title: The Deer Hunter

text: In the final scene in the gambling den between Mike and Nick, Cimino had Walken and De Niro improvise in one take. His direction to his actors: "You put the gun to your head, Chris, you shoot, you fall over and Bobby cradles your head."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: By this point, "The Deer Hunter" had cost $13 million and the film still had to go through an arduous post-production. Film editor Peter Zinner was given of printed film to edit, a monumental task at the time. Producers Spikings and Deeley were pleased with the first cut, which ran for three and a half hours. "We were thrilled by what we saw," wrote Deeley, "and knew that within the three and a half hours we watched there was a riveting film."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Executives from Universal, including Lew Wasserman and Sid Sheinberg, were not very enthusiastic. "I think they were shocked," recalled Spikings. "What really upset them was 'God Bless America'. Sheinberg thought it was anti-American. He was vehement. He said something like 'You're poking a stick in the eye of America.' They really didn't like the movie. And they certainly didn't like it at three hours and two minutes." Deeley wasn't surprised by the Universal response: ""The Deer Hunter" was a United Artists sort of picture, whereas "Convoy" was more in the style of Universal. I'd muddled and sold the wrong picture to each studio." Deeley did agree with Universal that the film needed to be shorter, not just because of pacing but also to ensure commercial success. "A picture under two and a half hours can scrape three shows a day," wrote Deeley, "but at three hours you've lost one third of your screenings and one third of your income for the cinemas, distributors, and profit participants."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Thom Mount, president of Universal at the time, said, "This was just a... continuing nightmare from the day Michael finished the picture to the day we released it. That was simply because he was wedded to everything he shot. The movie was endless. It was "The Deer Hunter and the Hunter and the Hunter". The wedding sequence was a cinematic event all unto its own." Mount says he turned to Verna Fields, Universal's then-head of post-production. "I sicced Verna on Cimino," Mount says. "Verna was no slouch. She started to turn the heat up on Michael, and he started screeching and yelling."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Zinner eventually cut the film to . Cimino later fired Zinner when he discovered that Zinner was editing the wedding scenes. Zinner eventually won Best Editing Oscar for "The Deer Hunter". Regarding the clashes between him and Cimino, Zinner stated: "Michael Cimino and I had our differences at the end, but he kissed me when we both got Academy Awards." Cimino later commented in "The New York Observer", "[Zinner] was a moron ... I cut "Deer Hunter" myself."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: "The Deer Hunter" was Cimino's first film to use Dolby noise-reduction system. "What Dolby does," replied Cimino, "is to give you the ability to create a "density of detail" of sound—a richness so you can demolish the wall separating the viewer from the film. You can come close to demolishing the screen." It took five months to mix the soundtrack. One short battle sequence—200 feet of film in the final cut—took five days to dub. Another sequence recreated the 1975 American evacuation of Saigon; Cimino brought the film's composer, Stanley Myers, out to the location to listen to the auto, tank, and jeep horns as the sequence was being photographed. The result, according to Cimino: Myers composed the music for that scene in the same key as the horn sounds, so the music and the sound effects would blend with the images to create one jarring, desolate experience.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Both the long and short versions were previewed to Midwestern audiences, although there are differing accounts among Cimino, Deeley, and Spikings as to how the previews panned out. Director Cimino claims he bribed the projectionist to interrupt the shorter version, in order to obtain better reviews of the longer one. According to producer Spikings, Wasserman let EMI's CEO Bernard Delfont decide between the two and chose Cimino's longer cut. Deeley claims that the two-and-a-half-hour version tested had a better response.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: "The Deer Hunter" debuted at one theater each in New York and Los Angeles for a week on December 8, 1978. The release strategy was to qualify the film for Oscar consideration and close after a week to build interest. After the Oscar nominations, Universal widened the distribution to include major cities, building up to a full-scale release on February 23, 1979, just following the Oscars. This film was important for helping release patterns for so-called prestige pictures that screen only at the end of the year to qualify for Academy Award recognition. The film eventually grossed $48.9 million at the US box office.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: CBS paid $3.5 million for three runs of the film. The network later cancelled the acquisition on the contractually permitted grounds of the film containing too much violence for US network transmission.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: One of the most talked-about sequences in the film, the Viet Cong's use of Russian roulette with POWs, was criticized as being contrived and unrealistic since there were no documented cases of Russian roulette in the Vietnam War. Associated Press reporter Peter Arnett, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the war, wrote in the "Los Angeles Times", "In its 20 years of war, there was not a single recorded case of Russian roulette ... The central metaphor of the movie is simply a bloody lie."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Cimino countered that his film was not political, polemical, literally accurate, or posturing for any particular point of view. Nevertheless, he also claimed he had news clippings from Singapore that confirm Russian roulette was used during the war, without specifying which article.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: In his review, Roger Ebert defended the artistic license of Russian roulette, arguing "it is the organizing symbol of the film: Anything you can believe about the game, about its deliberately random violence, about how it touches the sanity of men forced to play it, will apply to the war as a whole. It is a brilliant symbol because, in the context of this story, it makes any ideological statement about the war superfluous."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Film critic and biographer David Thomson also agrees that the film works despite the controversy: "There were complaints that the North Vietnamese had not employed Russian roulette. It was said that the scenes in Saigon were fanciful or imagined. It was also suggested that De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage were too old to have enlisted for Vietnam (Savage, the youngest of the three, was thirty). Three decades later [written in 2008], 'imagination' seems to have stilled those worries ... and "The Deer Hunter" is one of the great American films."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: In her review, Pauline Kael wrote "The Vietcong are treated in the standard inscrutable-evil Oriental style of the Japanese in the Second World War movies ... The impression a viewer gets is that if we did some bad things there we did them ruthlessly but impersonally; the Vietcong were cruel and sadistic."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: In his "Vanity Fair" article "The Vietnam Oscars", Peter Biskind wrote that the political agenda of "The Deer Hunter" was something of a mystery: "It may have been more a by-product of Hollywood myopia, the demands of the war-film genre, garden-variety American parochialism, and simple ignorance than it was the pre-meditated right-wing road map it seemed to many."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: According to Christopher Walken, the historical context was not paramount: "In the making of it, I don't remember anyone ever mentioning Vietnam!" De Niro added to this sentiment: "Whether [the film's vision of the war] actually happened or not, it's something you could imagine very easily happening. Maybe it did. I don't know. All's fair in love and war." Producer Spikings, while proud of the film, regrets the way the Vietnamese were portrayed. "I don't think any of us meant it to be exploitive," Spikings said. "But I think we were ... ignorant. I can't think of a better word for it. I didn't realize how badly we'd behaved to the Vietnamese people ..."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Producer Deeley, on the other hand, was quick to defend Cimino's comments on the nature and motives of the film: ""The Deer Hunter" wasn't really 'about' Vietnam. It was something very different. It wasn't about drugs or the collapse of the morale of the soldiers. It was about how individuals respond to pressure: different men reacting quite differently. The film was about three steel workers in extraordinary circumstances. "Apocalypse Now" is surreal. "The Deer Hunter" is a parable ... Men who fight and lose an unworthy war face some obvious and unpalatable choices. They can blame their leaders.. or they can blame themselves. Self-blame has been a great burden for many war veterans. So how does a soldier come to terms with his defeat and yet still retain his self-respect? One way is to present the conquering enemy as so inhuman, and the battle between the good guys (us) and the bad guys (them) so uneven, as to render defeat irrelevant. Inhumanity was the theme of "The Deer Hunter<nowiki>'</nowiki>s" portrayal of the North Vietnamese prison guards forcing American POWs to play Russian roulette. The audience's sympathy with prisoners who (quite understandably) cracked thus completes the chain. Accordingly, some veterans who suffered in that war found the Russian roulette a valid allegory."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Cimino frequently referred to "The Deer Hunter" as a "personal" and "autobiographical" film, although later investigation by journalists like Tom Buckley of "Harper's" revealed inaccuracies in Cimino's accounts and reported background.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: The final scene in which all the main characters gather and sing "God Bless America" became a subject of heated debate among critics when the film was released. It raised the question of whether this conclusion was meant ironically or not – "as a critique of patriotism or a paean to it".


