Screen Rant » edge of darkness

Mel Gibson Bashes Skulls in ‘Edge of Darkness’ Trailer

Rob Frappier — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:46:27 +0000

The first trailer for the Mel Gibson action/drama Edge of Darkness is out and it looks good. Edge of Darkness features Gibson as a Boston detective who uncovers a conspiracy while investigating the death of his activist daughter. The film was written by William Monahan (The Departed) and was directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale).

(Fun fact: The part played by Ray Winstone was originally supposed to be played by Robert De Niro who dropped out of the film in its early stages.)

Check out the trailer and a poster for the film below:

In recent years, it seems Mel Gibson’s personal life has clouded his considerable talents as an actor and director. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that, even at the age of 53, Gibson is one of Hollywood’s most credible action stars. I am looking forward to seeing him back on the screen (it’s been six years since he last starred in a film) doing what he does best.

What do you think? Does the first trailer make you excited for the film?

Edge of Darkness hits theaters January 29th, 2010.

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: March 22, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:18:54 +0000

It’s Sunday and therefore it’s Wrap Up time. This week:

We Know who is top of the box office; Cage and Bruckheimer make a date; Beatty fights over Dick Tracy; George Lucas’s Red Tails gets Wild(s); get ready for Demonkeeper; Segal meets Little Fockers and Universal knows the Rites of Men.

Box Office
Nicolas Cage is king of the box office with Knowing. The Alex Proyas (I Robot) directed film should manage about $24-25 million over the weekend. Put it this way, Knowing made more on Friday than Bangkok Dangerous made on it’s opening weekend.

The Paul Rudd- Jason Segal comedy I love You, Man should cash in $18 million over the weekend. The R-rated comedy was similar to the weekend starts of the stars previous film like Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Julia Roberts re-teams with Clive Owen for Duplicity. The comedy-caper film should steal $14.5 million from audiences over the weekend.

The Rock’s (or Dwayne Johnson‘s) Race To Witch Mountain should gather another $14 million bringing the Disney film to just under the $50 million mark.

Watchmen should bank another $6-7 million bringing the epic comic book movie to the $100 million mark. Not a bad gross, but it’s quite disappointing.

Last House on the Left dropped $65% to $6.5 million.

Liam Neeson’s Taken managed another $4.5 million bringing the total of the film to over $130 with a world wide take surpassing $200 million.

Movie News

1. Nicolas Cage’s forthcoming Disney film The Scorcerer’s Apprentice has a release date set for July 16, 2010. The Jerry Bruickheimer produced film which co-stasr Jay Baruchel, directed by Jon Turtletaub, is a modern retelling of the Disney classic.

It should make a killing at the box office.

Source: Variety

2. Warren Beatty is being sued by Tribune Media Services so that they can regain the rights to Dick Tracy. The action states that the character of Tracy should revert back to the company as Beatty hasn’t made “productive use” of the rights in a decade.

Beatty has however begun work on a Dick Tracy television special, but Tribune Media Services say that the show is only being produced so that Beatty can retain the rights to the character which he purchased in 1985.

Beatty starred in and directed a Dick Tracy movie that was released in 1990. The film grossed over $100 million at the US box office and co-starred Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Madonna.
It’s not a bad little film. Visually it’s very impressive with a pre-digital Sin City style vibe.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. 90210 star Tristan Wilds has been cast in George Lucas‘ Red Tails.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Wilds will play Ray “Ray Gun” Knight, a flyboy nearly blinded over Nazi-occupied Italy who becomes the wingman of his friend and cohort, Marty. The two face the prejudice of the U.S. military as much as the overseas enemy but end up establishing an unprecedented record.”

The film was written by John Ridley and it will be directed by Anthony Hemingway.

Lucas has talked about this film for years, and I honestly believed that it would never see the light of day.

Now just get behind a camera again George and direct something like THX 1138 or American Graffiti.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. The Tale of Despereaux and Flushed Away director Sam Fell will direct a liva-action adaptation of Royce Buckingham’s Demonkeeper.

According to Variety:

“Story follows a Seattle teen who inherits responsibility for a house filled with demons. When the youth finally breaks free of his charges to go on a date, he returns to discover that kids have broken into the house, unleashing its most vicious demon, the Beast, Killer of Lost Children.”

Sounds like an interesting premise.

Source: Variety

5. Peter Segal is in the frame to direct the third Meet the Parents movie which is currently titled Little Fockers.

Segal had been expected to direct Get Smart 2, but Steve Carrell signed on to the comedy Date Night with Tina Fey. With Segal at the helm this will be the first Focker movie to to be directed by Jay Roach.

