title: Tiffany Haddish

text: On August 30, 2022, Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears were sued for alleged grooming and sexual abuse of two minors. According to the lawsuit, the children were recruited to film several comedy skits and were asked to perform sexually suggestive content. Tiffany Haddish's attorney, Andrew Brettler, released a statement saying the lawsuit had no merit. Haddish responded in an Instagram post stating that she deeply regretted agreeing to act in a skit that she said was meant to be comedic but was "not funny at all". Several weeks later, "Jane Doe" filed to have the charge against both Haddish and Spears dismissed with prejudice, stating, "My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years – and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us. We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us."


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: The Green Knight is a 2021 epic medieval fantasy film directed, written, edited, and produced by David Lowery, adapted from the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". The film stars Dev Patel as Gawain, who sets out on a journey to test his courage and face the Green Knight. It also stars Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, and Ralph Ineson.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: "The Green Knight" was theatrically released in the United States on July 30, 2021, by A24. The film received acclaim from critics for its cinematography, music, acting (particularly Patel's), production values, and Lowery's originality, direction and writing. It grossed over $19 million against a budget of $15 million.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: On Christmas morning, Gawain is awakened in a brothel by his lover, a common woman named Essel. He returns to the king's court, where he is scolded by his mother. Gawain attends a feast at the Round Table with his uncle, the king, who invites Gawain to sit at his right hand. Elsewhere, in a tower, Gawain's mother performs a magic rite that summons the mysterious Green Knight. He barges into the king's court and states that any knight who lands a blow on him will win his green axe but must travel to the Green Chapel and receive an equal blow in return on the following Christmas. Gawain takes up the challenge. The knight yields, and Gawain, wielding the king's sword, decapitates him. The knight rises, retrieves his severed head, repeats the requisite date to Gawain, and rides away.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Gawain revels all year; the king reminds him to uphold his side of the challenge. Gawain departs on horseback for the Green Chapel; he takes the green axe and he wears a green girdle given to him by his mother. She says that as long as he wears it, he shall suffer no harm. On his journey, he crosses a battlefield littered with dead warriors, where he meets a scavenging boy. The boy directs Gawain to a stream that leads to the Green Chapel, and asks for payment. Gawain flips him a single coin. Shortly afterwards, the boy and two others ambush Gawain and steal the axe, girdle and horse, leaving Gawain tied up. He crawls to his sword and uses it to cut the ropes binding his hands and then he pursues them. At nightfall, Gawain arrives at an abandoned cottage and falls asleep in its bed. He is awakened by a young woman named Winifred, who asks him to retrieve something that she has lost from a nearby spring. He asks what he will receive in return, but is rebuffed. He finds her skull and unites it with her skeletal remains and the next morning finds the axe has been returned to him.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Gawain befriends a fox who accompanies him on his journey. They reach a castle inhabited by a Lord, who informs him that the Green Chapel is nearby, and Gawain accepts his invitation to stay. The Lord's lady resembles Essel; she makes seductive overtures toward Gawain. The two men agree that the Lord will trade the prize from his hunt for whatever Gawain receives at the castle. The next morning, the Lady presents Gawain with the green girdle, which she claims to have made herself; in exchange for it, Gawain accedes to her advances. Gawain flees and encounters the Lord in the forest, who gives him a kiss. The Lord reveals that he has captured Gawain's fox and releases it; Gawain does not offer the girdle. Gawain reaches a stream where a boat is waiting. The fox speaks to Gawain, imploring him to turn back. Gawain chases off the fox and takes the boat to the chapel, where the Knight sits in hibernation. Gawain waits through the night, and the Green Knight awakens on Christmas morning.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: The Green Knight swings the axe and Gawain flinches. The Knight chides him. Gawain kneels for the blow again, but at the last moment, he scrambles away. He imagines fleeing back to the king's court and becoming king after his uncle's death. In Gawain's reverie, Essel bears his son, but Gawain abandons her, takes the child and marries a noblewoman instead. His son comes of age and dies in battle. Many years later, Gawain has become a reviled king. His castle is under siege and his family abandons him; he removes the green girdle (which he had worn the entire time since re-obtaining it from the Lady), and his head falls from his shoulders, with the crown on the ground near him.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Back in the present in the Green Chapel, Gawain kneels and removes the girdle, and tells the Knight that he is ready. The Knight praises Gawain for his bravery, then drags his finger across Gawain's throat and playfully says, "Now, off with your head", and smiles kindly.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: It was announced in November 2018 that David Lowery would direct and write a modern retelling of the 14th-century tale "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", with A24, Ley Line Entertainment, and Bron Studios set to finance.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: In March 2019, Dev Patel was announced to be in negotiations to star in the film. That month, Barry Keoghan and Ralph Ineson joined the cast. In April 2019, it was announced Alicia Vikander and Erin Kellyman had been cast. Principal photography began in Ireland in March 2019. Ardmore Studios and Cahir Castle, County Tipperary, were used as filming locations, as was Charleville Castle in Tullamore, County Offaly. Weta Digital created the visual effects.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Lowery was inspired by fantasy films of the 1980s such as "Willow" and "Excalibur". Initially, while writing the script, Lowery did not intend for Morgan le Fay to be Gawain's mother, but felt that altering the story this way allowed for her to be more naturally introduced into the narrative. Lowery stated that the intercut scenes of le Fay casting the spell that summons the Green Knight were not part of the original screenplay. However, Lowery was impressed with actress Sarita Choudhury's work with the character and the scene was written and storyboarded to be included in the Round Table scene. Lowery spent well over a year editing the scene together. The decision to design le Fay's spell in the form of a handwritten letter was also due to Lowery's fondness for letter writing, found in his other works as well. The inclusion of Saint Winifred was inspired by the mention of the Holy Head (Holywell) in the original poem. The inclusion of the highway robbery is an allusion to the 1975 film "Barry Lyndon", while the battlefield where Gawain first encounters the robber is inspired by the Battle of Badon. While Gawain's ultimate fate is left ambiguous at the end of the film, Lowery originally shot a more "explicit" and "definitive" ending, but felt that it would affect audiences' feelings coming away from the film.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Set designs, such as the scene at the Round Table, included hand painted matte paintings to extend the set, a technique Lowery favored from films in the '80s and '90s. Time constraints with shooting forced cinematographer Andrew Palermo and set designer Jade Healy to plan how lighting would be built into the Round Table scene ahead of time.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Costume designer Malgosia Turzanska drew upon South American designs when designing the crowns worn by Arthur and Guinevere. Lowery also felt the designs reinforced the "saintly" status of Arthur and Guinevere as representations of Christendom in the West. The decorative plaques on Arthur's cloak referenced the creative team's various interpretations of King Arthur, and also included references to Lowery's other works, such as "A Ghost Story". Turzanska also designed the golden cape worn by Gawain to represent the character's golden mantle from the original poem.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: No digital visual effects were used in creating the Green Knight during the Round Table scene. Lowery preferred this in order to give the character presence on set. Actor Ralph Ineson wore prosthetics designed by Barry Gower. Scenes involving the horse alternated with a false mount that was wheeled around with a dolly, after the initial horse used for the scenes would not cooperate with Ineson. Lowery stated that the crew used practical effects to make the Green Knight appear larger, such as mounting Ineson on platforms. Digital effects were later used during the Green Knight's hibernation scene, including subtly transforming the knight's face into that of the other cast members. Speaking about the subtle humor and lightness incorporated into the otherwise dark script, Lowery stated that near the end of the film, he directed Ineson to portray the Green Knight as Santa Claus.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Lowery describes the film as being about the importance of comporting oneself with integrity and goodness over being concerned with one's legacy. Though the question of Gawain's ultimate fate is left intentionally ambiguous, Lowery stated that he wanted the possibility of Gawain being beheaded to be, "a positive thing... He faces his fate bravely, and there's honor and integrity in that. But that doesn't mean that he's dead, he's killed. He received the blow that he was dealt, and all is set right within the universe of the film." The after-credits scene showing a young girl putting on a crown has been seen as "a tease of an alternate life that Gawain leads as king of Camelot, with his daughter (possibly even mothered by Essel) a sign of the happiness he found."


