Dennings obediently took off her trench coat and threw it onto the back seat.
Immediately after, she took off her black V-neck sweater. Freed from the constraints of the tight sweater, her fair skin dazzled Leon's eyes. Every inch of her body exuded alluring desire.
The lace edge of her black bra caught the eye, and the bouncing curves seemed like a provocation.
Leon adjusted his collar and said, pretending to be calm, "I seem to be a little hot too..."
"Ha~" Dennings grinned and laughed loudly. At this moment, she had completely let herself go. Compared to the somewhat socially anxious girl when they first met, she had two completely different faces.
"Don't worry, Leon. No one will know about tonight..." Dennings proactively stretched out her neck and pressed her red lips over. "You have always truly recognized and supported me... Soon I will be able to appear on the big screen as the female lead, right?"
Mentioning the exchange of interests actually relieved Leon of many worries.
He took the initiative to hook Dennings' neck with his hand, eliciting a coquettish cry from her.
Ah—He completely lost the gentlemanly demeanor he had just feigned, his movements rough like an uneducated country redneck.
The sudden change of face caught Dennings off guard. "Fk... go easy!"
Her warning didn't seem to work, and soon she couldn't resist and melted in Leon's arms.
Half an hour later, Leon drove Dennings back to the hotel where she was staying.
"I just felt like NBA player Chris Paul possessed my soul..."
"What?" Dennings tilted her head, not understanding his meaning at all.
"Do you never follow basketball? Paul has the most perfect dribbling skills..."
Dennings was stunned for a full half-minute before she suddenly understood his dirty joke.
She coyly raised her fist and punched his arm. "Asshole!"
By the time Leon returned to his home in Tribeca, Taylor was already fast asleep.
Only that annoying Siamese cat seemed to have seen through everything. Every time Leon was about to fall asleep, it would jump onto the bed.
It would bitchily pat his forehead twice with its paws and run away quickly, repeatedly testing the edge of death.
The next morning, Taylor asked about Leon's whereabouts last night, but he perfectly covered it up with the excuse of shooting an MV.
Leon drank coffee leisurely while grabbing a piece of toast to chew twice, lightly tapping Taylor's forehead. "I have to go to work, honey."
"You seem busier than me." Taylor held one hand in front of her chest and the other holding coffee, glancing sideways at him. "You seem to have more work than President Barack."
"It's all for you." Leon hugged Taylor, his palm sliding over the delicate blue silk pajamas. "Didn't you always look forward to an unparalleled diamond ring? I must put in a little more effort."
Taylor rolled her eyes coyly. Although she knew clearly that he was full of nonsense, she was always powerless to resist.
As soon as the news of Lion's Den Media acquiring radio station Z100 spread, major media outlets analyzed Leon's business map one after another.
Possessing a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars, unless it was a diamond on the Queen's scepter, how could he be troubled by a ring?
The most authoritative report came from an article in the Los Angeles Times, which not only detailed Leon's investment clues and relationships within the circle but also mentioned the actual controller behind Apocalypse Agency.
They called on SAG (Screen Actors Guild) to investigate whether Leon's simultaneous operation of a film production company and a talent agency was compliant.
From the first glance at the newspaper, Leon guessed who was behind the scenes.
From the writing style to the professionalism of the information, it was exactly the same as the report published last August attacking his dirty history of making a fortune, and the publisher was the Los Angeles Times.
All clues pointed to David Geffen. Currently, he had reached a preliminary acquisition intention with the Los Angeles Times, and the transaction might be officially concluded in the first half of this year.
Taylor sighed lightly. "If you don't cherish the present, we won't see each other again soon. Starting from February, my work will be very busy..."
Leaving the Tribeca love nest, Leon drove south all the way.
Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, he arrived at SLW Apocalypse Pictures.
In the vice president's office, Russell was busy greeting more than ten people, including Lionsgate production director Miles and the The Purge creative team.
"Long time no see, Mr. Leon!" Miles yelled, his emotions particularly excited. "Straight Outta Compton is going to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Even in my dreams, I often recall that afternoon we met in the cafe..."
"Your vision in choosing scripts is enough to make the film industry reflect collectively! You are a true film wizard!"
A series of boundless flattery didn't make Leon show any smile. Before Straight Outta Compton achieved huge success, Miles' attitude towards him before and after was completely two-faced.
But one sentence from the other party attracted his attention. While shaking hands, he asked by the way, "Where did you get the news that we are nominated?"
"Insider information." Miles spread his hands. "There is only one week left until the official list is announced. Straight Outta Compton's nomination is practically in the bag."
"Alright." Leon didn't ask further. The source was likely PwC, who was responsible for counting votes.
