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'The Great Gatsby' Gets Pushed Back to May 10, 2013: Warner Bros. announced we'll have to wait another five months t...


The Weinstein Co. Won't Be Able To Avoid This $1 Million 'Reader' Lawsuit

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the reader kate winslet

The Weinstein Company failed to get a million dollar lawsuit against it thrown out of court alleging the studio failed to pay "The Reader" author for profits from its 2008 Oscar-nominated film. 

Yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark V. Mooney ruled "Reader" author Bernard Schlink sufficiently proved his claim the Weinstein Company was in breach of a contract from more than a decade ago potentially granting him at least $1 million. 

In January, Schlink sued the Weinstein Company claiming he was never paid for profits from the Oscar winning film.  

"The Reader" stars Kate Winslet, who took home the Oscar for Best Actress that year, as a woman convicted of war crimes in a Nazi concentration camp. To date, the film has grossed more than $108.9 million worldwide.

Schlink claimed he was entitled to an amount between 2.5 and five percent of gross receipts from the film due to a $1.5 million adaptation deal he made with the Weinstein's former company Miramax in 1998. 

However, the Weinstein Company claims no such deal was ever made to pay Schlink film profits after signing over rights to the film.  

In 2005, Bob and Harvey Weinstein founded the Weinstein Company and instead of paying him, Schlink claims in the January suit he was sent a profit participation statement saying the studio didn't owe him anything.  

Weinstein Co. attempted to refute Schlink's claims saying the author was already paid his dues:  

"Had Plantiffs bothered to ask questions first rather than "shoot first, ask later," they would have confirmed that no back-end payment is due because the participation statements correctly reflect the Picture's revenues and expenses, properly account for the payments advanced to Plantiffs." 

Weinstein Company's attorney Harrison Dossick is demanding an audit of the accounting statements for "The Reader" to show what, if any, money owed to Schlink. 

Mooney did dismiss a claim that alleged the studio committed fraud by allegedly breaching the contract. saying the suit lacked "sufficient allegations that there is some sort of fraud going on here." 

View the written response to Weinstein's complaint HERE.

SEE ALSO: The 5 factors that explain the mysterious dismissal of pay-per-view's porn CEO >

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Watch Lindsay Lohan As Elizabeth Taylor In First 'Liz & Dick' Trailer

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Lindsay Lohan Liz Taylor Movie Poster

In between getting in trouble this summer, Lindsay Lohan somehow managed to finish shooting "Liz & Dick"—a made-for-TV Lifetime movie.

The film, starring Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor, focuses on the legendary screen icon's marriage to Richard Burton, as played by TV actor Grant Bowler.

The film will premiere in November.

Watch Lohan express a rollercoaster of emotions in the film's first trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Watch footage of LiLo's latest hit-and-run >

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The New 'Les Misérables' Is Changing The Way Movie Musicals Are Filmed

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Anne Hathaway Les Miserables

There is something you should know about the upcoming, star-studded "Les Misérables"—opening Christmas Day—that makes this movie musical different than any other.

The Tom Hooper-directed film is the first of its kind to record actors singing live, as opposed to in a studio beforehand, which is usually the case.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh explains, "We've found an amazing group of actors [Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried] who are completely at home acting through music and the only way you can make that work is by capturing it in the moment."

The film's star Anne Hathaway adds, "It's going to be different for sure, this is the first time anyone's ever tried it like this."

But actor Eddie Redmayne, who plays the character Marius, explains it best:

Normally if you were making an old school movie musical, actors would go into a studio and record an album and then two months later we would arrive on set and they would play the playback and we'd mime alongside it. The problem with that is you have to make all of your acting choices three months before you've even met the actor you're working with. By recording it live, Tom [the director] is allowing us the spontaneity of normal film acting.

And we're calling it now, you'll be seeing "Les Misérables" and its actors at the Oscars this year.

Watch a first look of the famous play-turned-movie musical below:

SEE ALSO: Watch Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor in this new "Liz & Dick" trailer >

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10 Actresses Who Have Played Jackie Kennedy

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Natalie Portman Jackie Kennedy

After her Oscar-winning role in 2010's "Black Swan," Fox Searchlight—the studio responsible for the dark, dancer tale—wants Natalie Portman back in its fold.

According to Deadline, Portman is in talks to play the lead in "Jackie," the Noah Oppenheim-scripted drama about Jackie Kennedy following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.