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: The complicated relationship between Morgan le Fay and Gawain written for the film also evoked Lowery's experiences with his mother and needing to be pushed to stand on his own as an adult.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: The film also deals with the conflict between mankind and nature. Lowery stated that monologue by Vikander's Lady Bertilak reflects both the symbolism of Arthurian Christian civilization being in conflict with paganism and nature and his own sentiment that nature will inevitably win over civilization and bring peace. The Green Knight's depiction as a tree-like entity also depicts nature and paganism invading the dull sanctum of the Round Table and Arthur's kingdom. This is further emphasized by Lowery's decision to portray Arthur and Guinevere as sickly, alluding to the waning control of the civilization they represent.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Originally, "The Green Knight" was scheduled to have its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival (SXSW) on March 16, 2020, with a full theatrical release following on May 29. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, forced the cancellation of SXSW and a mass closure of movie theatres worldwide. With no timeframe for when cinemas might reopen, some studios opted to release their new films through video on demand (VOD). Lowery told the "A24 Project" podcast and "IndieWire" that he would prefer "The Green Knight" to see a theatrical release, but that he was ultimately not in control over whether or not it opened on VOD.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Later, Lowery revealed that he would have been unhappy with the cut of "The Green Knight" that was set to debut at SXSW, and that he spent six months during the pandemic re-editing the film into something with which he could be satisfied. In December 2020, A24 announced that "The Green Knight" would receive a theatrical-only release, opening in US cinemas on July 30, 2021. One streaming video option was available in the US: The A24 Screening Room allowed viewers to purchase a $20 ticket that allowed them to stream "The Green Knight", with an additional Q&A session with the cast and crew, during a four-hour window of their choice on the night of August 18. Although the US release progressed as planned, Entertainment Film Distributors chose to pull "The Green Knight" from UK cinemas two weeks before its scheduled theatrical release on August 6, citing the surge in COVID-19 cases from the Delta variant. After some deliberation, Entertainment opted to release "The Green Knight" simultaneously in theaters and through Amazon Prime Video on September 24 in the UK.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: "The Green Knight" was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and digitally through Lionsgate Home Entertainment on October 12, 2021. While the Blu-ray release contained a number of special features that highlighted certain elements of the film's production, no deleted or alternate scenes from "The Green Knight" were included.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: "The Green Knight" grossed $17.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $2.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $20 million.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "The Green Knight" was released alongside "Jungle Cruise" and "Stillwater", and was projected to gross around $4 million from 2,790 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including $750,000 from Thursday night previews. It ended up slightly over-performing, debuting to $6.8 million and finished second at the box office behind "Jungle Cruise". The film played best in big markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The film fell 62% to $2.6 million in its second weekend, finishing sixth, then made $1.6 million in its third weekend.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 89% based on 322 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critics consensus reads, ""The Green Knight" honors and deconstructs its source material in equal measure, producing an absorbing adventure that casts a fantastical spell." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Writing for "Vulture", Alison Willmore said that the film "is about someone who keeps waiting for external forces to turn him into the gallant, heroic figure he believes he should be", and added: "at the film's heart is a lesson that's as timeless as any legend — travel as far as you like, but you'll never be able to leave yourself behind." Brian Tallerico of "RogerEbert.com" gave the film a score of 4 out of 4 stars, describing the film as "one of the most memorable films of the year, a fascinating swirl of masculinity, temptation, heroism, and religion", adding: "It's a film that embeds the concept of storytelling and performance into its narrative ... while also weaving its own enchanting spell on audiences." Barry Hertz of "The Globe and Mail" described the film as "a beautiful, haunting and enigmatic work that reckons with the folklore's grave and tragic elements to deliver a masterpiece of blood, sex and magic", and praised Patel's performance as Gawain.


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: John Nugent of "Empire" gave the film a score of 5 out of 5 stars, describing it as "a rivetingly weird and exceptionally beautiful fantasy film that offers no easy answers but ponders the biggest questions", and wrote that the film was "Revisionist Fantasy, doing for the genre what the likes of Robert Altman or Alejandro Jodorowsky did with their Revisionist Westerns: bringing an avant-garde flair and an ambiguous morality to a previously occasionally cheesy and childlike world."


title: The Green Knight (film)

text: Keith Watson of "Slant Magazine" gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 4 stars, describing it as "a self-consciously revisionist take on Camelot lore", and wrote that the film "smooths out the enduring mysteries, opaque psychology, and narrative idiosyncrasies of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", resulting in a work that's only superficially more daring and enigmatic than its source material." Simon Abrams of "TheWrap" wrote that "while there's a lot of commendable chutzpah and curious longing baked into "The Green Knight", the movie's never as compelling as it is unusual."


title: Cruella (film)

text: Cruella is a 2021 American crime comedy film based on the character Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel "The Hundred and One Dalmatians". The film was directed by Craig Gillespie with a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, from a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis. It is the third live-action adaptation in the "101 Dalmatians" franchise, and serves as a reboot and an alternate origin story for the title character. Emma Stone stars as the title character, with Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Mark Strong in supporting roles. Set in London during the punk rock movement of the 1970s, the film revolves around Estella Miller, an aspiring fashion designer, as she explores the path that leads her to become a notorious up-and-coming fashion designer known as Cruella de Vil.


title: Cruella (film)

text: In 2013, Walt Disney Pictures announced the film's development with Andrew Gunn as a producer. Stone was cast in 2016 and also serves as an executive producer on the film alongside Glenn Close, who portrayed Cruella in the previous live-action adaptations, "101 Dalmatians" (1996) and "102 Dalmatians" (2000). Principal photography took place in England between August and November 2019.


title: Cruella (film)

text: "Cruella" premiered in Los Angeles on May 18, 2021, in the first major red carpet event since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and was released in the United States theatrically and simultaneously available on Disney+ with its Premier Access feature on May 28. The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast (particularly those of Stone, Thompson, and Hauser), Gillespie's direction, visual style, costume design, production values, and soundtrack, with criticism aimed at its screenplay. It grossed over $233 million worldwide. The film earned two nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Makeup and Hairstyling, winning Best Costume Design. It was also nominated in the former category and won in the latter at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards and 75th British Academy Film Awards while Stone was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical at the 79th Golden Globe Awards. A sequel is in development, with Stone set to reprise her titular role.


title: Cruella (film)

text: In 1964 England, Estella is a creative child with a talent for fashion, but is ostracized for her black and white hair and develops a nefarious streak. Her mother, Catherine, decides to move them to London, stopping at a party at Hellman Hall to ask the host for money. Sneaking inside, Estella loses her mother’s necklace while being chased by the host's ferocious Dalmatian dogs, which push Catherine off a cliffside balcony to her death. Orphaned, Estella runs away to London and befriends street urchins Jasper and Horace.


title: Cruella (film)

text: Ten years later in 1974, Estella practices thievery and grifts with Jasper and Horace, honing her fashion skills by designing their disguises, alongside their dogs, Buddy and Wink. For her birthday in 1977, Jasper and Horace get her a job at the Liberty department store, but Estella is made a janitor and denied the chance to use her talents. She drunkenly redecorates the window display and impresses the Baroness—a renowned but authoritarian haute couture designer—who offers her a coveted job at her fashion house. Estella gains the Baroness's confidence but notices her wearing Catherine’s necklace, which the Baroness claims is a family heirloom that an employee once stole. Estella asks Jasper and Horace to help retrieve the necklace during the Baroness's Black and White Ball.


title: Cruella (film)

text: To conceal her identity, Estella creates an alter-ego, "Cruella", and wears one of the Baroness's old designs from a vintage clothing store owned by the flamboyant Artie. At the ball, Cruella steals the spotlight as Jasper and Horace break into the Baroness's vault, but she is already wearing the necklace. Jasper releases rats into the party, allowing Estella to swipe the necklace. The Baroness summons her Dalmatians with a dog whistle, and Estella realizes the Baroness caused Catherine's death. In the ensuing chaos, one of the Dalmatians swallows the necklace. Seeking revenge, Estella orders Jasper and Horace to kidnap the Dalmatians, and recovers the necklace. Cruella upstages the Baroness at various events in extravagant fashions, gaining notoriety via society columnist Anita Darling, Estella’s childhood friend. Furious, the Baroness fires her lawyer, Roger Dearly, while Cruella's increasingly haughty behavior discomforts Jasper.


title: Cruella (film)

text: Estella designs and sews an elaborately beaded dress as the signature piece for the Baroness's spring collection and stages a robbery in the fashion house, leading the Baroness to lock up all the dresses. The night of the spring show, the Baroness opens the vault to find that the entire collection has been destroyed by thousands of moths, having emerged from the beads on the dress which were actually moth cocoons. Seeing what she has done, the Baroness realizes Estella and Cruella are the same person. Having wrecked the Baroness' show, Cruella stages her own fashion show outside in Regent's Park, wearing a faux Dalmatian-fur coat. Returning home, Estella is confronted by the Baroness and her men, who have captured Jasper and Horace. Setting fire to the building, the Baroness leaves Estella to die, and has Jasper and Horace sent to prison for her murder. Estella is saved by John, the Baroness's valet, who reveals that the necklace unlocks a box containing Estella’s birth records: the Baroness is her biological mother. She had ordered John to murder the infant Estella to focus on her career and keep her late husband's inheritance. Instead, John gave the baby to Catherine, one of the Baroness's maids, who raised Estella in secret.


title: Cruella (film)

text: Cruella breaks Jasper and Horace out of prison and reveals the truth, recruiting them, Artie, and John for her final scheme. The quintet sneaks into the Baroness's charity gala, having arranged for all the guests to dress as Cruella. Estella confronts her mother on the balcony, and the Baroness feigns an embrace before pushing her over the cliff, unwittingly witnessed by her guests. Estella secretly survives with a hidden parachute and, now legally dead, adopts her Cruella persona for good. The Baroness is arrested, swearing revenge on Cruella. Before her "death", Estella willed her inheritance to Cruella, including the manor which she renames it from Hellman Hall to "Hell Hall", moving in with her accomplices.


title: Cruella (film)

text: John McCrea portrays Artie, a member of Cruella's entourage and owner of a vintage fashion shop. He was the first original character in a live-action Disney film to be openly gay and the character is inspired by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Marc Bolan. Additionally, Kayvan Novak portrays Roger Dearly, a lawyer working for the Baroness, who becomes a songwriter after he is fired, and is subsequently gifted a male Dalmatian puppy named Pongo by Cruella; Jamie Demetriou portrays Gerald, a clerk at Liberty who is Estella's initial boss; Andrew Leung portrays Jeffrey, the Baroness's assistant; Leo Bill portrays the headmaster at Estella's school; Paul Bazely portrays the police commissioner Weston; Ed Birch portrays the Baroness's head of security; Paul Chowdhry portrays a Kebab Shop Owner, while Abraham Popoola portrays his co-worker George; and Tom Turner appears as the Baron von Hellman, the Baroness's late husband and Cruella's biological father.


