Simon can roughly understand the feelings of the people around him when they talk about Home Alone.

Daenerys Entertainment has released several blockbuster films this year, "Pretty Woman" grossed $178 million in North America and "Ghost Love" grossed $217 million, both of which are basically close to the $200 million level.

Now, Home Alone is the same again.

On the other hand, among the 10 film projects that Daenerys Entertainment has cooperated with abroad, only "Sleeping with the Enemy" and "Pink Alliance" have been released, which can reach the domestic box office level of 100 million US dollars, and the other two "Shaking the Hand of the Rocking Basket" and "Ten Days of Danger" have only about $80 million in box office potential.

It's clear that Simon has clearly left his best project to Daenerys Entertainment.

Moreover, Columbia's Peter Cooper, Fox president Joe Ross and others may be even more puzzled as to why Simon was able to accurately pick out these blockbuster films.

Take Home Alone, for example, John Hughes is indeed one of the blockbuster filmmakers who rose to prominence in the 80s, but he has never had a work that has grossed more than 100 million dollars in North America before, and his best domestic box office results are only about $70 million.

However, suddenly, "Home Alone" not only broke the embarrassing situation that John Hughes's film works could not break 100 million, but the total box office in North America seemed to be going straight to 200 million US dollars.

For traditional Hollywood filmmakers, film investment is like gambling, and no one can accurately predict whether a film will be a blockbuster, which is why Hollywood filmmakers insist on not personally participating in film investment as much as possible and only receiving labor fees.

Simon Westeros, however, has been breaking the perception of traditional Hollywood filmmakers in recent years.

Simon, of course, doesn't answer these people's questions, just casually chats about all kinds of trivial things that have happened in Hollywood recently. Now in this circle, if he doesn't want to, no one can make him take the initiative to confide in some information.

After chatting and socializing, he noticed that his personal lawyer, George Norman, was walking towards him with a few people, Simon nodded to everyone, smiled and greeted Janet together.

Janet had just whispered in her ear that George wanted to introduce him to some people tonight, mostly friends from his circle.

Simon and Norman greeted each other, looked casually, and were unexpectedly caught by another couple.

The man in the couple was in his forties and fifties, with a darker complexion and obvious Latino ancestry. The woman looked much younger, in her thirties, with short black hair and fair skin, with the delicate charm of the ladies of the wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Most critically, Simon recognized the identity of the couple at a glance, especially the identity of the woman, Robert Kardashian and Chrissy Kardashian. If history hadn't changed, the latter would have changed her name to Chrissy Jenner, a powerful woman who later single-handedly created the 'Kennedy family of entertainment'.

Simon has seen too many characters in his previous life who could only appear in the news in the past few years, and although he once again lamented that the world was too small, he did not show any special expression on his face.

However, at Simon's casual glance, it was probably a keen sixth sense unique to women, and Chrissy Kardashian, who was holding her husband, obviously felt that the young man who was prominent in the city and even the whole country at this time seemed to look at him with something special.

It must be a delusion, right?

It's just that the couple recently introduced their godfather, O.J. Simpson, to George Norman's law firm as a client, and they broke into the private circle of the barrister who is becoming more and more popular in Los Angeles. However, in doing so, I actually hoped to reach the next level of the Los Angeles pyramid through George Norman.

At the top of the city's pyramid are undoubtedly the big names in Hollywood, especially the young man in front of him.

If they can get in touch with Simon Westeros, even if they don't get any substantial benefits, it is enough to make them famous in their social circles.

After introducing a few close friends, George Norman finally gestured to the Kardashians: "Simon, this is Bob Kardashian and his wife Chrissy, Bob used to be a lawyer, and we worked together, but he is now a very good businessman." ”

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kardashian. ”

Simon shook hands with Robert Kardashian, said hello, looked at Chrissy Kardashian, stretched out his hand and said, "Hello, Mrs. Kardashian." ”

Chrissy Kardashian had been brewing compliments to greet Simon in her heart, but she couldn't find the right words until she shook his hand. The young man in front of him had too many dazzling spots on his body, so he could only smile and say, "Hello, Simon." ”

Feeling the slightly rough hand in his hand, and remembering the young man's eyes before, Chrissy Kardashian's heart couldn't help but sway.