"Black Swan" director Darren Aronofsky was originally attached to the project with his former actress girlfriend Rachel Weisz, but when the pair split up, both dropped out of the film.

"It’s a very beautiful script," Weisz told MTV in 2010 of the film. "I think it’s the four or five days after the assassination and how [Jackie] deals with the assassination and the funeral. It’s not a biopic. Its about that short period of time."

Fox Searchlight hopes Aronofsky may return to the project, and bring Portman with him.

Steven Spielberg was reportedly intrigued by the script in 2010, but Portman and Aronofsky are already a proven winning duo.

If she signs on for the role, Portman would be joining a long list of actresses—from a teenage Sarah Michelle Gellar to Katie Holmes—to play the former First Lady.

1981: Jaclyn Smith in "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy"

Original "Charlie's Angels" star Jaclyn Smith starred in this 1981 TV movie.

The film focused on Jackie's years as a photojournalist and leading up to her marriage to John F. Kennedy and their moving into the White House.

The film is now a collector's item being sold on Amazon for $30.99.



1983: Blair Brown in "Kennedy"

Blair Brown played Jackie in this 1983 mini-series co-starring Martin Sheen as John F. Kennedy.

The series covered the 1961-1963 presidency of John F. Kennedy.



1991: Sarah Michelle Gellar in "A Woman Named Jackie"

A 14-year-old Sarah Michelle Gellar played the teenage Jackie in this 1991 TV mini-series that went on to win an Emmy award.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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The 20 Highest-Grossing Actor And Director Duos

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scarlett johansson woody allen

Actor-director duos can make or break a film. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Rian Johnson just reunited on "Looper" after working together six years earlier on "Brick."

Though their two films may not have broken any box-office records, there are plenty of other duos who joined together year after year to put out Oscar gold (Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro and Woody Allen and Mia Farrow).

We know longstanding actor-director combos have put out tens of hits, but which pairings have been most successful?

We've compiled a list of go-to actor-director pairings, tracking their worldwide box office grosses to see which teams have earned the most at theaters. 

Unsurprisingly, a few directors pop up on the list multiple times with different actors. 

Not included in this list are those who joined forces for long-standing franchises ("Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," etc.) because they would offset the rest of the list. Sorry, Christopher Nolan and Batman. 

The exception to this is if a franchise didn't extend beyond two films ("Kill Bill"). In addition, the duos had to work on more than two films together.

19. John Hughes and Anthony Michael Hall: $114.1 million

Long before his small role in "The Dark Knight," director John Hughes pegged Anthony Michael Hall as a nerdy teenager in '80s hits "Weird Science," "The Breakfast Club," and "Sixteen Candles."

Film Bromance Count: 3

Highest-grossing film: "The Breakfast Club" – $51.5 million



18. John Hughes and Molly Ringwald: $115.7 million

Similar to co-star Anthony Michael Hall, Ringwald also starred in "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles"; however, the actress was also featured in Hughes' "Pretty in Pink."

Film Count: 3

Highest-grossing film: "The Breakfast Club" – $51.5 million



17. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton: $138.4 million

Woody Allen loved his leading ladies. He and Keaton began working together in 1972 on "Play It Again Sam." From there, the actress starred in his films throughout the '70s, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1977 for "Annie Hall."

Film Count: 7

Highest-grossing film: "Manhattan" – $40 million



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50 Years Of Breathtaking And Deadly 'Bond' Women [Infographic]

The 10 Highest-Grossing James Bond Films Of All Time

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sean connery james bond dr. no

Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the release of "Dr. No," the first James Bond film.

Half a century after Sean Connery first portrayed the womanizing, gadget-savvy secret agent, fans around the world will be celebrating what has been dubbed Global Bond Day.

Cities ranging from London to New York to Toronto are holding events to showcase the popularity of 007 and its prevalence in pop culture. New York, for example, is hosting a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. 

Over the last five decades, 22 Bond films have been released, with the 23rd coming out next month. Six actors–Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig–have played James Bond, with Roger Moore beating the pack with seven total films.

See which leading men drew the most money from movie-goers.

10. "Thunderball" (1965): $141.2 million

Bond Actor: Sean Connery

The fourth film in the Bond series was the last directed by Terence Young. It won the Academy Award for special visual effects in 1966 and was the inspiration behind the name of an Israeli hostage rescue operation in 1976. 