The Robert DeNiro produced film was written by John Hamburg. Ben Stiller, DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand and Owen Wilson are all expected to return.

Source: Variety

6. Jonathan Herman’s new script Rites of Men has been bought by Universal Pictures. The script is being compared to the sleeper hit Taken.

The Hollywood Reporter said:

“Herman’s script centers on a working-class single dad whose only son is murdered and must then set out on a quest to solve the killing.”

The “dad on revenge” movie seems to be a popular new sub genre. Mark Wahlberg is attached to a similar film called Prisoners while Mel Gibson has the forthcoming Edge of Darkness.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Mel Gibson Is ‘The Colonel’

Niall Browne — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:05:14 +0000

You can’t buy a good movie star. Well, you can – but it will cost you a cool $25 million.

However, true movie stars rarely come along anymore. The last proper movie star to come our way must have been Will Smith and that was almost 15 years ago.

Mel Gibson is a real star and he’s been off our screens for seven years! Well this year he returns in Edge of Darkness and The Colonel.

Now we can show you a trailer for the epic tale of love and revenge that follows the life of the legendary Colonel Sanders (of KFC fame). The biopic is from the producers of Braveheart and Step Up 2: The Streets.

Check it out below – it’s finger lickin’ good!

Okay, okay it’s a comedy skit from Mad Mel’s appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, but you have to admit it’s damn funny. Gibson is a man famous for his wild sense of humor, which is apparent in this fun mock trailer – “We’re gonna need a bigger bucket.” Priceless.

Just don’t mention Malibu.

Source: Joblo

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Feb. 19, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:24:04 +0000

This week:

Get ready to meet the Little Fockers; Don Johnson burns Nash Bridges; Monahan helps Shia LaBeouf become an Associate; Warner Bros. lighten the Darkness for Mel Gibson; Jolie’s Salt adds a pinch of Schreiber; Elton John wants Pride and Predators and Leonardo Di Caprio plays War Games.

1. It looks like the third Meet The Parents film is on the way!

John Hamburg will rewrite Larry Stuckey’s original script of Little Fockers. Jay Roache who helmed Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers will not return to direct the film because of prior commitments. Universal and Tribeca Productions hope that the film will start shooting in the Summer or the Fall.

Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand are all expected back in some capacity.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

2. Don Johnson is angry – the Miami Vice and Nash Bridges star is suing 2929 Entertainment , Rysher Entertainment and Qualia Capital for profits from Nash Bridges – the San Francisco based cop show that ran from 1996-2001.

Johnson states that the 122 episode run of the show has so far earned $300 million and he wants his half of the profits! Johnson said :

“Nash Bridges is a very successful series and I am entitled to half of the profits, which I have not received.”

Johnson produced, starred and co-conceived the show and his company – Don Johnson Productions owns a 50% stake in the show.

I’m guessing that this is going to delay the long awaited DVD release of the show.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

3. William Monahan, the writer of The Departed will adapt John Grisham’s The Associate for the screen. The film is being developed as a Shia LaBeouf starrer. According to Variety:

“LaBeouf will play a Yale Law School student with a sordid secret that leaves him vulnerable to blackmail. He’s manipulated into taking a job at a law firm and working on a multibillion-dollar lawsuit.”

Monahan is currently preparing to make his directorial debut with London Boulevard which is due to star Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley.

Monahan’s next script to hit the big screen will be Mel Gibson’s Edge of Darkness.

Source: Variety

4. Speaking of Edge of Darkness – Warner Bros. have bought the domestic rights to the Martin Campbell directed thriller.

According to Variety:

“The film, based on the BBC miniseries of the same name, is centered on a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Dept. whose only child is murdered on the steps of his home.”

Campbell directed the original series for British TV back in the 80’s.

Source: Variety

5. Liev Schreiber is in talks to star in Angelina Jolie’s Salt. Schreiber will play Jolie’s boss on the film. According to Variety:

“The story centers on Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who is fingered as a Russian sleeper spy. She eludes capture by superiors who are convinced she is out to assassinate the president. While trying to reunite with her family, she struggles to prove someone else is the traitor.”

The film was originally conceived as a Tom Cruise starrer before the role was tailored for Jolie.

The film starts shooting next month under the direction of Phillip Noyce.

Source: Variety

6. Elton John’s Rocket Pictures hope to produce a Jane Austen adaptation with a difference.

According to Variety:

“Will Clark is set to direct Pride and Predator, which veers from the traditional period costume drama when an alien crash lands and begins to butcher the mannered protags, who suddenly have more than marriage and inheritance to worry about.”

