In the early morning of December 26th, the CDs and vinyl records of Shallow hit major record stores across the United States.
Promotional posters for the record could be seen everywhere at New York subway entrances, and the music video began playing on electronic screens in prominent locations in major cities one after another.
In the MV, the famous scene of Taylor singing the chorus while covering her eyes with her hands fit the scene of New York covered in heavy snow perfectly.
Heavy snow, protests, the marriage crisis of the music industry's number one couple...
The atmosphere of this year's Christmas seemed to be covered with an unsettling gray fog from the very beginning.
"Tell the pressing plant to arrange for more Mexicans to work overtime. I hope to have at least 700,000 CDs shipped and on shelves before New Year's Eve!" Leon ordered Bonnie over the phone.
"Understood... understood..." Bonnie responded perfunctorily, her tone rather helpless.
Even while vacationing in Florida, she couldn't escape the boss arranging work over the phone.
Shallow was originally scheduled to be released before the Christmas holiday, with a first printing of 1 million copies in total, including CDs and vinyl.
But because the singles produced by Leon were released intensively in December, and most achieved good results on the singles chart, a large amount of promotional resources were used on 7 Rings and Not Like Us, jointly released with Aftermath Entertainment.
After a brief meeting discussion, Apocalypse Music and Columbia Records agreed that postponing the release of Shallow until after Christmas was also a good choice.
For young men and women in love, the theme of Christmas is not only confession; this day is also a high incidence period for couples breaking up.
Therefore, Christmas love songs are also divided into two types: one is sweet Christmas love songs like Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The other is sad songs that make you cry while listening.
Shallow should undoubtedly be classified as the latter.
Leon decided to release the record on the day after Christmas, not only harvesting the wallets of heartbroken couples but also their tears.
Most music TV stations during the Christmas holiday were looping Christmas love songs. At 7 PM prime time, MTV played the MV for Shallow.
The MV was not specially filmed; it was entirely stitched together from the duet of Leon and Taylor at the AMA awards ceremony and recording footage.
Adhering to the principle that unperformed scenes are the most touching, scenes of Taylor covering her eyes looking lost, lyrics interwoven with sadness and redemption, paired with the post-Christmas breakup frenzy...
A series of elements fused together to produce a wonderful chemical reaction.
Song request hotlines at radio stations in multiple cities across the US were overwhelmed. The heat of Shallow started from the two major cities of New York and Los Angeles and spread to the Midwest.
Even black radio DJs focusing on rap music began to push this work strongly, praising it as having the shadow of Whitney Houston from the "Golden Age of Love Songs."
"Street Jesus showed us what Cyberpunk music style is through Blinding Lights, and now he uses Shallow to harvest the tears of heartbroken young people. This song matches this year's White Christmas in New York perfectly."
"A few days ago, we experienced the collapse of the marriage of the perfect couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé, but at least we still have Taylor and Leon, right? This monster of a steel jungle, New York, still believes in love... Hope the guy spending Christmas with you next year is still the same one, dear listeners..."
Taylor just called. She will land at JFK International Airport in New York before noon tomorrow.
To conduct the first rehearsal for performing on the same stage with Leon on New Year's Eve, bidding farewell to 2011.
A week before Christmas, Billboard officially released the year-end singles chart. We Don't Talk Anymore, performed by Leon and Robbie, ranked fourth for the year with four weeks at number one.
Billboard year-end chart data is calculated from the end of October each year to the following October, so many works released after October lost the chance to compete for this year's chart.
Although the fourth place on the annual chart was inferior to LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem and Katy Perry's pop hit Firework, Leon was quite satisfied. Next year would be his real period of exerting force.
Lady Gaga, who had been popular worldwide for nearly two years, suffered a major upset. The performance of Born This Way was lower than all media expectations, ranking only eighteenth on the annual chart.
The champion's throne undoubtedly belonged to Adele. She achieved epic achievements in 2011.
According to authoritative statistics from the IFPI, the album 21 sold more than 18 million copies globally, becoming the best-selling album worldwide that year.
The strong performance directly helped her British distributor XL Recordings come back from the dead, with annual revenue surging from 3 million pounds the previous year to 32 million pounds.
Adele became another British singer to capture the hearts of fans worldwide after The Beatles.
The next morning, Leon got up, took a hot bath, put on a bathrobe, and poured a cup of hot coffee.
Sitting on the balcony, watching the scenery while scrolling through social media, waiting for Taylor's return at noon.
The "God of War in the Elevator" incident continued to ferment on social media. Netizens gave full play to their meme-making wisdom to create secondary works based on the material.
