The Suicide Squad premiere ended at 8:30 PM West Coast time. In the following hours, official materials, press releases, and fan discussions about the movie were released. With Egret Portal's active promotion, the film quickly became the hottest topic on online platforms. Early the next morning, the embargo on the anti-hero film's reviews was lifted.
Initial statistics showed that Suicide Squad received an overall media score of 8.3. The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, stating it "continues the DC cinematic universe's tradition of stunning visuals and explosive action, with the innovative anti-hero perspective and narrative structure elevating the film's quality even further."
After a full day of media blitz on Thursday, Suicide Squad reached peak audience anticipation.
On Friday, December 16th, Suicide Squad was officially released in North America, opening in 3,165 theaters.
Aside from Suicide Squad, other films opening the same weekend included Disney's holiday comedy The Santa Clause, Highgate Pictures' Little Women, and Warner Bros.' documentary Bauhaus, which expanded to a wider release after two weeks of limited screening.
Disney's The Santa Clause opened in 2,183 theaters, receiving a respectable media score of 7.4.
In the original timeline, Disney's The Santa Clause was released during Thanksgiving and, benefiting from positive word-of-mouth and a holiday-themed storyline, grossed over $140 million in North America, ranking fourth in the box office that year.
This time, to avoid competing with Toy Story 2 and other films during the Thanksgiving period, Disney decided to push The Santa Clause to the Christmas season, choosing the relatively less crowded December 16th slot in hopes of standing out. However, neither Simon nor the industry media were optimistic about its box office prospects.
In the original timeline, The Santa Clause achieved high box office results mainly because there were no other major films to compete with at the time.
With no tigers in the mountains, the monkey becomes king.
But now, not only is Toy Story 2 still going strong, but Suicide Squad is a major blockbuster that a mere holiday comedy like The Santa Clause can hardly compete with.
Little Women expanded to 1,503 screens in its first wide release.
Highgate Pictures positioned Little Women as a family drama, similar to the highly successful Steel Magnolias from a few years ago, targeting a female audience with precise marketing. As a result, they opted for a wide release instead of the usual gradual expansion typical of art films. Unlike The Santa Clause, which directly competes with Suicide Squad and Toy Story 2 for audiences, Little Women faces much less pressure due to its different target audience.
Warner Bros.' documentary Bauhaus didn't receive the same treatment as Little Women and expanded to only 379 screens after its limited release.
Additionally, Orion Pictures' biographical film The Poet and His Lover, which also began limited screenings on December 2nd alongside Little Women and Bauhaus, has decided to forgo a wide release due to poor market response.
With the Christmas season approaching, many films from the Halloween and Thanksgiving periods were wrapping up their theatrical runs.
In the week of December 9th to December 15th, only Toy Story 2 remained strong, earning another $28.86 million at the box office. The film, which had a total investment of $130 million, brought its North American gross to $215.17 million.
The second and third spots on the weekly box office chart were closely contested by The Mask and Interview with the Vampire, grossing $8.28 million and $8.26 million, respectively. After two weeks of a slow release schedule, The Mask accumulated $97.29 million, while Interview with the Vampire reached $86.90 million.
It's clear that The Mask will soon cross the $100 million mark.
Meanwhile, Interview with the Vampire, which initially wasn't expected to join the $100 million club, has quietly accumulated nearly $90 million and is expected to cross the $100 million threshold in the coming weeks.
Other films, such as The Haunting in Connecticut, The Danger Zone, and Trouble in Paradise, have seen their weekly box office drop below $5 million, leading to a significant reduction in their screenings.
Notably, The Haunting in Connecticut crossed the $100 million mark domestically after the box office week of December 2nd to December 8th, becoming another member of the 1994 $100 million club. The film continued to perform well, earning $3.24 million during the week of December 9th to December 15th, bringing its total to $106.96 million.
After handling the settlement of the antitrust investigation between Cisco, America Online, and Egret with the Department of Justice, Simon flew to New York to discuss the next phase of the Westeros system's strategy in the media and technology sectors with James Reibold, Joseph Schroep, and others.
With the midterm elections settled, a series of bills that had been shelved were expected to pass next year.
Among them, the lifting of the media consolidation ban is particularly important. Daenerys Entertainment Group plans to embark on another round of large-scale expansion next year, a plan that has long been in the works.
Additionally, there's the Capital Gains Tax Reform Bill.
Reagan's tax reform had unified the capital gains tax at a steep 28%, significantly hindering capital flow in the stock and bond markets.
After Reagan left office, George H.W. Bush, who inherited Reagan's political legacy, attempted to reintroduce a tiered capital gains tax, but left the White House before succeeding.
Although Bill Clinton, a moderate Democrat, leaned towards reforming the capital gains tax, he couldn't overcome the Democratic Party's general inclination to increase taxes. Now, with the Republican Party controlling both houses of Congress after their midterm election victory, the biggest obstacle to capital gains tax reform has been removed.
It's only a matter of time.
Over the past two years, it's not just Simon who has been spending money lavishly; the entire Westeros system has been doing so, resulting in significant borrowing. Although Simon inherently dislikes debt—despite the Westeros family's debt ratio being only around 10%, exceptionally low for someone of his wealth—he still prefers to avoid it.
Once the capital gains tax is reformed, Simon can sell some stock to raise funds and pay off debts. The anticipated 15% lowest-tier capital gains tax rate will be much more palatable than the current 28% high rate.
Finally, the most critical issue is the Telecommunications Act, which the Clinton administration has been drafting.
Unlike the more targeted media consolidation ban, the Telecommunications Act, expected to be enacted in 1996, will provide comprehensive deregulation for the U.S. media and technology industries.