9. "License To Kill" (1989): $156.2 million

Opening Weekend Gross: $8.8 million

Bond Actor: Timothy Dalton

This is the second, and final, movie where James Bond was played by Timothy Dalton and also the fifth and final Bond film John Glen directed. It had an estimated budget of $32 million dollars, while other Bond film budgets ranged from $1 million all the way up to $230 million.



8. "Octopussy" (1983): $184 million

Opening Weekend Gross: $8.9 million

Bond Actor: Roger Moore

Maud Adams, who plays Octopussy, was featured in an earlier Bond film, "The Man With a Golden Gun," as a different character who was killed off. The movie was also released the same year as rival Bond flick, "Never Say Never Again" (not an Eon production). "Octopussy" earned about $30 million more at the box office than its rival, despite "Never Say Never Again" featuring the return of Sean Connery.



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Bruce Willis Returns As John McClane In 'A Good Day To Die Hard' Trailer

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Move over, Bond.

Bruce Willis is back, yet again, as John McClane in the fifth "Die Hard" film due out February 14 next year.

The teaser trailer for "A Good Day to Die Hard" gives away zero plot, but after four films in the franchise, we're pretty sure we get the idea. Willis. Guns. Helicopters. Guns. Explosions.

Plus, a little Beethoven to bring it all together doesn't hurt.

Check out the trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Celebrate 50 years of Bond with his highest-grossing films >

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50 Years Of 007: 'Bond' Babes Then & Now

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original bond girl bikini beach

Honor Blackman, Ursula Andress, and Eunice Gayson are some of the most legendary Bond girls of all time.

However, what happened to them since their days with 007? 

We looked at 20 bond girls 50 and over to celebrate half a century of James Bond.

While many of them eventually retired from acting–being best known for their singular roles as Bond girls–some continued successful acting careers, and carry it out until this day.

From "Dr. No" to "The Living Daylights" see how the Bond babes have changed over the years.

"Dr. No" (1962): Ursula Andress popularized the now-iconic scene where she steps out on the beach as Honey Ryder.



Now (Age 76): In 2005, Andress starred in small comedy "The Bird Preachers." The following year she was named honorary citizen of her birthplace Ostermundigen.



"Dr. No" / "From Russia with Love" (1962/1963): Eunice Gayson played Bond's girlfriend Sylvia Trench in two films.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Audiences Are 'Taken' With Liam Neeson—Here's Your Box-Office Roundup

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taken 2

You just don't mess with Liam Neeson.  

Poor reviews of "Taken 2" were no match for the heavy anticipation of Neeson's sequel to the low-budget 2009 action film.  

The film's massive debut gave it the third-highest opening in October behind "Paranormal Activity" ($52.6 million) and "Jackass 3-D" ($50.4 million), and also brought theaters back from a big September slump.

It didn't matter if critics liked the thriller or not, the first film has a cult-like following with its overwhelming amount of screenings on cable television. 

"Pitch Perfect" excelled during its wide release, "Hotel Transylvania" still delivered up scares for Sony while Tim Burton's nightmarish black and white "Frankenweenie" proved a dud. 

Out of the top ten this week include the fifth installment of "Resident Evil" and "Won't Back Down."

See this weekend's winners and losers at the box office:

10. "Finding Nemo" just makes it into the top ten with $1.56 million beating out Emma Watson's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower by an estimated $30,000.

9. "The Master" drops 31 percent to $1.8 million playing in less than half of the number of theaters for "Nemo." In four weeks, the Weinstein Co. movie has earned $12.3 million despite a limited release.

8. Jennifer Lawrence's "House at the End of the Street" drops nearly 50 percent this week with $3.7 million. In three weeks, the horror flick has nearly tripled its estimated $10 million budget earning $27.5 million.

7. "Trouble with the Curve" continues its slow descent. This week the film dropped three spots with $3.8 million. Eastwood's baseball movie has failed to earn $30 million in its three weeks in theaters.

6. "End of Watch" finally falls from the top spots in week three grossing $4 million. The film has earned $32.8 million on an estimated $7 million budget. 

5. Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie" opens up to a disappointing $11.5 million. The film, which cost an estimated $39 million to bring to the big screen after more than two-and-a-half decades. In comparison, kid's flick "ParaNorman" debuted to a $14.1 million opening.