title: Cruella (film)

text: A live-action Cruella de Vil film, based upon the character in Disney's "101 Dalmatians" franchise, was announced in 2013. Andrew Gunn was hired to produce the film, with Glenn Close (who previously played the character in the 1996 live-action adaptation "101 Dalmatians" and its sequel "102 Dalmatians") serving as executive producer and Kelly Marcel revising the script originally written by Aline Brosh McKenna. In January 2016, Emma Stone was cast in the titular role of Cruella de Vil. Costume designer Jenny Beavan later stated that her role on the film was to help Stone appear as a younger 1970s portrayal of Close's 1990s role in "101 Dalmatians", possibly confirming the shared continuity between the films, though the characters of Roger and Anita appear as the same age as Cruella and portrayed as different races with different occupations in this film. However, Stone was not allowed to portray Cruella smoking as she had previously been since Disney had banned characters being shown smoking in its films since 2007.


title: Cruella (film)

text: In August 2016, Jez Butterworth was hired to rewrite the previous draft of the screenplay. In November 2016, it was reported that Disney had hired Alex Timbers to direct the live-action adaptation, with Marc Platt joining the film as a producer. However, in December 2018, it was revealed that Timbers had left the film due to scheduling conflicts and Craig Gillespie would instead direct the film. In May 2019, Emma Thompson joined the cast as the Baroness, described as "an antagonist to Cruella who's thought to be pivotal in her transformation to the villain we know today.” Nicole Kidman was considered to be the top choice and Charlize Theron, Julianne Moore, and Demi Moore were also in consideration for the role, while Dev Patel was considered for the role of Roger Dearly. The same month, Tony McNamara and Dana Fox were hired to write the recent version of the screenplay. Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser were added in the following months as Jasper and Horace.


title: Cruella (film)

text: In August 2019, during the D23 Expo, it was revealed that principal photography for "Cruella" had already begun. In September 2019, Mark Strong, Emily Beecham and Kirby Howell-Baptiste were added to the cast. Filming wrapped in November 2019.


title: Cruella (film)

text: On March 31, 2021, it was announced that Nicholas Britell was hired to compose the film's score. The score album was released on May 21, 2021, by Walt Disney Records.


title: Cruella (film)

text: A separate soundtrack album for the film was released on the same day. Both albums feature "Call Me Cruella", an original song performed by Florence and the Machine, which appears in the end credits of the film.


title: Cruella (film)

text: "Cruella" was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on December 23, 2020, but it was delayed to May 28, 2021, as filming began. The film received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, "for some violence and thematic elements," making it the second live-action remake/spin-off of a Disney animated film to receive the rating, following "Mulan". On March 23, 2021, it was announced that the film would be released simultaneously on Disney+ with Premier Access in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on May 18, 2021, the first major red carpet premiere since the pandemic began.


title: Cruella (film)

text: Tickets for the theatrical screenings went on sale on May 14, 2021, and it was announced that the film would also be screened in Dolby Cinema in select territories. It was first screened for critics the same day.


title: Cruella (film)

text: A prequel novel titled "Cruella: Hello, Cruel Heart" was published by Disney Publishing Worldwide on April 6, 2021. Written by Maureen Johnson, the novel is set before the events of the movie, in 1967. It followed sixteen-year-old Estella and her encounter with Magda and Richard Moresby-Plum, two wealthy siblings who introduced her to the world of the rich and famous.


title: Cruella (film)

text: A tie-in novelization of the film by Elizabeth Rudnick was published by Disney on April 13, 2021. A book titled "Cruella's Sketchbook" was also released on the same day.


title: Cruella (film)

text: A manga adaptation of the movie by Hachi Ishie, titled "Cruella: Black, White and Red" was released by Viz Media on August 17, 2021.


title: Cruella (film)

text: On May 28, 2021, Disney+, in partnership with Social Tailors and Jeferson Araujo released an AR Effect for "Cruella", where users could share stories on Instagram of themselves with makeup and visuals inspired by the new movie of the Disney character.


title: Cruella (film)

text: "Cruella" was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Digital on June 25, 2021, and Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on September 21, 2021. In the United Kingdom and Australia, the film was released on home video on August 16 and 18, respectively.


title: Cruella (film)

text: According to Samba TV, the film was watched by about 686,000 American households in its debut weekend (39% behind "Mulan"s 1.12 million), resulting in around $20.57 million in revenue for Disney. The company also reported 83,000 UK households watched the film (resulting in $2.35 million), 15,000 in Germany, and 9,000 in Australia. In its first 30 days, the film was watched in an estimated 1.8 million U.S. households, generating a total of $54 million. In January 2022, tech firm Akamai reported that "Cruella" was the seventh most pirated film of 2021.


title: Cruella (film)

text: , "Cruella" has grossed $86.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $147.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $233.5 million.


title: Cruella (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Cruella" was released alongside "A Quiet Place Part II", and was projected to gross $17–23 million from 3,892 theaters in its opening weekend, and around $30 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame. The film made $7.7 million in its first day, including $1.4 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $21.5 million and a total of $26.5 million over the four days, finishing second at the box office. 61% of the tracked audience was female, with 43% being under 25 years old. In its sophomore weekend the film grossed $11 million, finishing third behind "" and "A Quiet Place Part II". The film then fell to 5th place in its third weekend, grossing $6.7 million. "Deadline Hollywood" wrote that despite having a running total of $71 million through five weeks, sources believed that the "Disney+ Premier PVOD tier is impacting the pic's overall revenue, not just at the box office, but in the movie's downstream ancillary revenues."


title: Cruella (film)

text: The film made $26.5 million in its domestic opening and earned $16.1 million in 29 other countries, for a global debut of $43 million. In China, "Cruella" debuted with a less-than-expected $1.7 million opening, finishing behind holdover "F9" which earned $8.9 million.


title: Cruella (film)

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 408 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: ""Cruella" can't quite answer the question of why its title character needed an origin story, but this dazzling visual feast is awfully fun to watch whenever its leading ladies lock horns." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 56 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 84% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Cruella (film)

text: Writing for "Variety", Peter Debruge said: "The director, who brought a wicked edge to pop-culture redux "I, Tonya" a few years back, has rescued Cruella from the predictability of the earlier "101 Dalmatians" remakes and created a stylish new franchise of its own in which a one-time villain has been reborn as the unlikeliest of role models." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" called the film "easy enough to watch but hard to care much about," complimenting the film's visual style while also finding that "[the film's] main purpose is to remind you that other movies exist." Peter Travers, reviewing the film for ABC News, wrote: "If looks really were everything, "Cruella" would be flying high on the dazzling costumes that two-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan has designed for and with two Oscar-winning Emmas–Stone and Thompson–are dressed to wow and deliver much to enjoy in this beautifully crafted fluffball and hits its stride when the two Emmas go on the diva warpath—all in the name of female empowerment." Justin Chang of "Los Angeles Times" remarked the movie as "dazzling fun" and lauded the performances of Stone and Thompson, of which he described the rivalry of the performances as "hard to resist on-screen", and hailed Beavan's costume design on the film as one of her best works since "", while drawing parallels of the film's moral ambiguities and Stone's portrayal of the titular character to her previous performance as Abigail Hill in "The Favourite".


title: Cruella (film)

text: Alonso Duralde of "TheWrap" wrote: "Placing these characters in the '60s and '70s allows director Craig Gillespie and screenwriters Dana Fox and Tony McNamara to place the characters into an exciting moment of fashion history... Costumer Jenny Beavan, art director Martin Foley, and production designer Fiona Crombie, and their respective departments, all seem to be enjoying and making the most of the film's period demands." In addition, Duralde also lauded the performances of Stone, Hauser, and Thompson, drawing comparisons of the characterizations of the latter's portrayal of the Baroness to Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" and Reynolds Woodcock in "Phantom Thread". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as "entertaining" and an "outrageous punk", as well as praising the performances and dynamic between Stone and Thompson. Furthermore, Bradshaw also complimented the tone of the film's soundtrack to Michael Jackson and similarly praised the film's mid-70s costume and production designs of Beavan and Crombie as "top-notch". "Chicago Sun-Times"s Richard Roeper rated the film with 3/4 stars, and highlighted Gillespie's direction for being "clever" and "devilishly offbeat" while praising the performances of Stone and Thompson as "appropriately over-the-top and wildly entertaining", drawing its comparisons to "The Devil Wears Prada" and also commended the costumes, makeup, and the production values of which he referred to as "spectacular", "dazzling" and a "visual feast", comparing its style to "Phantom Thread" and noting the similarities of the vibe and tone of the film's soundtrack to "Goodfellas", "", and "Baby Driver".