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Upon its release, "The Deer Hunter" received acclaim from critics, who considered it the best American epic since Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather". The film was praised for its depiction of realistic working-class settings and environment; Cimino's direction; the performances of De Niro, Walken, Streep, Savage, Dzundza and Cazale; the symphonic shifts of tone and pacing in moving from America to Vietnam; the tension during the Russian roulette scenes; and the themes of American disillusionment. The film holds an approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 127 reviews, with an average score of 8.60/10. The consensus reads: "Its greatness is blunted by its length and one-sided point of view, but the film's weaknesses are overpowered by Michael Cimino's sympathetic direction and a series of heartbreaking performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film four out of four stars and called it "one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made." Gene Siskel from the "Chicago Tribune" praised the film, saying, "This is a big film, dealing with big issues, made on a grand scale. Much of it, including some casting decisions, suggest inspiration by "The Godfather"." Leonard Maltin also gave the film four stars, calling it a "sensitive, painful, evocative work". Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called "The Deer Hunter" "a big, awkward, crazily ambitious motion picture that comes as close to being a popular epic as any movie about this country since "The Godfather". Its vision is that of an original, major new filmmaker." David Denby of "New York" called it "an epic" with "qualities that we almost never see any more—range and power and breadth of experience." Jack Kroll of "Time" asserted it put director Cimino "right at the center of film culture." Stephen Farber pronounced the film in "New West" magazine as "the greatest anti-war movie since "La Grande Illusion"."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: However, "The Deer Hunter" was not without critical backlash. Pauline Kael of "The New Yorker" wrote a positive review with some reservations: "[It is] a small minded film with greatness in it ... with an enraptured view of common life ... [but] enraging, because, despite its ambitiousness and scale, it has no more moral intelligence than the Eastwood action pictures." Andrew Sarris wrote that the film was "massively vague, tediously elliptical, and mysteriously hysterical ... It is perhaps significant that the actors remain more interesting than the characters they play." Jonathan Rosenbaum disparaged "The Deer Hunter" as an "Oscar-laden weepie about macho buddies" and "a disgusting account of what the evil Vietnamese did to poor, innocent Americans". John Simon of "New York" wrote: "For all its pretensions to something newer and better, this film is only an extension of the old Hollywood war-movie lie. The enemy is still bestial and stupid, and no match for our purity and heroism; only we no longer wipe up the floor with him—rather, we litter it with his guts." In a review of "The Deer Hunter" for "Chicago" magazine, Studs Terkel wrote that he was "appalled by its shameless dishonesty," and that "not since "The Birth of a Nation" has a non-Caucasian people been portrayed in so barbaric a fashion." Cimino's dishonesty "was to project a sadistic psyche not only onto 'Charlie' but to all the Vietnamese portrayed."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Author Karina Longworth notes that Streep "made a case for female empowerment by playing a woman to whom empowerment was a foreign concept—a normal lady from an average American small town, for whom subservience was the only thing she knew". She states that "The Deer Hunter" "evokes a version of dominant masculinity in which male friendship is a powerful force". It has a "credibly humanist message", and that the "slow study of the men in blissfully ignorant homeland machismo is crucial to it".