In any corner of the internet, you could see meme pictures of Jay-Z being violently KO'd by his sister-in-law, the God of War, with a "Shoryuken."
Creativity-bursting netizens even thoughtfully added cartoon avatars of Leon and Beyoncé kissing and watching the show on the side.
The caption read: "Don't blink, baby Jay-Z, because Street Jesus will steal everything from you!"
The last time Jay-Z occupied the headlines so comprehensively and thoroughly dates back to his wedding with Beyoncé in 2008.
Leon was enjoying the drama when he suddenly received a call from James Wan.
"Merry Christmas, James~"
"You too, Leon." James Wan said with a smile, "The music scene this Christmas is really lively, isn't it? Everyone around me is saying that compared to the scandal Jay-Z caused, the turkey can only be considered an appetizer on the Christmas table."
"That bastard exhausted all methods and finally turned himself into a clown." Leon shrugged and asked, "Do you have something to tell me?"
James Wan was introverted and rarely put energy into socializing on weekdays.
Unlike most directors from liberal arts backgrounds, he showed strong characteristics of a science and engineering man—interested in all topics related to technology and innovation.
He was a fanatical lover of the Star Wars movie series, Warcraft game series, and Japanese manga. The collected figures piled up in every corner of his apartment, maximizing the otaku elements.
Therefore, outside of work, he and Leon had almost no common topics. Occasionally calling over must be because of work matters.
"Nothing... I just simply wanted to send some blessings to friends." James Wan laughed awkwardly twice. "You know I don't have many friends..."
"Just say it straight, James. With our relationship, there's no need to beat around the bush. Are you in some trouble?"
"Alright, I'm very glad you said that." James Wan hemmed and hawed. "...Actually, it's not really trouble. Have you heard the name James DeMonaco? A senior screenwriter in Hollywood, and also my good friend."
"Never heard of him." Leon said truthfully.
He couldn't even recognize all the famous new generation directors in Hollywood, let alone behind-the-scenes text workers like screenwriters.
"Okay, have you heard of the movie Staten Island? That's DeMonaco's work. Luc Besson was the producer of that work."
"Never heard of it either."
Leon frowned, searching his mind for information about this name but finding nothing.
He urged impatiently, "Let me guess what trouble your screenwriter friend is in? Discussing art with neighbor John's wife all night while John wasn't home? Or being targeted by a group of gang members for showing off wealth?"
"It's not what you think. DeMonaco is a steady and introverted man. He helped me a lot when I first entered the industry." James Wan sighed. "These years he has been trying to transition to directing, but this road is very difficult; only a very few can succeed..."
Hearing this, Leon had guessed what the other party wanted to say next.
Introducing jobs between friends is very common in the favor-based society of Hollywood. Without a small circle, relying on fighting alone, one will never see the day of success.
SLW Apocalypse has strong momentum. The CGI movie Ready Player One with a budget of over 100 million is being filmed, and Straight Outta Compton has a high probability of being nominated for two Oscars.
The company is in a period of rapid rise, and naturally needs more excellent film talents and scripts, but the premise is that the other party is a piece of gold, not sht.
Trash is trash. No matter what kind of nepotism is used to approach Leon, it will be thrown into the trash can by him without hesitation.
"Why don't you tell Russell directly about this? He has been complaining to me about not finding interesting scripts and excellent directors." Leon simply threw the burden to Russell, letting the other party measure DeMonaco's value from a professional perspective.
"Man, Russell has already rejected DeMonaco three times; otherwise, I wouldn't call you."
"Then we must respect Russell's opinion. He has struggled in this industry for so many years; he can see at a glance whether a script will lose money or make money."
"But he sometimes makes mistakes!" James Wan said, "You must read this script. It's a genius idea. Taking advantage of the heat of the wealth gap topic now, filming it will definitely make a big profit!"
The more he spoke, the more emotional he became, and his attitude was extremely firm—"If you are not willing to invest, then I will do it myself!"
Hearing the other party say this, Leon was also a bit shaken. He took a sip of coffee and said casually, "Fine, for the sake of your damn friendship, send the script to my email. I'll read it when I have time."
"Great!" James Wan's volume raised three degrees. "This has nothing to do with friendship. I won't encourage you to invest in a money-losing project just to do a favor. You will be shocked by the scale of this script!"
"Hopefully."
Such self-praise made his ears hurt. Every famous screenwriter in Hollywood is an excellent salesman.
Three minutes later, his Google email received the mail from James Wan, but Leon had long thrown this matter to the back of his mind—crisp footsteps sounded outside the door.