title: Cruella (film)

text: "The Daily Telegraph"'s Robbie Collin scored the film four out of five, similarly praised the film, which he described as a "rollicking tale" and an "acid-tipped wackiness", and lauded the film for its different approach in the Disney live-action adaptations as well as the previous "101 Dalmatians" versions and its interpretation of the central character in a new context. He also similarly praised the performances (particularly Stone and Thompson) as well as the supporting cast, which he referred to as "zany", while specifically remarking of Stone's performance of Cruella De Vil as "sharp-angled, hyper-expressive" and that Thompson's portrayal of the Baroness "stalks the fine line between threatening and ludicrous with stiletto-heel precision". In addition, Collin also praised the film's visual style and Beavan's costume design as "eyeball-popping" and "a garden-hose-blast to the eyeballs of pure sartorial flair and exuberance". K. Austin Collins of "Rolling Stone" rated the film with three out of five stars, praising Stone's success in embodying the titular character, and describing her performance as "vampy, stylish, and cruel" while comparing the film's style of storytelling to "I, Tonya", of which he noted a similar internalized victim-like story perspective of Tonya Harding to Cruella de Vil and even pointed out on the similar "plausibly two-sided" depiction of Stone's Cruella to Andrea "Andy" Sachs from "The Devil Wears Prada", but with a twisted spin. He also commended the supporting performances, particularly Thompson and Hauser, referring the film as "a battle of wits and knits", "entertaining", and "fun". Jamie Jirak from ComicBook.com called the film as "raising the bar when it comes to their [Disney's] live-action catalog", praising the art department, the performances and nostalgic elements. Debopriyaa Dutta from "Screen Rant" opined that the film told a "masterfully nuanced origin" and praised the performances of Stone and Hauser. "The Hollywood Outsider"'s Morgan Lanier described the film as “taking place in the 70’s with a lot of camp to lighten the mood”, praising Stone for giving Cruella “a twist of vulnerability” and giving the longstanding Disney villain a “fun glimmer”. Lanier also praised Thompson’s performance saying “Thompson gives the baroness the ability to chill a room”. Lanier concluded that the movie was “joyous, campy, great costumes, […] amplified by a killer soundtrack”. Kate Erbland of "IndieWire" gave the film a "B−", and labelling the film as "exciting" and "fun" and a "colorful, loud, and unexpected look" on the origin story of Cruella De Vil while Erbland singled out the praises on the casting and the performances of Stone, Thompson, Fry, Hauser, and the costumes, but found fault at the film's runtime of which she referred it as "bloated".


title: Cruella (film)

text: "The Washington Post"s Ann Hornaday described the film as "tedious, transgressive, chaotic and inert". While praising the performances of Stone, Thompson, Fry, and Hauser, as well as the costumes; she criticized the film, writing, and the runtime of which she found it as "overstuffed", "overlong", and "miserably misanthropic". Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" thought the film was misbegotten and felt that it favors more on style over substance. Though he praised Thompson's performance, the costume design and the soundtrack, he chided the film's writing as "lazy" and "careless". Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars, and said: "There's no denying that "Cruella" is stylish and kinetic, with a nasty edge that's unusual for a recent Disney live-action feature. But it's also exhausting, disorganized, and frustratingly inert, considering how hard it works to assure you that it's thrilling and cheeky." "Jacobin"s Eileen Jones labelled the film as a "dopey, uninspired, and tedious mess", specifically criticizing the script as "basically rotten" and describing the transformation of Cruella's character as "the complete mangling of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time." Jones took issue with the absence of the "implied critique [...] of Cruella's wealthy entitlement and mad consumer obsession" as shown in "101 Dalmatians", and the attempt to make a "legendary dalmatian-skinning villain" into a "scrappy, likable hero." Jones complimented the film's costume design, specifically emphasizing the "trash gown" shown at the Baroness fashion show, and describing it as "sufficiently cool that costume designer Jenny Beavan may win another Oscar."


title: Cruella (film)

text: In May 2021, both Stone and Thompson stated that they would like to do a second "Cruella" film as both a sequel and prequel in the style of "The Godfather Part II". In June 2021, Disney announced that a sequel is officially in the early stages of development, with Gillespie and McNamara expected to return as director and writer, respectively. In August 2021, Stone closed a deal to reprise her role in the sequel.


title: Eiza González

text: Eiza González Reyna (born 30 January 1990) is a Mexican actress and singer. She gained popularity for her debut role as Lola Valente in the Mexican musical telenovela "Lola, érase una vez" (2007–2008) and later starred in the lead role of Clara Molina on the Nickelodeon teen drama "Sueña conmigo" (2010–2011). She is also known for her roles as Santanico Pandemonium in the American horror series "" (2014–2016), as Monica "Darling" Castello in the action crime film "Baby Driver" (2017) and as Nyssiana in the cyberpunk action film "" (2019).


title: Eiza González

text: González was born on 30 January 1990 in Mexico City, Mexico, the only daughter of former model Glenda Reyna and Carlos González. Her father died in a motorcycle accident when she was 12; she has cited her father's death as a strong influence in her career. She has one brother who is 12 years her senior.


title: Eiza González

text: She attended two private bilingual schools, Edron Academy and the American School Foundation, both located in Mexico City. She completed two years of a three-year course at Televisa's acting school, Centro de Educación Artística, before she was cast as the protagonist in the 2007 teen-oriented telenovela "Lola...Érase una vez" at the age of 16.


title: Eiza González

text: From 2003 through 2004, González studied acting at the M&M Studio, an acting school in Mexico City run by famed actress, Patricia Reyes Spíndola. At age 14, she was accepted into Televisa's famous acting school, Centro de Educación Artística in Mexico City. While attending school, she was first spotted by producer and director, Pedro Damián, best known for his success with Latin pop band RBD.


title: Eiza González

text: Two years later, Damian cast González in a remake of Argentina's famous children's telenovela, "Floricienta". She portrayed Lola Valente, the lead female protagonist in "Lola, érase una vez". The show began filming in late 2006, and debuted in Mexico on 26 February 2007. It was later shown in various countries throughout Latin America and the United States. Following the completion of "Lola, érase una vez", González, accompanied by her mother, moved to New York City briefly in the spring of 2008 to attend a three-month course of acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She returned to Mexico City in early fall of that same year.


title: Eiza González

text: In April 2009, she was cast in an episode of the popular crime drama television series "Mujeres Asesinas" as a supporting character for the second season. She starred alongside Mexican actress Susana González in the episode "Tere, Desconfiada", playing the teenage antagonist, Gaby. González has said that she was told about the casting call while she was preparing to release her first solo album "Contracorriente".


title: Eiza González

text: In 2010, Nickelodeon announced that González would be starring in teen sitcom "Sueña conmigo", where she played the characters of Clara Molina and Roxy Pop. For the role, González traveled to Buenos Aires to film in April 2010. She lived in Buenos Aires for a year, traveling back to Mexico City on breaks during the production of the series. When filming ended in February 2011, Gonzalez returned to Mexico City. The show was produced by Nickelodeon and Televisa, and aired on 20 July 2010 in Latin America and Europe. Because of its success in Argentina, the cast performed several concerts in cities in that country from March to July 2011.


title: Eiza González

text: In 2012, González filmed "Casi 30", a comedy-drama directed by Alejandro Sugich. González plays Cristina, an 18-year-old ballet student who falls in love with Emilio, the film's lead character. The film marks González's acting debut in cinema. In 2013, the movie premiered at several film festivals in Mexico, but it premiered nationwide in Mexico on 22 August 2014.


title: Eiza González

text: In 2012, González starred in the Televisa series "Amores verdaderos", a remake of the TV Azteca television series "Amor en custodia". The show premiered on 3 September 2012. Originally, Mexican producer Pedro Torres offered González the lead role of Sofía López-Haro in his television show, "", the Mexican remake of the hit American television series, "Gossip Girl". González considered accepting the role, but declined, due to her rigorous filming schedule for "Amores verdaderos".


title: Eiza González

text: In late August 2013, González moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. In September 2013, González was cast in director Adrian Cervantes' film, "All Hail the Squash Blossom Queen". The film was slated to star Bonnie Wright of the "Harry Potter" film franchise, and González was expected to play Brittany in the movie, but she was later dropped from the project when the role was recast in 2015.


title: Eiza González

text: In November 2013, González was announced as a cast member for producer Robert Rodriguez's television series, "". González played Santanico Pandemonium, a role portrayed by Salma Hayek in the original film. The role was González's first English-speaking part, and she also featured prominently in print advertisements for the series. The show was produced by Rodriguez for his El Rey network. González relocated to Austin, Texas, to film the program's first season. Following its U.S. debut, the show became available for streaming internationally on Netflix in England, Canada, Australia, Europe and Latin America. On 26 March 2014, the series was renewed for a second season on El Rey.


title: Eiza González

text: On 12 August 2014, she hosted the "MTV Millennial Awards" at the World Trade Center Mexico City in Mexico City. In March 2015, González and the cast of "From Dusk till Dawn: The Series" returned to Austin, Texas, to begin filming for the show's second season.


title: Eiza González

text: Since 2015, González has landed a string of prominent roles, appearing as Darling in "Baby Driver" (2017), Madame M in "Hobbs & Shaw" (2019), Nyssiana in the cyberpunk film "" (2019), Fran in "I Care a Lot" (2020), KT in "Bloodshot" (2020) alongside Vin Diesel, executive Maia Simmons in "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021), and paramedic Cam Thompson opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in "Ambulance" directed by Michael Bay.


title: Eiza González

text: González is to appear as "an artist and influencer" in the Apple TV+ climate change-themed anthology series "Extrapolations", written and directed by Scott Z. Burns. She was cast in the Netflix series adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem" from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.


title: Eiza González

text: González has been a spokesperson for numerous brands. In 2008, González was chosen as the new face of Color Trend for cosmetics brand Avon in Mexico. In 2009, she filmed commercials for the skincare brand Asepxia. She was announced as the newest brand ambassador for the skincare line Neutrogena in February 2015, and filmed advertisements in both Spanish and English to promote the brand.