title: The Deer Hunter

text: During the 29th Berlin International Film Festival in 1979, the Soviet delegation expressed its indignation with the film which, in their opinion, insulted the Vietnamese people in numerous scenes. Other communist states also voiced their solidarity with the "heroic people of Vietnam". They protested against the screening of the film and insisted that it violated the statutes of the festival because it in no way contributed to the "improvement of mutual understanding between the peoples of the world". The ensuing domino effect led to the walk-outs of the Cubans, East Germans, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Poles and Czechoslovakians, and two members of the jury resigned in sympathy.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Academy Award-winning film director Miloš Forman and Academy Award-nominated actor Mickey Rourke consider "The Deer Hunter" to be one of the greatest films of all time.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Cimino's next film, "Heaven's Gate" (1980), debuted to lacerating reviews and took in only $3 million in ticket sales, effectively leaving United Artists bankrupt. The failure of "Heaven's Gate" led several critics to revise their positions on "The Deer Hunter". Canby said in his famous review of "Heaven's Gate", "[The film] fails so completely that you might suspect Mr. Cimino sold his soul to the Devil to obtain the success of "The Deer Hunter", and the Devil has just come around to collect." Andrew Sarris wrote in his review of "Heaven's Gate", "I'm a little surprised that many of the same critics who lionized Cimino for "The Deer Hunter" have now thrown him to the wolves with equal enthusiasm." Sarris added, "I was never taken in ... Hence, the stupidity and incoherence in "Heaven's Gate" came as no surprise since very much the same stupidity and incoherence had been amply evident in "The Deer Hunter"." In his book "Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate", Steven Bach wrote, "critics seemed to feel obliged to go on the record about "The Deer Hunter", to demonstrate that their critical credentials were un-besmirched by having been, as Andrew Sarris put it, 'taken in.'" Film critic Mark Kermode described "Deer Hunter" as "a genuinely terrible film".