Click—
"Honey~"
Taylor covered her mouth and breathed hot air to warm her hands, her cheeks flushed red by the December frost wind.
"So cold, so cold~"
She opened her coat, bent down to take off her high boots.
"Christmas" jumped out of the coat with a swoosh, landing on the floor.
Holding its head high, walking with a swaggering cat walk.
It even meowed deliberately when passing by Leon, looking exactly like a bitch who just hooked up with a rich old man.
Even cats have comprehended the profound meaning of capitalism?
Leon shook his head with a smile. "This little rascal seems to have gained a size."
"Don't forget it has a name!" Taylor put on slippers and held the Siamese cat in her arms. "Everyone in my family loves Christmas to death! Can you believe it ate the most turkey on Christmas? My mom said she had never seen such a gluttonous cat."
Saying that, she leaned her cheek against the cat's head and rubbed it dotingly.
Meow— Christmas raised its head, facing Leon with its mean coal-ball face, squinting its eyes in enjoyment.
"Is there a human soul living inside this damn cat?" Leon muttered in his heart.
There was no extra time left for them to be intimate. A few minutes later, the two set off for the headquarters of The New York Times to rehearse for the New Year's Eve performance.
"We hope you two can recreate the classic scene at the AMA awards ceremony." The person in charge of the scene said while directing the staff to debug the equipment, "No! You will definitely be able to present a more exciting performance than the AMA on New Year's Eve!"
"Ready? Imagine the feeling of the whole world focusing on you!"
"Ready." Leon made an OK gesture, holding an acoustic guitar standing in front of Taylor.
The landscape of Times Square could not be replicated in the studio. The main purpose of this rehearsal was to calibrate the equipment so that the singers could perform in their most perfect state.
Especially for Taylor, the debut of Welcome to New York was a big scene watched by hundreds of millions of people, and no mistakes could be made.
"I know you both have seen big scenes, but on New Year's Eve, Times Square will be flooded with millions of people!" The staff reminded, "Don't be nervous..."
Leon and Taylor's performance was scheduled thirty minutes before the New Year's countdown began, a true prime time.
Millions of people gathered in the narrow Times Square; any unexpected situation could happen.
Shortly after the performance ended, the fireworks show would start, followed by the most exciting moment!
The New Year's Eve crystal ball slowly descends from the center of Times Square, and the New Year enters the final one-minute countdown.
Weighing 3,000 pounds, colorful confetti is thrown from the tops of buildings surrounding Times Square by hundreds of volunteers.
Anyone living in or visiting New York City could write down their wishes before December 25th and stick them on the "Wishing Wall."
"My steps never stop, neon lights flicker and dazzle, but I never sink because of it..."
"Welcome to New York! The whole world has been waiting for your debut!"
Taylor's solo performance was arranged at the end, which made her feel considerable pressure, and she was exceptionally serious during the rehearsal.
"I don't know what to say, Miss Taylor! This is the sound of New York!" The staff applauded and said, "The regret is that we don't have an audience here. When you get to the New Year's Eve scene, you have to do something for the audience to mobilize their emotions."
"You don't need to remind me of this." Taylor waved her hand.
As a live queen capable of holding more than 100 concerts a year, no one among the new generation of female singers knew how to mobilize audience emotions better than her.
The rehearsal only lasted for two hours, and the running-in between Leon and the sound team and dance team was about done.
Taylor was conducting the third solo rehearsal, singing and dancing until she was sweating profusely, striving to be perfect in every detail.
Leon sat on the swivel chair offstage, fiddling with his phone, and couldn't help curling his lips: Who is the real workaholic?
Taking advantage of the gap waiting for Taylor, bored out of his mind, he finally clicked open the email sent by James Wan.
The script title attracted his attention at once—The Purge.
"Interesting..."
Leon spent ten minutes reading the script to the end. The story's concept was big but not complicated, still telling the cliché of "the rich do evil, the poor are forced to resist."
He could completely understand why Russell rejected this script three times. The story structure was too mediocre and cliché, lacking twists.
Finally ending with the conventional ending of "truth, goodness, and beauty last forever."
But the advantages were equally obvious. The concept of this script was very impressive, rising to the height of anti-capitalism and anti-utopia.
The brain hole is amazingly large. Legalized massacre under the government's connivance compared to traditional battle royale games is more than one grade higher in pattern.
Usually, Leon might not care too much about such a script relying purely on gimmicks for attention, but paired with the current era's background, the effect is completely different.
The core the script wants to promote is highly consistent with the thoughts the "Occupy Wall Street movement" wanted to express a few days ago—the fallen American government is becoming an accomplice to the rich doing evil.