title: Eiza González

text: Following the success of her debut performance in "Lola, érase una vez", González signed a deal with EMI Televisa to record her own album as a solo artist in late 2008. Pre-production and recording for González's debut album, "Contracorriente", called "Counter-current" in English, began in fall 2008; the album was recorded in Los Angeles, Texas, and Mexico City. The album was released in Mexico on 24 November 2009. It was released in the US on 26 January 2010. The album's only single, "Mi destino soy yo" was released in Mexico on 20 October 2009. To promote the single, she performed at televised music festivals and concerts across Mexico. Because of the "Sueña conmigo" musical tour in Argentina, González was unable to embark on a longer tour for the album or release a second single.


title: Eiza González

text: In June 2011, González announced that she wished to focus on the production and recording of her second solo album. She also revealed that she planned to spend the remainder of the year working on new music and would not return to film or television projects until the album was completed. She completed production on her second album during the first months of 2012. The album was recorded in Mexico City, Texas and the Dominican Republic.


title: Eiza González

text: The first single off her second album, "Te Acordarás de Mí", was released for digital download on iTunes for Mexico on 16 April 2012, and 22 May 2012 for the U.S. The song was co-written by González, singer-songwriter Alejandra Alberti, and Carlos Lara in Mexico City. The album, also titled "Te Acordarás de Mí", was released on 12 June 2012 in Mexico in physical and digital format, and digitally on iTunes the U.S. on the same day. The album contains 12 songs, of which González co-wrote three. "Te Acordarás de Mí" debuted at number 66 on the Mexican Charts. "Invisible" was announced as the second single, and was released on the radio in Mexico on 1 August 2012.


title: Eiza González

text: As of late August 2013, González was living in Los Angeles. In September 2015, she revealed that she struggled with depression and compulsive overeating from age 15 to age 20 as a result of her father's death.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (internationally titled The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro) is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film was directed by Marc Webb and produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. It is the fifth theatrical "Spider-Man" film produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, the sequel to "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012), and the final film in "The Amazing Spider-Man" series. The studio hired James Vanderbilt to write the screenplay and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to rewrite it. The film stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field. In the film, Peter Parker tries to protect his girlfriend Gwen Stacy as he investigates his parents' death while also dealing with the supervillain Electro and the return of his best friend, Harry Osborn, who is dying from a deadly genetic disease.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Development of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" began after the success of "The Amazing Spider-Man". DeHaan, Giamatti, Felicity Jones, and Chris Cooper were cast between December 2012 and February 2013. Filming took place in New York City from February to June 2013. The film was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 2, 2014, in the United States with two international premieres being held between March 31 and April 10 of that year. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry between Stone and Garfield, action sequences, visual effects, direction, and Hans Zimmer's musical score, but criticized the screenplay, story, tone, and overabundance of plotlines. while Foxx's portrayal of Electro was met with mixed responses. Although it grossed $709 million worldwide, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2014, it earned $49 million less than its predecessor and is the lowest grossing live-action Spider-Man film to date, becoming a box-office disappointment.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: "The Amazing Spider-Man" series was originally intended to continue with at least two more sequels and several spin-offs, most notably films centered on Venom and the Sinister Six. Due to the film's mixed critical reception and relatively disappointing box office performance, all subsequent installments were canceled. Both Garfield and Foxx reprised their roles in "" (2021), which followed the events of this film, and linked it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe using the concept of the multiverse.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Former Oscorp scientist and businessman Richard Parker records a video message to explain his disappearance. He and his wife Mary Parker try to flee aboard a private jet that is hijacked by an assassin. The jet crashes, killing the couple.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: In the present day, two years after his battle with Dr. Curt Connors, Richard and Mary's son, Peter, continues to fight crime as Spider-Man and apprehends Russian criminal Aleksei Sytsevich. Due to Peter's reservations about his relationship with his girlfriend Gwen Stacy since making a vow to her late father to stay away from her, Gwen ends their relationship after their high school graduation. Peter's childhood friend, Harry Osborn, returns home to see his terminally sick father, Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp. He explains that his illness is genetic and Harry is at the age where it first develops. Norman dies, and Harry is appointed the new CEO.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: While working in an Oscorp laboratory, mild-mannered electrical engineer Max Dillon accidentally shocks himself and falls into a tank of genetically-engineered electric eels. They attack him and he mutates into a living electric generator. Meanwhile, Gwen tells Peter that she may move to England if she earns a scholarship to Oxford University. Unaware of the extent of his power, Dillon wanders into Times Square, accidentally causes a power outage, and is stopped by Peter, as Spider-Man. Dillon is taken to the Ravencroft Institute, where he is studied by German scientist Dr. Ashley Kafka.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Meanwhile, the first symptoms of Harry's illness are showing, and he uses information Norman gave him to deduce that Spider-Man's blood could save him. He asks Peter, who has been selling photos of Spider-Man to the "Daily Bugle", to aid him in finding Spider-Man. Peter is unsure of what effects the transfusion would have and wary of the possibility of Harry suffering a mutation similar to Dr. Connors. He later refuses Harry as Spider-Man, angering him. Oscorp vice president Donald Menken frames Harry for covering up Dillon's accident, removes him as CEO, and takes control of Oscorp. Harry proposes a deal with Dillon, who now calls himself "Electro", to get back inside the Oscorp building. Electro agrees and kills Dr. Kafka.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Upon getting back into Oscorp, Harry finds the venom from the now-destroyed genetically altered spiders. However, after he forces Menken to inject him with the venom, it accelerates his illness and turns him into a goblin-like creature, but the built-in emergency protocol in an armored suit restores his health. Meanwhile, Peter finds his father's secret lab in an abandoned subway station and learns that he had to flee because he refused to cooperate with Norman's plans to make biogenetic weapons with his research. Peter then discovers that Gwen was offered the Oxford scholarship. He professes his love for her, and they agree to go to England together.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: When Electro causes another power outage, Peter and Gwen restore power and overload Electro's body, killing him. Harry, as "Green Goblin", arrives equipped with Norman's weaponry. Upon seeing Gwen, he deduces Spider-Man's secret identity and swearing revenge for being refused the blood transfusion, takes her to the top of a large clock tower. Peter manages to subdue Green Goblin but is unable to save Gwen, who falls to her death. Guilt-ridden and depressed, Peter ends his career as Spider-Man.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Five months later, Harry is coping with the aftereffects of his transformation while being imprisoned at Ravencroft. His associate, Gustav Fiers, visits him and the pair discusses forming their own team. Fiers orders Harry to start with Sytsevich, escaped from prison. Equipped with an electromechanical suit of armor, Sytsevich dubs himself the "Rhino" and rampages through the streets. Peter, inspired by Gwen's graduation speech, confronts him as Spider-Man.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Felicity Jones portrays Felicia Hardy, Harry's sidekick at Oscorp. While Jones was only credited as "Felicia" in the final film, her surname was presented as "Hardy" in a marketing video for the film's release on digital HD formats. Marton Csokas portrays Ashley Kafka, the head of Ravencroft Institute, and B. J. Novak appears as Alistair Smythe, Dillon's boss and an Oscorp employee. Kari Coleman, Charlie DePew, Skyler Gisondo, and Jacob Rodier reprise their roles from the first film as Helen Stacy, Philip Stacy, Howard Stacy, and Simon Stacy, respectively, with the latter being uncredited. Chris Cooper, who portrays Norman Osborn, the founder of Oscorp and Harry Osborn's father, and Denis Leary, who reprises his role as George Stacy, appearing as a soul in Peter's visions, are also in uncredited roles. Spider-Man cocreator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as a guest at Peter and Gwen's graduation ceremony. Michael Massee reprises his role as the "Man in the Shadows" from the first film, with the character now credited as "Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman)". Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary Jane Watson before her scenes were cut from the final film. Aidy Bryant appears as a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The sequel's villain was teased in the 2012 film. Webb stated that the origin story would further unfold in the second installment. In June 2012, Webb said he was unsure whether he would return, though it was confirmed on September 28, 2012, that he would return to direct the sequel. He stated that he "wanted to create a universe that not only can withstand but anticipate future storylines" while also "working in and of itself for one movie." Andrew Garfield had also expressed hope to reprise his role, and in September 2012, it was confirmed that he would do so. Emma Stone was later confirmed to be reprising her role as Gwen Stacy, having signed a contract for two "Amazing Spider-Man" sequels. The costume was completely redesigned to be more faithful to the comics, following the mixed reaction of the costume from the first film. The eye lenses were changed to be much larger and solid white, while specially screen printed fabrics were used to allow the color of the costume to change in different lighting scenarios. The web shooters were also modified to be more streamlined with the suit.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Actor J. K. Simmons expressed interest in reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy should the studio offer it to him. In October 2012, Electro was rumored as the next villain. Jamie Foxx was given the role. That December, Foxx confirmed that he was cast as the character, and during an interview with MTV, explained that the redesign of the character would be more grounded as well as details of his depiction, which were based upon the Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Electro. On December 3, 2012, Marc Webb revealed that Dane DeHaan was chosen to play Harry Osborn. Paul Giamatti was confirmed as a cast member in February 2013. Felicity Jones confirmed her involvement with the film under an undisclosed role. Giamatti also indicated in an October 2013 interview that he would return in "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" as well. On February 27, 2013, Chris Cooper was cast as Norman Osborn.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: By October 10, 2012, Shailene Woodley was in talks for the role of Mary Jane Watson. By March 14, 2013, Woodley had concluded filming her small role. Garfield recalled, "I think all of [those scenes] were in our backyards. We had two or three scenes with me talking over the fence, and there was one with us riding together on a motorcycle that we never got to shoot." By mid-June, Mary Jane was cut from the film, with director Webb explaining it as "a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship."