title: The Deer Hunter

text: However, many critics, including David Thomson and A. O. Scott, maintain that "The Deer Hunter" is still a great film, the power of which has not diminished.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Film producer and "old-fashioned mogul" Allan Carr used his networking abilities to promote "The Deer Hunter". "Exactly how Allan Carr came into "The Deer Hunter"s orbit I can no longer remember," recalled producer Deeley, "but the picture became a crusade to him. He nagged, charmed, threw parties, he created word-of-mouth – everything that could be done in Hollywood to promote a project. Because he had no apparent motive for this promotion, it had an added power and legitimacy and it finally did start to penetrate the minds of the Universal's sales people that they actually had in their hands something a bit more significant than the usual." Deeley added that Carr's promotion of the film was influential in positioning "The Deer Hunter" for Oscar nominations.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: On the "Sneak Previews" special "Oscar Preview for 1978", Roger Ebert correctly predicted that "The Deer Hunter" would win for Best Picture while Gene Siskel predicted that "Coming Home" would win. However, Ebert incorrectly guessed that Robert De Niro would win for Best Actor for "Deer Hunter" and Jill Clayburgh would win for Best Actress for "An Unmarried Woman" while Siskel called the wins for Jon Voight as Best Actor and Jane Fonda as Best Actress, both for "Coming Home". Both Ebert and Siskel correctly predicted the win for Christopher Walken receiving the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: According to producer Deeley, orchestrated lobbying against "The Deer Hunter" was led by Warren Beatty, whose own picture "Heaven Can Wait" had multiple nominations. Beatty also used ex-girlfriends in his campaign: Julie Christie, serving on the jury at the Berlin Film Festival where "Deer Hunter" was screened, joined the walkout of the film by the Russian jury members. Jane Fonda also criticized "The Deer Hunter" in public. Deeley suggested that her criticisms partly stemmed from the competition between her film "Coming Home" vying with "The Deer Hunter" for Best Picture. According to Deeley, he planted a friend of his in the Oscar press area behind the stage to ask Fonda if she had seen "The Deer Hunter". Fonda replied she had not seen the film, and to this day she still has not.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: As the Oscars drew near, the backlash against "The Deer Hunter" gathered strength. When the limos pulled up to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on April 9, 1979, they were met by demonstrators, mostly from the Los Angeles chapter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The demonstrators waved placards covered with slogans that read "No Oscars for racism" and ""The Deer Hunter" a bloody lie" and thrust pamphlets berating "Deer Hunter" into long lines of limousine windows. Washburn, nominated for Best Original Screenplay, claims his limousine was pelted with stones. According to "Variety", "Police and "The Deer Hunter" protesters clashed in a brief but bloody battle that resulted in 13 arrests."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: De Niro was so anxious that he did not attend the Oscars ceremony. He asked the Academy to allow him to sit out the show backstage, but when the Academy refused, De Niro stayed home in New York. Producer Deeley made a deal with fellow producer David Puttnam, whose film "Midnight Express" was nominated, that each would take $500 to the ceremony so if one of them won, the winner would give the loser the $500 to "drown his sorrows in style."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: "The Deer Hunter" was among the early, and most controversial, major theatrical films to be critical of the American involvement in Vietnam following 1975 when the war officially ended. While the film opened the same year as Hal Ashby's "Coming Home", Sidney Furie's "The Boys in Company C", and Ted Post's "Go Tell the Spartans", it was the first film about Vietnam to reach a wide audience and critical acclaim, culminating in the winning of the Oscar for Best Picture. Other films released later that illustrated the 'hellish', futile conditions of bloody Vietnam War combat included:


title: The Deer Hunter

text: David Thomson wrote in an article titled ""The Deer Hunter": Story of a scene" that the film changed the way war-time battles were portrayed on film: "The terror and the blast of firepower changed the war film, even if it only used a revolver. More or less before the late 1970s, the movies had lived by a Second World War code in which battle scenes might be fierce but always rigorously controlled. "The Deer Hunter" unleashed a new, raw dynamic in combat and action, paving the way for "Platoon", "Saving Private Ryan" and Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima films."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: In a 2011 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, actor William Fichtner retrospectively stated that he and his partner were silenced after seeing the film, stating that "the human experience was just so pointed; their journeys were so difficult, as life is sometimes. I remember after seeing it, walking down the street — I actually went with a girl on a date and saw "The Deer Hunter", and we left the theater and walked for like an hour and nobody said anything; we were just kind of stunned about that."


