· · A swarm of ants pass in front of Red and Yellow. Individual ants carries various food on their heads. Red and Yellow start picking food off of their heads. Cast/credits plus other information about the film. Big is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Penny Marshall, and stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a young boy who makes a wish "to be big" and is then aged. Fraud, intimidation, threats, evictions, locked doors -- and supermodels. Inside the crazy, hairy fight for Aman Resorts, the ultra luxe hideaways favored by royalty.

Many years ago, my mother got a fortune cookie that said, "You got the wrong cookie!" That particular message has cropped a couple of times since then. Americans.

The nasty battle for the ultimate luxury hotel chain. The Sanctuary. Nestled away on Phuket’s west coast in Thailand sits the Amanpuri Resort. Ringed by a lush jungle on one side and magnificent views of the Andaman Sea on the other, its 4. Thai- style villas gently cascade down the hillside of a former coconut plantation, guaranteeing complete privacy for the royalty, celebrities, and tycoons who have been vacationing there for more than a quarter of a century. Amanpuri is the flagship of Aman Resorts, a glittering constellation of 2. Asia to Europe to North Africa and the U. S. Among its habitués is a group of passionate repeat customers who call themselves “Aman junkies.” The resorts beguile them with their discreet luxury, exquisite attention to detail, otherworldly service, and breathtaking locales.

One is perched on the edge of a national park in Rajasthan, India; another overlooks ninth- century Buddhist temples, surrounded by four volcanoes, in Java. An Aman cruise ship near Moyo Island in Indonesia. An Aman cruise ship near Moyo Island in Indonesia.

Photo: Frederic Lagrange—Trunk Archive. For aficionados, Aman is much more than a hotel. It’s an experience unrivaled anywhere else. At the Aman at Summer Palace in Beijing, guests have access to a secret door that opens onto the east gate of the palace gardens. At the Aman Grand Canal in Venice, they are allowed to visit the Doge’s Palace and clock tower in St.

Mark’s Square after hours. The company has long eschewed advertising, relying largely on its elite clientele to quietly spread the word. Bill Gates has been a guest. In March, Mark Zuckerberg holidayed at the Amanraya in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Just days after Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon win, the tennis champion was married at the Aman Sveti Stefan on the Adriatic Coast in Montenegro. Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, and Mark Zuckerberg have all stayed at Aman Resorts.

Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, and Mark Zuckerberg have all stayed at Aman Resorts. Photos, from left: Zacharias Abubeker—AFP/Getty Images; Scott Olson—Getty Images; Justin Sullivan—Getty Images. As a business, Aman is considered enticing, in part because it hasn’t fulfilled its potential—producing estimated annual revenues of just $2.

Having pursued a strategy of pricey rates (rooms start at $1,5. Aman has maintained its exclusivity. But occupancy runs at around 3. As a result, Aman has seemed like a sterling- but- untapped brand that, with the right investments and strategy, could bring its profits in line with the ardor of its fans. So last year, when DLF, India’s largest commercial real estate developer, signaled its desire to sell Aman, suitors came calling.

The luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy, the private equity titans Carlyle Group and Blackstone, and a Chinese state- owned enterprise had all made moves. In the end, however, an unlikely pair—Omar Amanat, a 4. American entrepreneur, and Vladislav Doronin, a Russian property mogul in his early fifties—prevailed with a bid of $3. The glow of their triumph wouldn’t last.

The partnership between Amanat and Doronin imploded with a velocity exceeded only by the speed at which it was put together. Conflict erupted, with allegations of fraud, conspiracy, extortion, intimidation, breach of contract, and an attempted coup. Relations between the two deteriorated so dramatically that at one point, Doronin told Amanat, according to a claim in the latter’s legal filings, “If I feel you tried to screw me, I will hunt you down and shoot you.” A Doronin spokesperson denies the allegation. Then came the lawsuits, massing some 3. New York and London and featuring an international cast of characters that includes Adrian Zecha, Aman’s 8. Watch Walking With Dinosaurs 3D Online Mic here.

Singapore- based founder, and Johan Eliasch, the 5. London- based CEO of sporting goods firm Head. A new hearing, following a series of temporary injunctions that were issued in July, was scheduled for Sept.

London High Court. With Amanat and Doronin locked in a nasty feud as each vies for control, Aman—the word means “peace” in Sanskrit—is anything but tranquil. At stake is the future of the company. Beyond that, mysteries abound, most particularly: Who, exactly, are the two men brawling for this prize? The Trader, The Supermodel, and The Poet. Omar Amanat believed he was perfectly positioned to make a deal when he heard Aman (the resemblance of the resort’s name to his surname is coincidental) was up for sale in May 2. A professed Aman junkie who says he has invested in hotels, he notes, “It was a trophy asset, and I was interested in buying it.”The son of Indian immigrants, Amanat grew up in Queens, N.

Y., and later New Jersey. His career originated in his father’s basement. As stock trading—including the rapid in- and- out version known as day trading—became a frenzied pastime for some middle- class types in the 1. At age 2. 3, Amanat joined Datek, a well- known day- trading outfit, and he says he later helped build a stock- trading platform that let regular investors track every buy and sell order for a specific stock in real time, just as the professionals at the big brokerage houses did. In 1. 99. 7 he founded Tradescape, a direct- access brokerage firm.

By 2. 00. 0 the company had acquired four subsidiaries, including Market. XT, and was generating estimated annual revenues of $1. Amanat says he fielded numerous acquisition offers. Tradescape was the biggest day- trading company,” he boasts. In 2. 00. 2, Amanat sold Tradescape to E*Trade for $1.

It seemed a moment of exultation and riches, but the bubble quickly burst, and Amanat became entangled in lengthy litigation (more on that later). Despite the turmoil of his court fight, Amanat presented a serene face to the world: a glamorous mix of wealth, elegance, and more than a dollop of substance. He was a man about town, charismatic and dashing—with a trademark scarf draped over his well- cut blazer—the sort who could seduce a supermodel (in fact, he married one: Helena Houdová, his second wife, from whom he is separated). Amanat was also fond of quoting the 1. Persian poet Rumi.

Left, Omar Amanat and his wife, Helena Houdová (the couple are now separated), arrive at a screening of Darfur Now, for which he was an executive producer, in 2. Right, Vladislav Doronin and his girlfriend, Luo Zilin, at a Giorgio Armani event last fall. Left, Omar Amanat and his wife, Helena Houdová (the couple are now separated), arrive at a screening of Darfur Now, for which he was an executive producer, in 2.

Right, Vladislav Doronin and his girlfriend, Luo Zilin, at a Giorgio Armani event last fall. Photo: Kevin Winter—Getty Images. It’s not clear what Rumi said about self- promotion, but Amanat has not been shy about touting his accomplishments. Among the accolades recorded on his personal website is being named one of Wall Street’s Top 1.

Most Influential Technologists and one of the Top 5. Most Influential Muslims in the World. He sat on the boards of Human Rights Watch and Malaria No More. And various Amanat- related websites credit him with co- founding the UN- affiliated Alliance of Civilizations Media Fund and Bridges TV, a television network aimed at countering negative stereotypes of Islam. Amanat, who has been occasionally spotted at Cannes, also has his Hollywood side: He shared executive- producer credits with former e. Bay president Jeff Skoll on two films.