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On February 4, 2013, Marc Webb posted on Twitter that principal photography had begun and that the sequel was being shot on 35mm film in the anamorphic format, instead of being filmed digitally as the preceding film was. Sony revealed this would be the first "Spider-Man" film to be filmed entirely in New York state, including a car-chase scene that was filmed in Rochester because the speed laws are less restrictive in upstate New York.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: It became the largest film production ever in New York state. The decision to film in Williamsburg, Brooklyn near the Passover holiday caused some controversy, as critics believed that this was culturally insensitive, and would cause problems with parking. The filming company decided to work with the community and then agreed to adjust its production activities for Passover. The producers had assembled a 200-person crew for the 10-day shoot in Rochester, with a total number of 250 local crew members and 150 local extras. The prominent scenes were shot mostly on Main Street of Rochester and were digitally remastered to look like New York City.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On March 1, a scene within the movie was filmed in NYC Chinatown's Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Consequently, Doyers street was shut down for the day of filming, with the businesses on the street being compensated for the inconvenience.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On June 25, Webb posted on Twitter that filming was completed. Soundstage work was done at Grumman Studios and Gold Coast Studios, both in Bethpage, New York, and at the Marcy Armory in Brooklyn.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Sony Pictures Imageworks designed the CGI special effects for the film. The digital composition of the film, including the scene where the battle of Spider-Man and Electro in Times Square, took one year to complete. The sets of Times Square were built in Gold Coast Studios with the green screens and most of the scenes were digitally re-designed by computer. The photography and VFX team took over 36,000 photos of the Times Square in order to re-create the location digitally. In addition, the animation team captured over 100 billboards during the photography process.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The film was post-converted from 2D to 3D, in part because the production team wanted to shoot 35mm film. Dan Mindel used Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 and 200T 5213, while the second unit shot day exteriors on Kodak Vision3 50D 5203. During the production, 20 layers of lightning CGI effects were applied to depict Electro. Jamie Foxx was photographed as Electro by the KNB EFX team and the skin colors used to show the moods of the character. A total number of 1,600 visual effects shots of the film was originally filmed in 2K resolution and then converted into 4K resolution with the help of color grading. To give the visual effects a realistic look, sound designers Addison Teague and Eric Norris and re-recording mixers Paul Massey and David Giammarco mixed the background music using Auro 11.1 cinema sound technology and the film's soundtrack was remixed using Dolby Atmos, Auro, and Dolby 5.1.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The film was mixed in Dolby Atmos and Auro 11.1 in the converted William Holden Theater. The mix for both was completed by Paul Massey and David Giammarco.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: A mid-credit teaser scene from "" was added to the film after its London premiere, due to an existing deal between Webb and 20th Century Fox, in which Fox allowed Webb to direct the film if Sony would promote the X-Men film for free. The scene, set during the Vietnam War, shows Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), a rogue mutant, trying to infiltrate a military camp led by William Stryker (Josh Helman) in an attempt to recruit fellow mutants Havok (Lucas Till) and Toad (Evan Jonigkeit). The scene's inclusion sparked confusion among some viewers in the United Kingdom, who thought it meant an X-Men–Spider-Man crossover film was being planned, based on how Marvel Studios and Disney use codas within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to promote future films.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Webb then hired Hans Zimmer to compose the music for the film. On October 25, 2013, Pharrell Williams revealed to "Billboard" that he would co-compose the score with Zimmer. Webb and Zimmer formed a supergroup with Williams, Johnny Marr, Mike Einziger and former Eurythmic, David A. Stewart, to create the music for the sequel. Eventually, Stewart did not participate in the film's music, and the supergroup, credited as "The Magnificent Six", a reference to the Sinister Six, was composed of Williams, Marr, Einziger, Junkie XL, Steve Mazzaro and Andrew Kawczynski assisting Zimmer. The soundtrack for the film was released on April 18, 2014, by Columbia Records and Madison Gate Records. Hans Zimmer described his work for this film as different from previous works by him, thus revealing one of the themes for the film, which was first heard on the website.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On March 31, 2014, Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar recorded a song titled "It's On Again", which was uploaded to SoundCloud. Keys announced the song on Twitter and credited Zimmer and Williams, along with Lamar and herself for the song, indicating the song as a part of the film's soundtrack. Webb described the song as "upbeat and exciting".


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The release of the film in the United Kingdom was moved to April 16, 2014, two days ahead of its original April 18 date. Deadline reported that, in addition to the production budget, the film's marketing budget was $180–190 million.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On July 17, 2013, Sony released a clip from the film with the first released footage of Jamie Foxx as Electro to encourage attendance at the panel, at the San Diego Comic-Con International. At the panel they premiered a four-minute trailer, which was not publicly released but eventually leaked on the internet. Viral marketing for the film included a version of the "Daily Bugle" on the blogging service Tumblr, which included references to Kate Cushing, Detective Stan Carter, the "Big Man", Izzy Bunsen, Joy Mercado, Donald Menken, the Vulture, Hydro-Man, Spencer Smythe, Ned Leeds, Anne Weying, J. Jonah Jameson, Shocker, Alistair Smythe, Doctor Octopus, Eddie Brock, The Enforcers, and Puma. Marc Webb posted a photo on Twitter with a message written in Dwarven language revealing that the first trailer would debut prior to 3D screenings of "".


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On December 8, 2013, it was announced that new footage from the film would be presented during New Year's Eve festivities at New York City's Times Square. The film was further promoted during the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) "Earth Hour" campaign. The cast was present at the launch of the 2014 event in Singapore. Disney Consumer Products announced a merchandise product line for the film at the American International Toy Fair on February 17, 2014.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: In March 2014, Gameloft and Marvel announced the launch of a mobile game of the same name for smartphones and tablets. It was released on consoles afterward. Kellogg's released an application featuring the film. Evian served as a promotional partner of the film. On April 1, 2014, the brand released an advertisement "The Amazing Baby & Me 2" featuring Spider-Man and a baby version of him, as a follow-up to their original "Baby & Me" campaign. The film partnered with NBCUniversal for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Bravo, E!, USA, Syfy, Telemundo, and mun2. A customized page was created on Fandango. In May 2014, Marvel announced that Spider-Man's costume from the film would be shown within "".


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for digital download on August 5, 2014 and was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on August 19, 2014. The Blu-ray/DVD release includes an alternate ending in which Peter Parker's father meets Peter at Gwen's resting place. Creative agency Deckhouse Digital was hired to produce several animated GIFs ahead of the film's Blu-ray/DVD release as part of a sponsored ad campaign on Tumblr.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" received a standalone 4K UHD Blu-ray release on March 1, 2016. The film was later included in "The Spider-Man Legacy Collection", a 4K UHD Blu-ray collection which includes the first five Spider-Man films, and was released on October 17, 2017.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" grossed $202.9 million in the United States and Canada and $506.1 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $709 million. "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the net profit of the film to be $70.38 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it one of the top 20 most profitable releases of 2014.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The film grossed $8.7 million on its early Thursday night showings. It finished its opening weekend in first place with $91.6 million, almost $30 million more than the opening-weekend gross of the first film. Upon opening, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" had the second-highest domestic opening weekend for a 2014 film, behind "". In its second weekend the film grossed $35.5 million (falling 61%) and dropped to second at the box office behind newcomer "Neighbors". It was similar to the 61.5% second-week drop of "Spider-Man 3" (2007).


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Outside North America, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" opened on April 16, 2014 to $2.73 million in the UK and to $190,000 in Belgium, while opening to $1.44 million in Australia and $1.11 million in Germany. Within a few days, the opening gross in the UK increased to $15 million, breaking "The Lego Movie"s record for having the country's largest opening weekend of the year. The film's release in India was the biggest opening weekend for an American film at that point with . Its final box office collection was $13.44 million there, one of the highest of all time by a Hollywood film. In China, the film played on 11,002 screens, which is the biggest release of any film in history. On its opening day in Hong Kong, the film earned $1.23 million, the highest opening gross in the territory.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . This is to date the only film featuring Spider-Man to receive a "Rotten" rating on the website. The site's critical consensus reads, "While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, lower than the "A−" earned by its predecessor.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The "Los Angeles Times" said, "[The film is] overstuffed with plot lines, set pieces and villains, although stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do their best to give the movie heart." Tim Robey of "The Telegraph" said, "Marc Webb's Spider-Man sequel is overstuffed with high-voltage villains, but the sparks between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone save the day". Simon Reynolds of "Digital Spy" said, "Peter's past, present and future all intertwine in a sequel that offers bang for your buck. That said you can't help [but] feel the franchise bean counters at work here thanks to all the ominous foreshadowing and unresolved character arcs. Too many cooks and all that ...". Kim Newman of Empire scored the film three out of five stars, saying: "A few too-broad gags aside—and even these are in the funky spirit of '60s Marvel—this is a satisfying second issue with thrills, heartbreak, gasps, and a perfectly judged slingshot ending." Leslie Felperin of "The Hollywood Reporter" said, "The eponymous hero hits his super-heroic stride here, as does Andrew Garfield in the role, especially when Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker learns there's always some fine print in a contract with this many benefits. The plot gets itself tangled up in multiple villain strands, but in the main, this installment is emotionally weightier and more satisfying than its predecessor."