title: The Deer Hunter

text: The deaths of approximately 25 people who died playing Russian roulette were reported as having been influenced by scenes in the movie.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: In 1996, "The Deer Hunter" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: The Deer Hunter

text: American Film Institute included the film as #79 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies, #30 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills, and #53 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).


title: The Deer Hunter

text: The film ranks 467th in the "Empire" magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, noting:


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Cimino's bold, powerful 'Nam epic goes from blue-collar macho rituals to a fiery, South East Asian hell and back to a ragged singalong of "America the Beautiful" [sic]. De Niro holds it together, but Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and John Savage are unforgettable.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: Jan Scruggs, a Vietnam veteran who became a counselor with the U.S. Department of Labor, thought of the idea of building a National Memorial for Viet Nam Veterans after seeing a screening of the film in March 1979, and he established and operated the memorial fund which paid for it. Director Cimino was invited to the memorial's opening.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: "The Deer Hunter" has twice been released on DVD in America. The first 1998 issue was by Universal, with no extra features and a non-anamorphic transfer, and has since been discontinued. A second version, part of the "Legacy Series", was released as a two-disc set on September 6, 2005, with an anamorphic transfer of the film. The set features a cinematographer's commentary by Vilmos Zsigmond, deleted and extended scenes, and production notes.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: The Region 2 version of "The Deer Hunter", released in the UK and Japan, features a commentary track from director Michael Cimino.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: StudioCanal released the film on the Blu-ray format in countries other than the United States on March 11, 2009. It was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. on March 6, 2012.


title: The Deer Hunter

text: On May 26, 2020, Shout! Factory released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray featuring a new Dolby Vision transfer.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly's Game is a 2017 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Aaron Sorkin (in his directorial debut), based on the 2014 memoir of the same name by Molly Bloom. It stars Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Joe Keery, Brian D'Arcy James, and Bill Camp.


title: Molly's Game

text: The film follows Bloom (Chastain), who becomes the target of an FBI investigation after the underground poker empire she runs for Hollywood celebrities, athletes, business tycoons, and the Russian mob is exposed.


title: Molly's Game

text: Principal photography began in November 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The film premiered on September 8, 2017, at the Toronto International Film Festival, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2017, by STX Entertainment, before expanding wide on January 5, 2018, and grossed $59 million worldwide.


title: Molly's Game

text: "Molly's Game" received positive reviews, with particular praise for Sorkin's screenplay, as well as Chastain and Elba's performances, with the former being considered one of the best of her career by some critics. The film earned Chastain a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Drama, while Sorkin earned nominations for his screenplay at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Writers Guild of America Awards, and BAFTA Awards.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly Bloom is a world-class mogul skier with Olympic aspirations, thanks to years of enforced training from her overbearing father. In a qualifying event for the 2002 Winter Olympics, she is severely injured, ending her career.


title: Molly's Game

text: Instead of attending law school immediately, Molly takes a year off and moves to LA. Becoming a bottle service waitress at a club, she soon meets Dean, an ostentatious but unsuccessful real estate developer. She becomes his office manager, and is soon involved in running his underground poker games at "The Cobra Lounge". Many famous and wealthy individuals, including movie stars, investment bankers, and sports players, are involved in Dean's game. Molly earns large sums of money in tips alone.


title: Molly's Game

text: Initially unfamiliar with poker, Molly quickly learns how to appeal to the players for tips. In particular, she hopes to please the most successful player, a film star named Player X, by attracting new players to the game. Dean, upon seeing that Molly is becoming increasingly independent in running the games, attempts to control, and then fires her.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly, having contacts through years of running the game, creates her own poker games. She rents a hotel penthouse and hires a staff. Additionally, she contacts club and casino employees to spread the word about her games.


title: Molly's Game

text: Player X, along with many others, leaves Dean's games to play at Molly's. Increasingly successful, as Molly gains more money she is pressured by Player X to raise the stakes. Harlan Eustice, a skilled, conservative, and successful player, joins Molly's game.