You couldn’t make that news story up if you were to try!

John’s producing partner and er… partner-partner said:

“It felt like a fresh and funny way to blow apart the done-to-death Jane Austen genre by literally dropping this alien into the middle of a costume drama, where he stalks and slashes to horrific effect”

I can’t imagine this one getting past 20th Century Fox’s lawyers without a fight!

Source: Variety

7. Leonardo DiCaprio will produce a remake of War Games for MGM.

The original starred Matthew Broderick as a teenager who hacks into the Department Of Defense computers and starts WW III by believing he is playing a game.

There’s no news on cast or director, but I can imagine that MGM are praying that DiCaprio will star in the reboot.

Source: Production Weekly

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Oct. 30, 2008

Niall Browne — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:45:07 +0000

Another week means another jammed-packed Mid Weekend Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

Mel Gibson returns from the Edge; Iron Man goes Halloween; Jack Ryan may have two-faces; Elvis goes to hell and we bite down on some R-rated Pie.

1. Have you heard the one about the Movie Star and the Sheriff’s department? Me too.

However having said that here’s the first pic of Mel Gibson in Martin Campbell’s (Casino Royale) Edge of Darkness.

Mel, it has been way too long. Give ‘em hell Mel!

Source: Moviehole

2. Here at Screen Rant the guys love Iron Man – I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t seen it yet, however now that it’s on DVD that should change. Anything Iron Man is cool here – so imagine how excited Vic and the gang got when this Halloween image hit the web:

They went Stark-raving mad!

Source (and more pictures): Pumpkin Gutter via Great White Snark

3. Now that Sam Raimi has jumped ship from the new Jack Ryan movie – word on the street is that Harvey Dent – Aaron Eckhart himself is in the running for the role that was once played by such illustrious actors as Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Alec Baldwin.

Good choice. Beats the hell out of James Franco. I’m guessing that those people who had a fit over a blond Bond Daniel Craig will be petitioning Paramount – but guess what? They don’t know Jack…er …Ryan!

Source: Moviehole

4. Paul Giamatti has told Aint It Cool that Bruce Campbell will not be returning to Elvis’ jewel encrusted jumpsuit for Bubba Nosferatu. Don’t worry though, that other bastion of geek love; Hellboy himself Ron Perlman will play The King in the Horror comedy sequel.

Giamatti will play Colonel Parker in the film, as well as producing the Dan Cosacarelli directed sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep.

Talk about a Hunka Hunka Burning Love!

Source: AICN

5. Now that R rated comedy is all the rage it would appear that Universal Pictures want to unleash more Pie. American Pie that is. I must admit – I have a soft spot for the Pie films (please don’t take that out of context, my folks read this - sometimes). I first saw American Pie waaay back in 1999 when I first went off to University (College for you American folks) and I hold the franchise very dear to my ….er… heart.

No plot is set yet – or cast for that matter – but you can bet your ass (or any other body part) that Eugene Levy will return.

When will this new… ahem… entry come? Who knows, but like Jason Bigg’s Jim, it should be quite soon.

Source: Moviehole

That’s it for another week. See you at the movies.

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: September 14, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:49:16 +0000

Here we are again with another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up where we look at the weekend box office and furnish you with any film news that may have slipped through the cracks.

This week:

We see who 20th Century Fox lined up to replace Gavin Hood during the shoot of Wolverine; Paul Verhoeven returns to the world of erotic thrillers; it looks like Akira may be a while off; Michael Douglas is Libarace; Ray Winstone is the new Robert DeNiro and there’s more money ahoy for Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp.

Box Office

This weekend it’s a close battle between Tyler Perry’s The Family that Preys and the Clooney-Pitt combo Burn After Reading. Both films grossed around $6 million on Friday and they should be on course for $18-20 million over the weekend. The Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro thriller Righteous Kill should manage around $16 million, while chick-flick The Women should bank around $11 million by Monday morning – not bad for a film that was going to be dumped before Warner Bros. saw dollar signs following the success of Sex and The City.

This weekend saw Tropic Thunder cross the magic $100 million mark and The Dark Knight banked another few million.

Movie News

1. Word came in this week via Variety that X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood was almost given the boot by Fox during the movies troubled shoot. Apparently, Superman and Lethal Weapon director (as well as husband of the film’s producer Lauren Shuler Donner) Richard Donner was flown out to Australia as a replacement.