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Guy Lodge of "Variety" said, "Redundancy remains a problem, but this overlong superhero sequel gets by on sound, fury, and star chemistry." Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, stating that "It's about 20 minutes too long and it's overstuffed with too many characters and too many subplots, but there's enough good stuff in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" to warrant optimism about the next chapter of the franchise." A negative review came from Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone", giving the film two stars out of four, he said: "Things go wrong quickly with Amazing 2. Am I the only one who hates the word Amazing to describe a movie that isn't? Just asking." IGN reviewer Daniel Krupa gave 6.9/10 and wrote, ""Amazing Spider-Man 2" gets a lot right, yet there's a constant awkwardness to the machinery of its plot; you can almost hear the cogs turning. However, what's worse is that at times it becomes overtly patronising: there are flashing screens and computer voice-overs constantly telling you what something is or what something is doing, just in case the people in the back rows aren't paying attention, which feels at odds with the film's emotional intelligence." William Harrison of DVD Talk rated the film as 3.5 stars of 5 stars as "Recommended".


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Sony had originally intended the film to launch an expansive film universe around Spider-Man to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2013, Sony announced a third "Amazing Spider-Man" film with a release date of June 10, 2016 with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner returning to write and a fourth film with a release date of May 4, 2018. The series was to include spin-off films featuring the Sinister Six and Venom, with Drew Goddard writing and directing the two-part "The Amazing Spider-Man: Sinister Six" and Kurtzman directing a "Venom and Carnage" script co-written by himself, Orci, and Ed Solomon. "Sinister Six Part 1" had been planned for a November 11, 2016 release. Additionally, by August 2014, Sony had hired Lisa Joy to write the script for a 2017 female-lead film starring Felicia Hardy / Black Cat. Sony announced plans for a spin-off based on "Spider-Man 2099" to be released in late 2017. The character later appeared in the post-credits scene of "", voiced by Oscar Isaac.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: However, between December 2013 and the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" in May 2014, Garfield and Webb stated that while they would both return for the third film, neither was certain of their involvement in the fourth with Webb confirming that he would not be directing. Following the mixed critical reviews and franchise-low box office performance of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", the future of the franchise was unclear. By July 2014, Orci had left the third film to work on "Star Trek Beyond" (2016). "The Amazing Spider-Man 3", which would have included Chris Cooper returning as Norman Osborn and focused on Peter recovering from Gwen Stacy's death, was delayed to an unspecified date in 2018, and "The Amazing Spider-Man 4" was moved to an unknown date.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Following the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, Emma Stone was revealed to be in talks to return as a resurrected Stacy in the 2017 female-lead film and "The Amazing Spider-Man 4" as the antagonist Carnage. Sony was further revealed to be in talks to have Sam Raimi return to the franchise to direct a new trilogy for his version of the character along with a "Spider-Man vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" movie and was in discussion with Marvel Studios about including Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "". Marvel reportedly was unhappy with some of the terms of the proposed arrangement including the film rights staying with Sony and both talks allegedly ceased. In early 2015, a deal between the studios that allows Spider-Man to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was reached, effectively cancelling "The Amazing Spider-Man" franchise. Speaking to Amy Adams for Variety's Actors on Actors YouTube series in 2016 Garfield described himself as being left "heartbroken" by his experience on working on "The Amazing Spider-Man" films.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: The Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures co-production, "", released in 2021. Being an adaptation of Marvel Comics' multiverse stories, it temporarily transported alternate reality versions of Spider-Men and other characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This included characters from both movies in "The Amazing Spider-Man" duology, as well as the "Spider-Man" trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire reprised their roles as Spider-Man. "No Way Home" also included a roster of villains from earlier Spider-Man films; Jamie Foxx returned as Max Dillon as portrayed in this movie (although he looks more yellow instead of blue, and his outfit at the final battle resembles more closely that of the comics), along with Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina reprising their versions of Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius from Sam Raimi's trilogy. In limited roles involving voice acting and use of archival footage, Rhys Ifans reprised his role as Curt Connors from "The Amazing Spider-Man" and Thomas Haden Church returned as Flint Marko.


title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

text: Following the events of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", "" depicts Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker as being haunted by his inability to save Gwen Stacy from her fall and ends up saving Michelle Jones-Watson from a similar fate in that movie's climax.


title: Tigray War

text: The Tigray War was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.


title: Tigray War

text: After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when Tigrayan security forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray. The ENDF counterattacked from the south – while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north – which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as "law enforcement operations." Federal allied forces captured Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, on 28 November, after which Abiy declared the operation "over." However, the Tigray government stated soon afterwards that it would continue fighting until the "invaders" were out, and on 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) retook Mekelle; by July the same year, they had also advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions. In early November 2021, the TDF, together with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), took control of several towns on the highway south from Tigray Region towards Addis Ababa, and the TPLF stated that it considered "marching on [the capital]." Together with seven smaller rebel groups, the TPLF and OLA declared a coalition aiming to "dismantle Abiy's government by force or by negotiations, and then form a transitional authority."


title: Tigray War

text: After a successful government counter-offensive in response, and then a series of negotiations with the TPLF, Ethiopia declared an indefinite humanitarian truce on 24 March 2022, in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray. However, fighting dramatically re-escalated in late August 2022, after peace talks broke down. Rapid mobilization of troops soon followed, with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray reportedly organizing hundreds of thousands of troops against each other by October the same year. After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November, which went into effect the day after; Eritrea was not a party to the agreement, however, and their status has remained unclear.


title: Tigray War

text: All sides, particularly the ENDF, EDF, and TDF, have committed war crimes during the conflict. Mass extrajudicial killings of civilians have taken place throughout, including in Axum, Bora, Chenna, Kobo, the Hitsats refugee camp, Humera, Mai Kadra, the Debre Abay monastery, and Zalambessa. An estimated 385,000–600,000 people have been killed, and war rape became a "daily" occurrence, with girls as young as 8 and women as old as 72 being raped, often in front of their families. A major humanitarian crisis has developed as a result of the war, with famine becoming widespread. It also inflicted immense economic damage on the region, with the cost of rebuilding alone estimated to be roughly $20 billion.


title: Tigray War

text: Following the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991, Ethiopia became a dominant-party state under the rule of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnically based parties dominated by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The founding and most influential member was the TPLF and the chairman was Meles Zenawi, who was the prime minister of Ethiopia until his death in 2012. He was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the chairman of the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), a coalition member. On 15 February 2018, Hailemariam announced his resignation as both prime minister and chairman of the EPRDF, owing to a growing discontent within the public, fueled by a reaction to 27 years of repression.


title: Tigray War

text: On 28 March 2018, in a closed-door election to chair the EPRDF, executive committee members elected the Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation (OPDO) chairman Abiy Ahmed. On 2 April 2018, Ethiopian parliament elected Abiy as prime minister. One of Abiy's first actions after his election was to initiate a warming of relations with Eritrea, a long-time rival of the TPLF, to end a 20-year long border conflict. While this decision was considered a cause of celebration at the time, many within the Tigray Region were heavily critical of this, seeing it as a betrayal of those who died in the 1998–2000 war. The TPLF condemned the peace initiatives, saying they were hastily made, had "fundamental flaws," and also claimed it was decided on without consulting long-time TPLF members.


title: Tigray War

text: On 1 December 2019, Abiy merged the ethnic and region-based parties of the EPRDF (which had governed Ethiopia for 28 years) and several opposition parties into his new Prosperity Party. The TPLF, which had long dominated Ethiopian politics, refused to join this new party. After losing the election and being ousted from the federal government, TPLF officials relocated to the Tigray Region, continuing to administer control there while frequently clashing with the federal government. In one instance, the Tigray regional government was reported to have defied the federal government and refused to allow Ethiopian Federal Police to arrest Getachew Assefa, the former chief of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Ethiopia and executive member of the TPLF.


title: Tigray War

text: The Ethiopian government and its supporters have accused the TPLF of trying to re-establish their rule over the country through violence and force. In turn, the TPLF has accused the federal government of accumulating too much power for itself, and that it was engaging in ethnic discrimination of Tigrayans.


title: Tigray War

text: Throughout 2020, tensions between the federal government and the TPLF escalated in the months leading up to November. In March, the National Election Board of Ethiopia delayed the general elections – originally scheduled for 29 August 2020 – to a then-undetermined date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The terms of federal and regional lawmakers, as well as the executive branch, were then extended by federal parliament beyond the October 2020 constitutional mandates. The TPLF, led by its chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, rejected these measures, arguing that they were unconstitutional, and held its own regional election on 9 September, in defiance of the federal government. Several journalists were barred by the Ethiopian government from travelling to cover Tigray's regional election. Ethiopia considered the Tigray election to be illegal, and responded by slashing federal funding to the region, a decision the TPLF described as "tantamount to declaration of war."


title: Tigray War

text: In late September 2020, the TPLF stated that the constitutional term limit of the House of Federation, the House of Peoples' Representatives, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers was 5 October 2020 and that for this reason, it would consider "the incumbent" constitutionally illegitimate after 5 October; they proposed replacing the government with a technocratic caretaker government, as detailed in a plan posted on Facebook by the Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces. Ethiopian elite units were transported to Gherghera base near Asmara, as part of an alleged pact between Prime Minister Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to "strike out of existence the TPLF," according to former Eritrean Minister of Defence Mesfin Hagos. In late October, the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission stated that it was trying to mediate between the federal government and the TPLF, as well as the other regional governments, but that the pre-conditions set by all sides were blocking progress. As tension continued to grow, a brigadier general appointed by Abiy was prevented by the Tigray government from taking up his military post. The same day before the Tigray forces launched the Northern Command attacks, the federal parliament of Ethiopia had suggested designating the TPLF as a terrorist organization.