4. The highly talked about "Looper" dropped two spot with $12.2 million. To date, the film has earned $40.3 million domestic, north of its estimated $30 million

3. "Pitch Perfect" moved up three spots thanks to an addition of 2,435 theaters this week. The quirky choir group brought in $14.7 million in week two bringing its total to $21.6 million.

2. Adam Sandler's "Hotel Transylvania" dipped 38 percent, holding a steady second with $26.3 million.

1. Neeson season is in full swing. "Taken 2" raked in a massive $50 million opening weekend, earning more than double the original's opening weekend ($24 million). The sequel is doing even better overseas with $67 million.

SEE ALSO: What 007's Bond girls look like today >

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'Mr. Big' Is Playing J.P. Morgan In A New Mini Series That Airs Tonight

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Chris Noth

Chris Noth, who is known for his role as Mr. Big, the on-and-off again financier boyfriend of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) on "Sex and the City," is playing real life big name financier.

The New York Daily News reports that Roth is portraying famed financier J.P. Morgan in an Encore mini-series called "Titanic: Blood and Steel," which airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET. 

His JPMorgan & Co. financed the International Mercantile Marine, a holding company that controlled the White Star Line, the owner to the RMS Titanic, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

What's more is Morgan reportedly had a ticket for the Titanic's maiden voyage, but cancelled so he could stay at a resort in France instead, the Smithsonian's report said.

Check out the trailer below.  Noth appears around the 1:26 minute mark. 

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'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Film Takes A Chance On Fairly Unknown Screenwriter

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terra nova kelly marcelE.L. James' hot and heavy "Fifty Shades of Grey" series finally has a screenwriter, but it's not anyone who we'd expect. 

The film's official Facebook page revealed British "Terra Nova" creator Kelly Marcel will pen the highly anticipated screenplay of women's dreams.

Who is Marcel and how much experience does she have writing steamy, erotic love scenes?

From the looks of her IMDB page, absolutely zero.

The only script she has under her belt is Fox's shortlived "Terra Nova" dinosaur drama. 

She also penned the screenplay for 2014 film "Saving Mr. Banks," a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Disney's "Marry Poppins" and HBO series "The Madonnas of Echo Park" which follows the lives of struggling illegal Mexican immigrants living in Los Angeles. 

And, it appears Marcel's into tweeting from the set, so we're sure we'll hear a lot more.

kelly marcel tweet

Marcel joins a "Fifty Shades" team that already includes Michael DeLuca and Dana Brunetti as producers.

SEE ALSO: What happened when Jay-Z rode the subway for his final Barclays concert >

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New Fandango President Tells Us His Plan To Broaden The Movie-Going Experience

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paul yanover movie theater

Fandango's on a roll right now. 

The company just came off its best quarter in its 12-year history in July, reported record traffic on its site during the summer, and made three huge announcements since the end of last month. 

20-year Entertainment Weekly veteran Dave Karger came on board as Chief Correspondent September 27, to represent the brand at awards shows, movie premieres, festivals and more.

Four days later, former Disney digital executive Paul Yanover was named to the newly created position of president. And, on the heels of that news, the company announced three original online programs.

With two big names from different mediums, where does Fandango go from here in 2013?

We spoke with the new president last week to get a sense of the company's direction for the coming year.  

On his time at Disney and how being at Fandango will be a change: 

“At Disney, we focused on two things, managing a brand and creating a franchise. I've worked at a lot of different parts at Disney from specifically making movies ("Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast"), to ecommerce and online media.  

So if you think about it in those terms, moving here, shares an aspect of both of those. Fandango is the consumer experience, everything from the service experience in terms of making the movie-going experience better, easier, faster and turning it into a destination experience. And, Fandango is an exciting brand to me, a brand that is so well established, and has so much room to grow."  

His outlook for Fandango:

“We’ll be looking to expand the brand. Our announcement with Dave Karger is an example of that and a concrete stake in the ground. We’ll be producing a lot more content viewable on multiple platforms.” 

How they will achieve those goals: 

"We will be looking at how we can broaden the online user experience and the total movie experience–how we think about movies, and how they fit into people's lives, more so then sitting in front of a screen at a theater. We're going find places where Fandango will be a value-add. And I think you can see that that value-add is going to demonstrate itself as a utility in social sharing, and a variety of experiences including mobile."

Among the new programming Yanover mentions are three series where Karger will put his movie and Oscar knowledge to use: "Fanticipation," a weekly show following box office films of interest to movie goers, "Honored," a countdown and analysis for awards season, and "Unsung," including the "unsung" heroes behind big releases. 