title: Molly's Game

text: One night, after accidentally losing a hand to the notoriously worst player, Brad Marion, Harlan becomes increasingly compulsive, suffering heavy losses (later, Molly finds out that Player X, who enjoys ruining people's lives more than the game itself, has been funding him to keep him playing). After Molly berates him for his unethicality, Player X decides to change venue for his games, and the others join him, leaving Molly.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly moves to NYC to begin a new underground poker game. After reaching out to many wealthy New Yorkers, Molly finds enough players for several weekly games.


title: Molly's Game

text: Despite continuous success, she fears being unable to cover her losses when players cannot pay. Her dealer convinces her to begin taking a percentage of large pots, recouping her potential losses but making her game an illegal gambling operation.


title: Molly's Game

text: Brad is indicted for running a Ponzi scheme; Molly is investigated and questioned as to who attended her games. At this time, she becomes increasingly addicted to drugs, as the games have taken their toll. Her players also begin to include wealthy individuals from the Russian mafia, among others.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly is approached by the Italian mafia, who offer their services to extort money from non-paying players. After she declines, she is attacked in her home, held at gunpoint and her mother's life is threatened. As she is about to return to her poker games, the FBI raids, as Douglas Downey, a player infatuated with her, informs on her. Molly's assets are seized, and she returns home to live with her mother.


title: Molly's Game

text: Two years later, Molly has published a book, naming only a few individuals that played in her games. Arrested by the FBI, she is indicted for involvement in illegal gambling with the mafia. She enlists Charlie Jaffey's help, a high-profile, expensive lawyer in New York, who agrees to help after learning she has been protecting innocent people affected by her poker games.


title: Molly's Game

text: While she is in NYC awaiting trial, her father Larry seeks her out and attempts to reconcile. He admits he was overbearing and that he treated Molly differently than her brothers because she had known about his affairs.


title: Molly's Game

text: Charlie reads Molly's book and becomes interested in helping her case, as he feels she has not committed serious enough wrongdoing to merit prison. Charlie negotiates a deal for Molly to receive no sentence and for her money to be returned in exchange for her hard drives and digital gambling records. Molly declines this deal, fearing that the information about her players would be released, and she pleads guilty.


title: Molly's Game

text: The judge, deciding that she had committed no serious crimes, sentences her to 200 hours community service, one year probation, and a $200,000 fine.


title: Molly's Game

text: On November 12, 2014, Mark Gordon's The Mark Gordon Company bought the feature film adaptation rights to Molly Bloom's memoir, "Molly's Game", which Gordon produced. Aaron Sorkin was hired to adapt the memoir into a screenplay. Bloom had already approached Sorkin, as he was her "favorite writer". On January 7, 2016, it was announced that Sorkin would make his directorial debut on the film, for Sony Pictures Entertainment, while Amy Pascal also produced. On February 18, 2016, Sony exited the project, and on May 13, 2016, STX Entertainment came on board, and subsequently bought the film's US and Chinese distribution rights for $9 million.


title: Molly's Game

text: On February 18, 2016, Sorkin offered Jessica Chastain the lead role in the film, but the negotiations between them had then not yet begun. On May 6, 2016, Idris Elba joined the film to star alongside Chastain. Sorkin stated that "the casting of Jessica and Idris in the two lead roles is any filmmaker's dream come true, they're two of the greatest actors of their generation, paired for the first time, and their chemistry will be electric." On September 7, 2016, Michael Cera joined the cast as Player X, a celebrity poker player. On October 17, 2016, Kevin Costner joined as Molly Bloom's father, and on October 21, 2016, Brian d'Arcy James was added. On November 9, 2016, Chris O'Dowd, Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, and Graham Greene joined the cast as well.


title: Molly's Game

text: Molly Bloom herself discussed Chastain's portrayal of her character with ET Canada stating, "We spent a little time together. She didn't have much time for prep or research," Bloom told ET Canada's Matte Babel. "I was blown away by her performance by how right it was and how deep and understood I felt by her performance."


title: Molly's Game

text: Principal photography began on November 9, 2016, in Toronto. Production concluded on February 9, 2017.


title: Molly's Game

text: "Molly's Game" premiered on September 8, 2017, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was also the closing film at AFI Fest on November 16, 2017, replacing "All the Money in the World". It began a limited release in North America on December 25, 2017, before expanding wide on January 5, 2018. The film was previously slated to be released on November 22, 2017, before being moved to the Christmas date in October 2017.


