Chasing Stars in Hollywood

After some brief negotiation, Simon and Leslie Wexner agreed that the rights to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show would be jointly owned by Danelys Entertainment and LTD, with both parties sharing the production budget investment. Additionally, Danelys Entertainment would receive standard distribution fees for the future media promotion of the show.

Moreover, Simon agreed to personally serve as the producer of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The riots in Los Angeles lasted for four days until thousands of National Guard and Marine troops entered the City of Angels to quell the unrest.

After spending the first weekend of May in Columbus, Simon returned to Los Angeles on May 4th.

Unlike the chaos in the southern part of the city, the Santa Monica Mountains area remained largely unaffected.

With the situation calming down, Hollywood quickly regained its former bustle.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II," which premiered on April 17th for the Easter season, had been in theaters for two and a half weeks.

In its second week, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II" experienced a 41% drop in box office revenue, grossing another $22.31 million.

From May 1st to May 3rd, the third weekend saw a 27% decline, earning an additional $11.39 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $71.08 million.

With a cumulative total of $71.08 million over two and a half weeks and maintaining a weekly box office above $10 million, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II" was projected to reach a North American total box office between $110 million and $120 million.

Though still slightly lower than the first film, it exceeded Simon's initial expectations.

Thus, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" was promptly put on the production schedule.

To avoid a rushed pace, the third film was also slated for a release two years later, in 1994.

However, during this period, Simon's primary focus shifted from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II" to Marvel's 2D animated film "Spider-Man," which was also released during the Easter season directly through VHS.

"Spider-Man" hit the shelves on April 10th, the week before Easter.

With a combined production and distribution budget of $15 million, the 2D animated film needed to sell 1 million copies to break even.

Danelys Entertainment's distribution department had projected VHS sales between 2 million and 3 million copies.

Meeting this target range would allow Marvel's animation department to continue producing other superhero 2D animated films. If sales fell short of 2 million, even if still profitable, Simon would not permit 2D animated films to deplete the popularity of Marvel superheroes.

However, within the first three days of release, the initial batch of 300,000 "Spider-Man" VHS tapes quickly sold out.

Danelys Home Entertainment, responsible for VHS and television distribution, swiftly restocked while investigating the cause of the surge. They soon discovered that a group of Marvel fans had initiated a campaign on nascent internet forums to support the "Spider-Man" animation and push Danelys Entertainment to produce a live-action film.

Spider-Man, created thirty years ago, enjoyed popularity rivaling DC's Batman and Superman, boasting a vast fan base.

The forum activity was just a beginning, initially unremarkable.

However, the campaign spread offline through word-of-mouth among comic fans, leading to the rapid sell-out of the first batch of 300,000 VHS tapes before the film's release.

Danelys Home Entertainment hadn't anticipated the campaign's impact.

Nevertheless, the distribution team effectively capitalized on this opportunity, utilizing media platforms to create buzz. They spun stories about how Marvel's team struggled under the shadow of the DC movie universe, how Danelys Entertainment's executives deliberately suppressed Marvel to protect DC's interests, restricted budgets, and even prevented a 3D version of "Spider-Man"—a mix of half-truths and rumors, generating significant interest.

Despite the modest $12 million budget, the well-crafted "Spider-Man" 2D animated film received widespread acclaim from the media, achieving a composite score of 8.3, laying a solid foundation for its success.

With these factors combined, the "Spider-Man" 2D animated film achieved first-week sales of 1.09 million copies. During the Easter week, VHS sales further increased to 1.23 million copies.

In just two weeks, the total sales reached 2.32 million copies, meeting Danelys Entertainment's initial sales expectations for the 2D animated film.

Moreover, with 2.32 million copies sold in just two weeks, the final total sales for "Spider-Man" were expected to surpass 10 million copies.

At an average retail price of $30 per VHS, 10 million copies would translate to $300 million in sales.

And this was just within North America.

While the DC movie universe had successfully expanded overseas, Spider-Man's 2D animated film, without a theatrical release plan, wasn't expected to perform as well internationally.

However, even so, the expected return from the 2D animated "Spider-Man" far exceeded initial projections.

At a $30 retail price per VHS, the wholesale price from the studio was typically around $15. After accounting for material and transportation costs, the gross profit margin was over 40%.

Thus, just considering the 10 million total VHS sales in North America, this 2D animated film would bring Danelys Entertainment at least $100 million in net profit. The subsequent overseas distribution and television platform revenue, though minor, would also be substantial given the popularity driven by the hot-selling VHS.

The estimated net profit would be at least ten times the initial $15 million budget investment.

In Hollywood, films generating a net profit of $150 million for studios across all channels each year could be counted on one hand, making "Spider-Man" 2D animated film an enviable super hit.

Despite the success involving some luck, the profit was undeniable, compelling Simon to take it more seriously.

The first step was media damage control.

To drive "Spider-Man" sales, the distribution team had spread a lot of unfavorable rumors about Danelys Entertainment executives.

Using every favorable factor for film distribution was a principle Simon had adhered to since founding Danelys. Given the film's success, the distribution team's previous maneuvers were positively recognized.

However, the narrative of Danelys Entertainment suppressing Marvel for DC couldn't be allowed to spread unchecked.

Anyone with a bit of rationality would realize that even if Danelys Entertainment owned the DC Trinity copyrights, DC superheroes could never be its "own children." Marvel, fully owned by Danelys Entertainment, truly was.

