real identity. The police had noticed the chaos inside Maroni's organization, but they had no way in. So Gordon entrusted Batman with uncovering the truth.
Batman went to investigate Black Mask's identity and unexpectedly crossed paths with Catwoman, who had just clashed with Black Mask and lost badly.
Before collapsing unconscious from her injuries, Catwoman revealed key information to Batman. After weighing it, Batman didn't hand her over to the police. Instead, he locked her inside the Batcave and began, no, began trying to guide a wayward girl back onto the right path.
At the same time, after learning the full truth, Batman relayed it to Gordon, hoping the police could end the case through legal channels.
But once his schemes were exposed, Black Mask went completely insane. He led Deadshot and his men into a massacre of the officers sent to arrest him, then prepared to flee Gotham.
Batman had no choice but to act again.
Inside the Batcave, Catwoman watched remotely as Batman was caught in a deadly pincer by Black Mask and Deadshot. Knowing how terrifying they were, she convinced Alfred to let her go help Batman. Alfred agreed and used the Batwing to send her to the battlefield.
And then came the final fifteen-minute climactic battle.