title: Tigray War

text: The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia states in Article 39.1, "Every Nation, Nationality, and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession." Article 62.9 grants the House of Federation the right to "order Federal intervention if any State [government], in violation of [the] Constitution, endangers the constitutional order."


title: Tigray War

text: Just before midnight on 3 November 2020, Tigray Special Forces and allied local militia attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Northern Command headquarters in Mekelle, the Fifth Battalion barracks in Dansha, and other Northern Command bases. Several people were killed and the TPLF claimed the attack was carried out in self-defence or preemptive self-defense. In retaliation, an Ethiopian offensive was launched on 4 November, which was accompanied by the declaration of a state of emergency, the creation of the State of Emergency Inquiry Board and a shutdown of government services in the Tigray Region. During the subsequent days, skirmishes continued and the Ethiopian federal parliament declared the creation of an interim government for Tigray. Ethiopian offensives in the north were accompanied with airstrikes and several towns and cities were retaken.


title: Tigray War

text: On the night of 9 to 10 November 2020, 600 civilians, mostly Amharas and Welkait, were killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra with machetes and knives used by local militias and police loyal to the TPLF, according to preliminary investigations by Amnesty International and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; other refugees, interviewed by the "Financial Times" and "Reuters", said it was the Amhara militia who were the perpetrators and Tigrayans who were the victims. Two days later, refugees interviewed by the "Daily Telegraph", "The Guardian" and "The New York Times" stated that Amhara militias, including Fano, and the ENDF carried out beatings and massacres of 92 Tigrayans in Humera. Humera was shelled from the direction of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border for two days around 9–11 November. The ENDF gained control of the town one day later.


title: Tigray War

text: Offensives of joint ENDF-Amhara Region-Eritrean forces into Tigray were facilitated by the intervention of "Pterosaurus" drones, launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab, Eritrea. The Chinese-made, armed drones bombed Tigrayan artillery and weapons depots. In the late hours of 13 November 2020, Tigray forces fired a rocket towards the airports of Bahir Dar and Gondar in the Amhara Region. On 14 November, Tigray forces launched rockets at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, but the missiles missed. The Tigray government claimed these locations contained military terminals that served as bases to carry out airstrikes.


title: Tigray War

text: From 17 to 19 November, Ethiopian forces captured the Raya district and the towns of Shire, Alamata, Adwa, and Axum, and began moving towards Adigrat. Fighting between Tigray and Eritrea took place in Adi Quala, Zalembesa, Taruna, Ali Tina, Wadqomdi, and Badme. On 23 November, Ethiopian forces reached the regional capital of Mekelle and encircled it. A military spokesperson for Ethiopia, Colonel Dejene Tsegaye, announced that Mekelle would be shelled, and told Tigray civilians to flee the city because Ethiopian forces would show no mercy. Though TPLF leaders and special forces had already left the city, Ethiopian forces continued their direct assault on Mekelle on the morning of 28 November, and started heavily shelling the city. By the evening, Prime Minister Abiy declared Ethiopian forces had taken full control of the city. In total, 27 civilians were killed and 100 others were injured. The Tigray government vowed to continue fighting.


title: Tigray War

text: After Ethiopian federal forces and their allies captured Mekelle and other major cities, forces loyal to the Tigray government began to regroup into mountainous areas of the region and reorganized under the banner of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). This retreat was partially caused by the fact that a large portion of the TDF's artillery had been destroyed by air strikes. The TDF also began to dig into their positions in rural Tigray, marking the start of a guerrilla campaign against Ethiopian-allied forces from the mountains.


title: Tigray War

text: On 28 and 29 November, witnesses and survivors, including refugees in Sudan, reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) carried out the Axum massacre of about 720 to 800 civilians. The Eritrean government stated that it was angered by Amnesty International's report on the massacre, calling it "transparently unprofessional" and "politically motivated" and accusing Amnesty of fabricating evidence. However, refugees also spoke of the EDF killing 80–150 people in Idaga Hamus on 30 November, as part of a larger series of extrajudicial killings known as the Adigrat massacres.


title: Tigray War

text: By mid-December, fighting had reached Hagere Selam, Samre, Dogu’a, Kolla Tembien, May Tsemre and localities around Maychew. During this time, a violently enforced curfew was set up by Ethiopian forces along with Eritrean soldiers. According to the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), in Wukro over 200 people were killed and the town was left deserted. The Ethiopian government denied involvement in the killing.


title: Tigray War

text: Fighting intensified in early April; by this point, the TDF was in control of the rural areas of central and southern Tigray along with parts of eastern and south-eastern Tigray, while the ENDF was in control of the main roads and urban areas. Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north, respectively. All sides wished to secure a military victory, but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term, and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict. The Tigray Defense Forces were engaged in a war of attrition with popular support from the people of Tigray, who were infuriated by war crimes committed by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers and worried about a potential decrease in the region's autonomy. This resulted in the TDF growing in strength and the concept of secession from Ethiopia gaining popularity in Tigray, a stance which was considered likely to inflame Amhara-Tigray territorial disputes.


title: Tigray War

text: On 22 June 2021, an Ethiopian military cargo plane was shot down over Samre, marking a turn of the war in the TDF's favor. On 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces retook the city of Mekelle. People celebrated in the streets of Mekelle as the TDF took the city. Ethiopian soldiers, police and administrators were seen leaving, ahead of the occupation by the TDF. Shortly after hearing news of the TDF advance, the Ethiopian government declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire across the Tigray Region. "BBC News" reporter Vivienne Nunis characterised the ceasefire as an attempt by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to save face, the government having little other option.


title: Tigray War

text: On 6 July 2021, the Tigrayan government mobilised to retake western Tigray from Amhara forces. A TDF offensive starting on 12 July resulted in Tigrayan forces capturing southern Tigray, including the towns of Alamata and Korem. The TDF subsequently crossed the Tekezé River and advanced westward, capturing the town of Mai Tsebri in the Tselemti district, and prompting Amhara officials to call on its militias to arm themselves and mobilise. Following the TDF's rapid advances, Abiy threatened to resume war with Tigray and crush the rebels, raising fears of genocide. He called on other regions of Ethiopia to mobilise their special forces. The Oromia, Sidama, and SNNPR regions answered the call and mobilised.


title: Tigray War

text: From 17 to 19 July, the TDF began launching attacks in the Afar Region to its east, prompting the Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Harari and Somali regions to join the war. Heavy fighting in western Afar displaced over 54,000 people, and resulted in the TDF reportedly capturing three districts in the region.


title: Tigray War

text: While the Tigray government claimed it only entered Afar to target federal forces, experts believe their aim was to sever a portion of National Highway A1, a vital trade route for landlocked Ethiopia, linking the capital of Addis Ababa to the Port of Djibouti, from which most of its petroleum products are imported. Following the TDF's counter-attack on two districts of his region, the Amhara regional President, Agegnehu Teshager, called for the total mobilisation of all people of all ages who are armed in the region to fight against the Tigrayans. A similar call was made in Afar. Meanwhile, the city of Weldiya was captured by the TDF on 12 August 2021.


title: Tigray War

text: On 4 August 2021, some Agew people declared themselves independent from the Amhara Region and formed the Agew Liberation Front (ALF). The next day, Lalibela was reported to have been seized by Tigrayan forces. On 9 August, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore expressed concern about reports that over 200 people, including 100 children, had been killed in attacks on displaced families sheltering at a health facility and a school in the Afar Region. On 11 August, the TDF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) announced an alliance to overthrow Abiy Ahmed's government, saying they were also in talks with other rebel groups to establish a "grand coalition." With the TDF advancing deeper into Amhara, various cities across the region began enforcing curfews.


title: Tigray War

text: On 9 September 2021, the Ethiopian government claimed Tigrayan forces had been "routed" and heavily defeated in the Afar Region. Tigrayan spokesperson Getachew Reda said its forces had seen no fighting in Afar and had redeployed to the adjoining Amhara Region. On 30 September, amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray, the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials, reportedly because of "meddling" in its internal affairs, giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country.


title: Tigray War

text: On 8 October 2021, the TPLF said that an intensive air campaign by the Ethiopian Air Force began against TDF positions in the North Wollo and North Gondar zones of the Amhara Region, mostly around the towns of Wegeltena, Wurgessa and Haro. He also stated there was a "massive build up of forces on all fronts." The federal government and Amhara regional government did not respond to the claim. On 11 October, Ethiopian-allied forces launched coordinated ground attacks "on all fronts" against the TDF with combined arms including tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, warplanes, and drones according to the Tigrayan government. General Tsadkan Gebretensae, member of the central command of the TDF said both sides had been preparing for the offensive for months, and predicted that battle would be "decisive."


title: Tigray War

text: The new offensive effectively ended the unilateral ceasefire declared by the federal government in June and further deepened fears of the developing famine in Tigray, with a federal government blockade still preventing most aid from arriving. Meanwhile, the continued war prompted regional leaders, including Kenyan President Kenyatta, to voice their concerns and urge peace, while US Secretary of State Blinken met with the AU envoy to Ethiopia, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, to discuss the crisis.


title: Tigray War

text: On 13 October, Getachew claimed fighting continued intensifying with "staggering" casualties. He also claimed clashes were taking place near Weldiya and that fighting had resumed in Afar, within the Awra and Chifra districts near the Amhara border. A humanitarian worker citing witnesses said the EDF were fighting the TDF in Berhale, a town in Afar northeast of Mekelle.