At that time, the Westeros system can advance its plan for the integration of three networks, merging America Online, which is currently focused on broadband services, with Verizon, which primarily operates local landline and mobile communications, and also venture into cable television, addressing Daenerys Entertainment's lack of a cable TV platform.
Since this bill is so advantageous to the Westeros system, it's in their best interest to see it passed as soon as possible, and the system will certainly provide a nudge in that direction.
Because of the matters in New York, Simon didn't attend the Suicide Squad premiere.
It was intentional.
Simon plans to gradually become an "invisible hand" behind the scenes, with the ultimate goal of being forgotten by the public as Simon Westeros.
Thus, the The Man from Earth project is somewhat untimely.
However, since it has already started, Simon has no intention of canceling it. Besides, using this film to give the public some extra, almost mythic, perceptions of Simon's extraordinary identity might not be a bad thing. After finalizing the New York matters, Simon scheduled a visit to the set in Toronto on December 16th, planning to spend the weekend there.
Toronto in December is even colder than New York, with snow still on the ground in many areas.
In Toronto's eastern suburb of Scarborough, in the Crestwood neighborhood near Lake Ontario.
It was around 4 PM.
Two young girls, clearly of Slavic descent, walked out of a luxury community cinema hand in hand. Although their faces still had a hint of youthfulness, their tall figures, both over 170 cm, and their delicate, snow-elf-like features, even partially concealed by their coats and knit hats, still drew admiring glances from passersby.
Because they were so eye-catching, as soon as they reached the parking lot, two local youths who had just stepped out of their Ferrari approached them, blocking their path. One of the youths struck a pose he thought was suave, subtly displaying his Ferrari keys. "Hey, girls, I'm Peter. How about we get to know each other?"
The two girls stopped their conversation, sizing up the youths. Then, one of them blinked her beautiful light-colored eyes innocently and awkwardly said, "We… no… English."
The two youths were momentarily stunned.
But then they thought, not speaking English is even better—we can teach you.
Before they could say more, a black Mercedes that had just pulled out of a nearby parking spot drove up and stopped beside them. A tall woman, dressed in a black suit and boots with sunglasses on, stepped out. She was also clearly of Slavic descent, with fair skin and neatly tied blonde hair in a ponytail.
What made the youths instinctively wary was her imposing presence—
she was over 185 cm tall, possibly because of her high-heeled boots, but it was her cold, sharp aura that made them feel that even together, they probably couldn't handle her.
The other girl, who hadn't spoken earlier, now smiled mischievously and, in fluent English, pointed at the woman in black. "This is Eve. Would you like to get to know her too?"
Hearing the girl's teasing tone, the youths quickly realized what was happening.
The Crestwood neighborhood by the lake is a typical affluent area. The youths, who came from well-off families themselves, knew better than to mess with girls who had personal bodyguards as drivers.
The bodyguard, as cold as the Toronto winter, ignored the two youths and walked over to open the car door for the girls, waiting respectfully.
The two girls paid no more attention to the boys, bypassed them, and got into the Mercedes.
As the car started, one of the girls glanced back at the two dumbfounded youths and immediately burst into laughter, hugging her companion in delight.
Eve, who was driving, waited for them to calm down before saying, "Miss Joplin just called. Mr. Westeros has arrived in Toronto and will be coming over tonight."
The girls immediately quieted down.
They exchanged glances, and one of them removed her knit hat, shaking out her beautiful blonde hair. "Nana, how do I look?"
These two girls were Yekaterina Noskova and Natalia Lyudayeva, whom Simon had arranged to go on a tour.
Since becoming Simon's women, the six girls had lived like little princesses in Rivni City over the past six months, enjoying the best life and education, with everyone treating them with utmost respect. Gradually, this treatment had instilled a sense of pride in them.
However, despite their youth, they never forgot who gave them all of this.
As they learned more privately and absorbed the teachings of those around them, the man in their hearts rose higher, almost to the level of a deity. Such a powerful, wealthy, and talented man claiming them as his own seemed only natural. Being his women was considered an honor.
Even though they hadn't seen him in six months, their respect and reverence for him had only grown stronger.
When Natalia asked, Yekaterina carefully looked her over and said, "You seem to have gained a lot of weight."
"Ah?!" Natalia exclaimed in real panic, touching her face and looking at Yekaterina. Noticing the sly look in Yekaterina's eyes, she realized what was going on and immediately started tickling her. "How dare you trick me! I'll teach you a lesson!"
"Haha, stop, you really have gained weight!"
"No, you're the one who's fat, fatty!"
After a bit more playful banter, the two girls quickly settled down, pulling out makeup mirrors from their bags to check their appearance. Simon said he would come over tonight, and it was almost evening now. If he arrived early and they ran into him, they wanted to make sure they looked their best.
The black Mercedes returned to the mansion in Crestwood within ten minutes.
The mansion, located at the end of a street, backed onto a cliff and was surrounded by dense maple trees. Neatly trimmed 2-meter-high junipers enclosed the mansion, with only one gated entrance equipped with surveillance cameras and a guard post. Although it was winter and lacked the lushness of summer, the mansion, situated on over six acres of land, still exuded an imposing presence.
The black Mercedes drove up to the cliffside villa. As they were about to get out, the two girls noticed several unfamiliar cars parked in the courtyard.
They thought Simon had already arrived and felt a mix of anticipation and nervousness. However, upon entering the house, they found that Simon wasn't there yet. Instead, another woman, who was as striking as Emily Joplin, who had been their guide and translator, had taken charge of everything in the villa. Meanwhile, several men and women who looked like bodyguards, similar to Eve, were inspecting the house.
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