Simon noticed the woman's wandering gaze, and suddenly rose, and gently stroked his fingers on the other's palm twice before letting go of the other. Chrissy Kardashian felt Simon's small movements, and the surprise in her expression flashed, and she quickly retracted her expression, but it was difficult to calm down.

What does this mean in Westeros?

Don't......

Chrissy Kardashian couldn't help but think of Simon Westeros' rumored liking for women.

Simon didn't care about Chrissy Kardashian's mood, and after teasing him, he left it alone and quickly turned to other entertainment.

In the whole party that followed, the beautiful woman holding her husband's eyes waited at the party for more than an hour, sometimes expectantly, sometimes distracted, and sometimes resentful, and she was a little hopeful, but she didn't get any further hints from a young man, and even found that the other party simply left early.

The next day was Friday.

Early in the morning, two pieces of news appeared in the media that were very appealing to the public.

Simon Westeros finally responded to the whereabouts of the $500,000 he received from Matthew Broderick, and many people were in disbelief at first when they saw the Los Angeles Times article.

Four years ago, that young man had just come to Los Angeles, lived in a motel, worked a barely subsistence odd job, and was completely poor, how could he donate a huge sum of $500,000?

However, the facts are beyond doubt.

On the same day that the Los Angeles Times broke the news, a senior UNICEF executive personally confirmed the news in an interview with CNN.

The accuracy of this information was further confirmed by a series of information that was subsequently exposed by other media outlets.

Simon Westeros did donate the $500,000.

It's unbelievable.

Although Simon did not publicly respond to the winter of donating $500,000, the facts are there, and Simon, who had already dominated public opinion in the turmoil caused by Matthew Broderick, unknowingly began to gain more favor.

Another piece of news that is also eye-catching is the first-week box office of "Home Alone".

From December 21 to December 27, "Home Alone" was unbeatable among other films in the same schedule, and in the first seven days of the week, the box office collected $41.93 million.

Hit by the strong box office data of "Home Alone", the other eight new films in the same period, only Universal's "Kindergarten SWAT" barely broke the $10 million mark in the first week, and the other two large-scale new films such as Blair de Palma's "Bonfire of the Vanities" and Sean Connery's "Russian House" both grossed only $5 or 6 million in the first week.

However, this is just the beginning.

On December 28, a new week, North American theaters once again logged in a series of new films.

However, this week's large-scale openings are only Sidney Pollack and Robert Redford's feature film "Havana" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather 3".

"The Godfather 3" can be said to be a long-awaited movie fan.

However, the film's pre-screening reputation was not satisfactory, and Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola's performance in the film attracted one-sided bad reviews.

Robert Redford's "Havana," which tells the story of a gambler's life in the tumultuous environment of Cuba in the late fifties, didn't make much of a splash.

"Havana" cost a whopping $40 million to make, and Universal clearly had no faith in the film, and although it was given a New Year's schedule, only 813 screens were scheduled in the first week. Facts have also proved that this film is a complete failure.

Just on Friday, December 28, the box office trend of the new week is basically determined.

On Friday, "Home Alone" earned $9.91 million in just one day, a 15% decline compared to the same period last week.

Many people had expected "Home Alone" to be a box office hit, but it was able to reverse the decline on the basis of the box office of $41.93 million in the first week, which was beyond most people's expectations.

Then, on the weekend of December 28 to December 30, the next weekend box office of "Home Alone" ended up at $30.16 million, and although the reverse decline was not as good as on Friday, it also reached 13%.

Compared to last week's Christmas, this week, the New Year's Day holiday on January 1 happens to be Tuesday, which means that not only three days on the weekend, but even Monday and Tuesday can be counted as a generous holiday at the box office.

The last weekend of 1990 passed quietly, and 1991 was just around the corner.

In the end, from December 28th to January 3rd, because of the continuous New Year's Day holiday, in the seven days of the next week, "Home Alone" finally fell by 15% compared with the box office last week, and once again earned $47.99 million. In just two weeks after the opening of the film, the cumulative box office of this surprisingly phenomenal children's comedy has soared to $89.92 million, directly breaking all the box office records of John Hughes's previous films.

After the box office was released the following week, Daenerys Entertainment officially announced the launch plan for the sequel to "Home Alone".