It sounds like Inglorious Bastards might be a Fox board biopic.

Source: Variety

2.RoboCop and Starship Troopers director Paul Verhoeven is in talks to direct an untitled Wendy Williams scripted erotic thriller about a college intern who has an affair with the wife of his boss. The film is apparently a cross between Risky Business and Fatal Attraction – man, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during that pitch. When did it take place… 1988?

This can’t be good news for Pierce Brosnan’s The Topkapi Affair.

Source: Variety

3. Those of you holding your breath for a film version of Akira starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt better exhale quick. Levitt says that his rumored involvement in the film is pure fiction and as far as he is aware here isn’t even a script yet.

Ruairi Robinson has his name on the director’s chair.

Source: MTV via Joblo

4. I love a good casting choice, but I really love left field casting choices. When news broke this week that Steven Soderbergh was developing a Liberace biopic with Michael Douglas in the frame as the flamboyant entertainer I almost choked on my cornflakes. The film will follow the palimony suit launched by Liberace’s younger lover (rumored to be Matt Damon) for $113 million. Richard LaGravanese is writing the script.

There’s a million and one “pianist” jokes that I could make, but I’ll wait until the film is released before I do that.

Source: Variety

5. When Robert DeNiro departed Edge of Darkness citing “creative differences” I wondered who they would call to replace such a high caliber actor. I didn’t have to wait long – as Ray Winstone is in negotiations to replace DeNiro as a CIA operative in the Mel Gibson film.

Source: Variety

6. Following the billions they made for Disney with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski are set to reunite for animated film Rango.

Does anybody else remember the time when Hollywood wouldn’t even touch Depp with a barge pole?

Source: Variety

That’s it for this week. See you at the movies!

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: September 7, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:14:32 +0000

Another Sunday brings another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

We look at the weekend box office and why Robert De Niro doesn’t like the Edge of Darkness, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington make a sequel, we get to see Where the Wild Things Are, Russell Crowe goes Holmes and Tom Cruise might go to Florence.

Weekend Box Office

It looks like Nic Cage will capture the weekend with a pretty low $8 million dollars for Bangkok Dangerous. The film wasn’t screened for critics and it looks like the public didn’t like the look of Cage’s hair. Tropic Thunder managed another $2.1 million on Friday, so the film should shoot up close to $7 million over the weekend. The Dark Knight should manage another $5 million this weekend bringing its total to a mighty $511 million. Don Cheadle’s Traitor dropped 40% on the second weekend and the film should have bagged a total of $17 million come Monday morning. Meanwhile Vin Diesel must be pretty unhappy with Babylon A.D’s 62% drop. The film might muster another $4 million by the end of Sunday. Ouch.

Movie News

1. Robert De Niro has pulled out of Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness. The Mel Gibson starrer started shooting on August 18, and De Niro did less than a week’s work on the film.

De Niro’s spokesman said:

“Sometimes things don’t work out; it’s called creative differences.”

The role will be recast, and the film will shoot around De Niro’s departure. It’ll be tough to replace an actor like De Niro, so it will be interesting to see who will fill his shoes.

Source: Latino Review

2. Spike Lee is going to direct a follow-up to his hit film The Inside Man. The original film starred Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster.

It looks like Owen and Washington will return in the Terry George penned sequel, but the film will take a different slant on the characters and a new setting. It has a working title of…Inside Man 2. Original.

Who would have thought that Denzel and Lee would ever make a sequel?

Source: CHUD

3. Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are finally has a new release date. The pic should finally be released on October 16, 2009. The film has seen a huge amount of trouble in its production, from disastrous special effects through to horrendous test screenings and reshoots. The adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s book stars Catherine Keener, Benicio Del Toro and Forest Whitaker. That is – if any of their characters survive the reshoots and re-editing.

Source: Comingsoon.net

4. With Nottingham delayed Russell Crowe has some time on his hands. According to Latino Review it looks like the Gladiator star may sign up to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Nope, it’s not as Dr Watson as previously speculated, but Holmes’ nemesis Professor James Moriarty. Very interesting.

Latino Review also state that 300 star Gerard Butler was offered the role of Watson, but he declined. Robert Downey Jr will play the titular detective.

As a Sherlock Holmes fan I’m quite interested in how this is shaping up.

Source: Latino Review

5. It wouldn’t be Sunday without a bit of Tom Cruise news! The indecisive couch-jumper has yet another script sitting on his “to do” pile. Cruise and United Artists have bought the rights to The Monster of Florence a book about eight murders which took place in Florence from 1968 to 1985.