Purely from a profit perspective, Danelys Entertainment co-developing the DC movie universe with Time Warner meant Warner could share the Trinity's profits and exclusively own rights to heroes like Flash and Cyborg, making Warner's overall gains more substantial.

In contrast, Danelys Entertainment fully owned the profits from developing the Marvel movie universe.

Therefore, if feasible, Danelys Entertainment had no reason to intentionally neglect Marvel.

If Marvel superheroes hadn't been developed into live-action films, Danelys Entertainment's executives must have their reasons.

Following this, Danelys Entertainment's CEO Amy Pascal personally explained to The Hollywood Reporter why they were temporarily not developing Marvel superhero live-action films.

Compared to DC, Marvel superhero films often required more complex special effects, which current technology couldn't adequately deliver. For instance, depicting Spider-Man swinging through New York's urban jungle was highly challenging.

Thus, Danelys Entertainment had delayed Marvel superhero development.

Partnering with Time Warner on DC Comics adaptations was to lay the groundwork for future Marvel superhero films.

Amy Pascal's explanation was widely accepted by fans. Coupled with Danelys' PR department's other operations, the previous rumors stirred up by the distribution team quickly dissipated.

However, there were some unfavorable outcomes.

Due to Amy Pascal's "revelation," the current DC movie universe project seemed to be preparation for Danelys Entertainment's future Marvel development, casting a shadow over the DC movie universe's prospects.

In the future, if Danelys Entertainment, holding DC Trinity rights, launched its "own" Marvel movie universe, would it deliberately suppress this direct competitor?

Such concerns in the media led to a temporary dip in Time Warner's stock price for several days.

This, of course, resulted in another round of turmoil.

After extinguishing the media firestorm, the next step was planning future animated film development.

Although the Marvel movie universe was still years away, Simon already had a rough plan due to his past life's memories.

Given "Spider-Man" VHS sales success, animated films would continue, forming a long-running interconnected series. However, Simon would ensure the animated film universe didn't affect the live-action film universe. Essentially, the storylines of the animated and planned live-action universes couldn't overlap too much.

Otherwise, if audiences experienced the Marvel universe in animated films first, they might be less enthusiastic about a live-action universe with similar storylines, even if still eagerly anticipated.

Fortunately, as a comic company with over half a century of history, Marvel had amassed plenty of material to draw from over the years.

In the roughly decided plan, the animated film universe would draw primarily from Marvel's pre-1990 comic stories.

Simultaneously, to pave the way for the future live-action Marvel movie universe, Marvel would relaunch a series of major events this year. These events would revolve around key storylines in Simon's memory, such as the Superhero Civil War and the Kree-Skrull War. Some superheroes would also be rebooted.

In recent years, the North American comic industry had been in decline. As entertainment options diversified, comic sales continued to fall.

The downturn seemed irreversible. Both Marvel and DC had been relying on nostalgia, reissuing classic collections to boost revenue.

Simon hoped Marvel's extensive

 superhero reboot would also slightly boost declining comic sales.

As May began, the 1992 summer movie season in North America drew near.

The biggest film project this summer was undoubtedly "Wonder Woman," slated for release on June 5th.

In recent months, with relentless promotion from Danelys Entertainment, "Wonder Woman" had become the most anticipated film of the summer.

With only a month left before release, the main cast of "Wonder Woman" began a hectic promotional schedule, and Danelys Entertainment intensified its media advertising.

To avoid clashing with "Wonder Woman," many studios moved their major summer projects to May.

Mel Gibson's new film "Lethal Weapon 3" was set for a May 15th release.

Columbia Pictures' "Far and Away," starring Tom Cruise, was scheduled for May 29th, the week before "Wonder Woman."

Disney's "Sister Act," starring Whoopi Goldberg, was set for May 22nd.

As an African-American comedy, "Sister Act" cost $31 million to produce, far exceeding Disney's initial $20 million budget.

Disney's executives lacked Simon's foresight and couldn't predict "Sister Act" becoming a box office hit, leading to concerns about its box office prospects. Reportedly, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg had a heated argument over it, trying to shirk responsibility.

As Disney continued its resurgence, the rift between the once-cooperative executives deepened.

Of course, such internal drama remained hidden from outsiders.

With three films lined up before it, "Wonder Woman" had the entire week starting June 5th to itself, with no major releases even in the following week of June 12th.

Amidst the bustling summer movie promotions, a significant piece of news emerged after Cersei Capital finalized the LTD acquisition.

Danelys Entertainment was collaborating with LTD to create a large-scale lingerie fashion show.

Reportedly, Simon Westeros would personally produce the show, which would be broadcast on television.

These reports were soon confirmed.

It was true.

Evidently, to promote LTD's Victoria's Secret lingerie brand, Simon Westeros was personally taking charge.

People of this era couldn't imagine what the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show from Simon's memory would look like.

In the public's mind, watching models walk the runway didn't seem very entertaining.

However, with the confirmation of the news, more media began to focus on the recent LTD acquisition by Cersei Capital, and the Victoria's Secret brand gained significant attention.

Leslie Wexner, always a savvy marketer, seized this opportunity to launch a new round of brand promotion.

Despite skepticism in Hollywood and the fashion world about what a fashion show could offer, numerous model agencies began contacting Danelys Entertainment, hoping to have their models join Simon Westeros's ambitious project.

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