SEE ALSO: What fairly unknown screenwriter who will pen the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' adaptation >

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Here's Why 'Taken 2' Is Defying Critics And Doing So Well In Theaters

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liam neeson taken 2Warning: May be some small spoilers ahead.

Audiences couldn't wait for the return of Liam Neeson in the role of Bryan Mills in "Taken 2", and it showed. 

The highly critical reviews didn't stop the film from earning the top spot at theaters this weekend.  

The film exceeded expectations earning a massive $50 million last weekend, more than double its predecessor opening weekend. 

Despite its success, the sequel was missing some of the elements that made the first one a hit–smartly-executed hits and a takeaway one-liner (save one heated moment in a taxi cab between Neeson and his daughter)–so why did it do so well? 

1. History precedes it.  

Unsurprisingly, the second film in action franchises usually fares better than the original. A look at similar movies including "The Bourne Identity," "Transporter," follows this trend where the film's opening weekend nearly doubled that of the original. 

                                                       Opening Weekend                 Worldwide Box Office

"The Bourne Identity"                            $27.1 million                              $214 million
"The Bourne Supremacy"                      $52.5 million                              $288.5 million
"Transporter"                                        $9.1 million                                $43.9 million
"Transporter 2"                                     $16.5 million                              $85.2 million
"Taken"                                               $24.7 million                              $226.8 million
"Taken 2"                                            $49.5 million                                    n/a
"The Expendables"                               $34.8 million                              $103 million
"The Expendables 2"                            $28.5 million                              $84.4 million

jason bourne

One film that doesn't follow this model is the much-hyped "Expendables 2." The sequel, somehow starring nearly every action star save Neeson, earned nearly five million less than its predecessor opening weekend despite considerably better reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 65%.

2. Familiarity 

"Taken 2" follows a simple "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" format.

It's the same film as the original down to the movie's pace and set up. If we could run the two movies side by side, you would see plenty of overlap: Mills showing up to visit his daughter, Kim, Mills and his daughter fighting over some trivial embarrassment (not allowing her to travel alone vs. not allowing her to see a guy alone), and, then there's Neeson playing the calm, cool collected type telling everyone to do the same and "stay focused."

There's even a scene with Mills' old buddies; however, instead of hanging around inside his apartment, they're gathered around a barbecue.

It feels like a basic sitcom episode setup, and if you enjoyed it the first time around, chances are you'll tune in again. 

Strangely enough, audiences punished "The Hangover 2" for following a similar format after its release last May saying it was the exact same film. Though the film nearly doubled the opening weekend gross of the first film, the sequel never outperformed the original domestically. (The film fared much better overseas.)

So far, other than the critics, there hasn't been a lot of viewer feedback venting on Neeson. Entertainment Weekly praised the film as "the same, but different." 

This brings us to point three.

liam neeson batman begins the dark knight rises3. Liam Neeson

The Neeson Season video wasn't created by chance.

The point of seeing "Taken 2" was never to see a brilliant sequel, rather, it was to see Neeson do what he does best: use his particular set of skills to off a bunch of men in the most creative ways possible. 

He brings this same "set of skills" to the table in every film: "Batman Begins," "Star Wars," "The Grey," and audiences are okay with that. 

While some of that magic was lost the second time around, (a car chase cannot substitute for all the jumping, running, and well-executed kills) we can always count that we're going to get Neeson's overt consistency. This is why, time after time, a majority of his films of the past year open, on average ,over $20 million

And, finally ...

4. It Actually Is Entertaining

Maybe "Taken 2" isn't as stunning, shocking, or surprising as the first–we have to listen to Mills' daughter go on and on about her inabilities to maneuver a taxi around the streets of Istanbul until Neeson delivers one of the only original memorable lines in the film: "Do you know how to shoot? No. Then drive."–however, the sequel wasn't a terrible rehash. 

We get Neeson using his CIA prowess to hunt down his abductors, protect his family, and save the day.

And, sure, the film wasn't perfect. "Taken 2" had a few plot holes, less Neeson kills than the first (an estimated 21 vs. 25–we counted), and two deaths near the end that sort of just "happened" (We're pretty sure he used his Jedi force powers from "Star Wars" to help him out.), but the film did its job. 

At the end of the day, people just want to see Neeson, and that's what the film provided.

SEE ALSO: 50 years of "Bond" babes then and now >

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