The events inspired Thomas Harris’ Hannibal, which is a rather unfortunate thing as the film is terrible. It sounds like the makings of a pretty great thriller, and if it’s half as good as Zodiac then it should be something special.

The film will be penned by Cruise’s Valkyrie writer Chris McQuarrie, and the top gun will decide if he will take a lead role when he reads a draft of the script.

Come on Tom – choose a film already!

Source: Variety

That’s it for another week!

See you at the movies.

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: August 3, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:55:10 +0000

Another week another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up. Hard to believe that we are into the month of August already! Crazy.

This week: Robert DeNiro visits the Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson, we see more of The Terminator, Wes Craven’s old movies get remade..again, Thomas Jane lands a big role and Sam Raimi does comedy in The Transplants.

1. Mel Gibson’s comeback movie has apparently just nabbed Robert DeNiro as a co-star. The Martin Campbell directed The Edge of Darkness. This one appears to be shaping up nicely. Gibson plays a retired police detective investigating the death of his daughter.

Don’t these criminals ever learn? Never mess with Mad Mel’s family!

The film starts shooting in the next couple of weeks in Boston. DeNiro’s part is unknown.

Source: Boston Herald

2. A new Terminator: Salvation image has been released. It shows Christian Bale’s John Connor having a face-off with Sam Worthington’s Marcus.

Source: CHUD

3. There’s more horror remake news this week with word out that Wes Craven’s People Under the Stairs might be next up for the face lift treatment.

Craven tells Shock Til You Drop:

“There’s a pretty high likelihood Rogue would like to make ‘People Under the Stairs’ as the next film we make. It will be a remake, not directed by me, but something Marianne Maddalena will produce after she completes ‘The Last House on the Left.’”

Man – I gotta get me the rights to an old horror movie!

Source: Shock Til You Drop

4. With all the talk about The Punisher recently lets not forget about Thomas Jane.

Jane has just signed up for a role in Hung, a pilot for HBO to be directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways).

According to Reuters:

“The dark comedy pilot centers on Ray a well-endowed struggling middle-aged high school basketball coach who figures out a way to use his best asset.”

It sounds like a tough role to pull off… ahem…

Source: Reuters

5. Sam Raimi has signed up to produce the superhero comedy The Transplants. The film comes from Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson who also decided to inflict Not Another Teen Movie on the world. Disney will unleash the film sometime in the future

I can’t even think of a joke for this one.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for another week.

See you at the movies!

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Mel Gibson Returns To The Big Screen In Edge Of Darkness

Niall Browne — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:05:35 +0000

Screen legend and icon Mel Gibson will make his first appearance in front of cameras in six years in Martin Campbell’s Edge of Darkness.

Casino Royale director Campbell originally directed the 1985 BBC miniseries on which the film is based. The Departed scripter William Monahan has penned the script.

Variety reports that:

“Gibson will play a straitlaced police investigator whose activist daughter is killed. He plunges into the case and uncovers systemic corruption that led to his daughter’s death.”

There are many differing opinions of Mel Gibson out there, some dislike his politics and religious beliefs, while others feel that he is a forceful screen presence and a first rate leading man.

What do I think? Read on.

I’m in the latter camp, and I feel that we need Mel Gibson back on the big-screen, just to show us what a real A-list actor is like.

Even if we don’t take into account his films as director – except maybe Braveheart (one of my all time favorites), Gibson has given cinema two of the most iconic characters of the last 30 years – Martin Riggs and Mad Max and delivered many strong performances in a wide range of films.

Early Australian roles showed range and strong acting skills, but it was his arrival in Hollywood that brought out the leading man. Filled with charm, good looks and a humility he is one of the few stars in Hollywood to be fully accepted by both men and women.

At the start of this decade (and century) Gibson was on a roll, making his two most successful films: Signs (one of his strongest and nuanced performances) and What Women Want (a first rate romantic comedy) showing that audiences weren’t tiring of his aging good looks.

Despite controversy in his private life, he has also shown that he is a skilled director, producer and humanitarian – seriously – if it wasn’t for Gibson you wouldn’t be seeing Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr this weekend. Gibson helped out Downey Jr when he was at his lowest ebb with his drug problems.

Whatever your belief, I’m over the moon that Mel Gibson is returning to where he belongs – on the silver screen.

Let’s just hope that at some point in the near future he re-teams with Richard Donner and George Miller.

Edge of Darkness starts shooting in Boston in August. No release date has been set.

Source: Variety

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