Because he signed a three-part contract with young actor Macaulay Culkin in advance, and supporting roles such as Joe Pesci are not box office bigwigs who can sit on the ground, the main creators of the film will basically return in the sequel. John Hughes will continue to lead the project, with the compensation package consistent with Part 1.

In addition to "Home Alone", "The Godfather 3", which was released this week, although it earned $22.43 million in the first seven days of the week, surpassing the box office results of all other new films except "Home Alone" last week, but it could not hide the edge of "Home Alone" at all.

Sidney Pollack and Robert Redford's "Havana" can only be described as a fiasco at the box office.

Seven days after the opening of the film, it is still a popular schedule across the New Year's Day holiday, but the box office of "Havana" in the first week is only a pitiful $3.12 million, which is not even a fraction of "Home Alone".

Universal Pictures has invested a $40 million production budget for "Havana," and with the film's first-week box office, the project is almost certain to be lost.

Counting last week's Brian De Palma's also unsuccessful "Bonfire of the Vanities", some media couldn't help but ridicule that Daenerys Entertainment's "Home Alone" completely crushed Brian De Palma and Robert Redford, two big names who helped Simon a lot.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Brian de Palma was reminded by Simon not to use Tom Hanks as the lead actor in "Bonfire of the Vanities", and the production budget of more than $40 million in the original time and space of the film was reduced to $20 million.

Therefore, compared to the loss of "Havana", "Bonfire of the Vanities", which grossed $5.69 million in the first week, is expected to get about $15 million at the North American box office.

Affected by the box office failure of "Havana" and the continued delay in the acquisition of MCA, the stock market opened after the holiday, and the MCA stock price once again experienced a wave of volatility, with a tendency to fall below the $60 mark.

As hundreds of thousands of heavy troops in the Gulf begin to assemble and MCA shareholders become more and more eager, Lou Vasalman's management is under increasing pressure.

In order to give MCA a feeling that Daenerys Entertainment is very much looking forward to the acquisition of this acquisition, Simon has not attended the negotiation of this acquisition once in the days before and after the New Year.

Lou Vasalman and Sid Szyd Schinberg understood that the tide was turning, and on January 7, Daenerys Entertainment officially accepted Daenerys Entertainment's $7 billion offer for MCA after promising two lucrative advisory titles.

At this point, this acquisition case, which has been twisting and turning for several months, is finalized.

The day after the two sides reached the agreement, MCA shares were temporarily suspended from the New York Stock Exchange, and Daenerys Entertainment submitted a transaction review of the acquisition to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Compared with Bell Atlantic, this review of MCA will basically only go through a symbolic pass in the eyes of many people, and no one will think that after the U.S. Department of Justice approves Westeros' acquisition of Bell Atlantic, it will suddenly veto Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA.

Therefore, the deal is a foregone conclusion.

On the Hollywood side, the deal is still under review, and Daenerys Entertainment management has begun to slowly take over the operation of MCA.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Daenerys Entertainment will acquire a 50% stake in Universal Pictures, MCA Records, Universal Studios Los Angeles, Universal Orlando, USA Television Network, Putman Publishing, a 40% stake in Cineplex Odeon Theaters, and a large library of Universal Pictures.

Although MCA's debt ratio is very low, it also has a debt account of about $500 million. As a result, the total value of the acquisition ended up at $7.5 billion.

Counting the total transaction value of Bell Atlantic's total of $8.7 billion, in just a few months, two consecutive large-scale acquisitions, Westeros Systems paid a total of $16.2 billion for acquisitions, of which cash accounted for $14 billion.

Simon's money transferred back from overseas at the end of last year, excluding the huge capital gains tax that needs to be paid, and counting a part of the principal that can be tax-free, exactly gets back $6 billion.

Once completed, the two acquisitions will bring the total debt size of the entire Westeros system to $12 billion.

Simon is not only the richest man in the world, but also the one with the highest amount of personal debt.

Many experts and media outlets have predicted that if Simon fails to deal with the huge debt problems facing the Westeros system in the coming years, or if the US economic environment continues to deteriorate after the outbreak of war in the Gulf region, his personal net worth is likely to shrink as quickly as the two richest people in the media industry on the Forbes list last year.