Combined with the intelligence gathered from Dennings, the nomination for Best Picture was basically secure.
"Come here, sweetie~" Miles waved to his assistant to come closer.
He took out an expensive Cuban cigar from his briefcase and handed it to Leon: "Thank you for choosing to cooperate with Lionsgate for the second time. You know our control over thrillers; you will definitely not be disappointed!"
In the choice of distributor for The Purge, Leon originally planned to throw it directly to Warner Bros. like before.
But he never expected to be rejected by Jeff instantly. The other party even mocked contemptuously: "A script with a budget of less than $3 million is not qualified to appear on my desk..."
The implication was clear: Warner Bros. was unwilling to waste promotional resources on such a low-budget movie.
Even Jeff himself wasn't willing to pay to invest in this movie, persuading Leon on the phone: "Man, now everyone knows how much wealth you have. Do something a billionaire should do..."
Actually, given the relationship between Leon and Jeff, if he insisted, the other party would have to compromise.
But he really couldn't be bothered to waste words on this arrogant guy, so he turned around and found Lionsgate, which was best at low-budget horror films.
The conditions given by Lionsgate were also five percentage points more generous than Warner Bros., only requiring a 10% share of the total box office.
The two sides hit it off immediately and signed the contract that day.
Today was considered the last meeting at SLW Apocalypse before filming started. After the meeting ended, the filming party would fly directly to Los Angeles.
Almost all the members of the creative team were in this room, except for the biggest star, Ethan Hawke.
"This is Miss Adelaide Kane." Director DeMonaco pointed to a petite white girl with exquisite features and introduced, "This is Mr. Leon Smith. I don't think I need to say much about him."
"Hello, Mr. Leon. I've heard a lot about you. Finally, we meet today."
Facing Leon, who was both an investor and a top-tier singer, the innocent-looking Adelaide wasn't shy at all and took the initiative to step forward and extend her right hand.
"I have to say DeMonaco has a good eye." Leon's gaze swept up and down Adelaide. Whether it was her face, figure, or temperament, she perfectly matched the eldest daughter in the script.
He once suspected that DeMonaco shot the arrow first and drew the target later; the role of the eldest daughter was basically created based on Adelaide.
After a brief handshake, Adelaide took the initiative to close the distance a bit and whispered, "Robbie told me a lot about you before."
"Robbie?" Leon was a bit confused until the other party explained she was from Australia. He also understood that Adelaide's previous sentence "I've heard a lot about you" was not just a polite remark.
The content of the meeting was very simple. It was mainly Russell and Miles, two professionals, exchanging opinions on filming techniques and pre-release promotion plans.
Leon only made one request: "Shooting time! Listen, DeMonaco, I require you to finish filming within one month!"
"This..." DeMonaco's mouth twitched, completely unsure how to respond.
The contract clearly stated two months of shooting time; how could he change his mind just like that?
"Is this difficult for you? Wan only used 18 days to finish filming Saw. From preparation, shooting to editing, the whole process took no more than one month..." Leon patted the other party's shoulder to pressure him. "Don't disappoint Wan. It was because of his strong recommendation that you got the chance to direct."
"Please rest assured!" DeMonaco patted his chest and guaranteed, "Even if I burn out my life, I will definitely meet your requirement!"
After issuing the military order, Leon completely relaxed.
Miles was an expert in low-budget movies, having helped James Wan produce the Saw and Insidious series.
Both movies had very short shooting cycles, and the quality was surprisingly high.
With him providing assistance inside and outside the set, The Purge, which only had one setting for the entire film, likely wouldn't even take a month to complete filming.
By the time he returned to the Apocalypse Music office, it was approaching noon.
Before he could get comfortable in his swivel chair for two minutes, Phil's cursing noise came from outside the door.
"Goddamnit!"
"I told you to manage that little bastard Von. Look at what he did again!"
Leon lowered his head and held his forehead. The frequency of Von causing trouble indeed exceeded his tolerance limit. "Calm down. Tell me what happened?"
"That brat got a chick pregnant!"
"You yelled so loudly just to tell me this?" Leon waved his hand impatiently. He didn't care at all how chaotic his artists' private lives were.
In the rap circle, if you don't have a few illegitimate children, you're embarrassed to admit you're a rapper.
"Do you know who the chick he got pregnant is? SZA! Lupe Fiasco's girl!" The old geezer was emotional, spraying saliva continuously. "If Von wasn't your little brother, he would have been beaten to death by Lupe's men on the streets of Chicago!"
"Calm down, asshole. This isn't as serious as you think." Leon said, "SZA is just Lupe's lover. Von didn't get his wife pregnant..."