title: Molly's Game

text: "Molly's Game" grossed $28.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $30.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $59.3 million.


title: Molly's Game

text: On Christmas Day, the film debuted with $1.04 million from 271 theaters. In its first full weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million, finishing 13th at the box office. The film expanded wide on January 5, 2018, alongside the opening of "", and was projected to gross around $6 million from 1,608 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $6.9 million, finishing 7th at the box office. The following weekend it dropped 44% to $3.9 million, finishing 11th. In its third week of wide release the film grossed $1.7 million, finishing 19th.


title: Molly's Game

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 309 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Powered by an intriguing story and a pair of outstanding performances from Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, "Molly's Game" marks a solid debut for writer-director Aaron Sorkin." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Molly's Game

text: Peter Debruge of "Variety" praised Sorkin's script, saying, "... "Molly's Game" delivers one of the screen's great female parts — a dense, dynamic, compulsively entertaining affair, whose central role makes stunning use of Chastain's stratospheric talent." Mike Ryan of "Uproxx" gave the film 9/10, writing, ""Molly's Game" is a perfect story for Sorkin. There's poker, the Russian mafia, the Italian mafia, celebrities, and sports. The only thing missing for Sorkin's wheelhouse is President Bartlet. And at over two hours long, the film still feels tight and never fails to entertain."


title: Molly's Game

text: Writing for "Rolling Stone", Peter Travers gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying, ""Molly's Game" bristles with fun zingers, electric energy and Sorkin's brand of verbal fireworks – all of which help enormously when the movie falters in fleshing out its characters. Still, in his first film with a female protagonist, the writer-director has hit on a timely theme: the tribulations of being a woman in a man's world." Chastain's portrayal of Molly Bloom was praised by "The Hollywood Reporter", for "Chastain roars through the performance with a force and take-no-prisoners attitude that keeps one rapt." "The Hollywood Reporter" also stated: "Sorkin keeps things rolling relentlessly and gets fine results from the actors down the line [...]. [...] The film looks sharp and a trio of editors keeps thing pacey despite the 140-minute running time." It concluded: "One strong woman and many rich men make for a good show."


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: 2 Broke Girls (stylized 2 Broke Girl$) is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings. Set in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, the show's plot follows the lives of friends Max Black (Kat Dennings) and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs). Whereas Caroline was raised as the daughter of a billionaire, Max grew up in poverty, resulting in differing perspectives on life, although together they work in a local diner while attempting to raise funds to start a cupcake business.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: The series has received a polarized response from critics and audiences alike. The on-screen chemistry between the show's six leads, especially that of Behrs and Dennings, has been praised, while others have criticized the show's reliance on sexualized, drug related, and racial humor. The series was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards in various categories over its run, winning an Emmy in 2012 for art direction. During the course of the series, 138 episodes of the show aired over six seasons.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: The series chronicles the lives of two waitresses in their mid-20s (at the start of the series): Max Black (Kat Dennings), the child of a poor working-class mother and an unknown father, and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), who was born rich but is now disgraced and penniless because her father, Martin Channing, got caught operating a Bernard Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme. The two work together at a Brooklyn diner, soon becoming roommates and friends while building toward their dream of one day opening a cupcake shop. Among those working with them at the restaurant are their boss, Han Lee (Matthew Moy); Oleg (Jonathan Kite), an upbeat but perverted and harassing Ukrainian cook; and Earl (Garrett Morris), a 75-year-old cashier. Also featured starting late in the first season is their neighbor and part-time boss Sophie (Jennifer Coolidge), a Polish immigrant who runs the house-cleaning company Sophie's Choice.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: During most of the first season, Max is also a part-time nanny for the twin babies of Peach Landis (Brooke Lyons), who during the season adopts Caroline's horse Chestnut. At the end of each episode, a tally shows how much they have made toward their goal of $250,000. Early in the second season, Sophie lends the women $20,000, which is enough for them to start their business. However, the business fails, and in the 18th episode, they are forced to give up the lease of their cupcake shop with just enough money to pay off Sophie's loan, resetting the end of episode tally to $1. The shop opposite to theirs belonged to Andrew who had his own candy shop named Candy Andy. Andrew (Ryan Hansen) was Caroline's first major love interest, but they broke up because Caroline's major focus was her cupcake business and Andy "wanted more".


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: During the third season, the two young women reopen the business in the back room of the diner, using the window as a walk-up window. Max also enrolls in, and Caroline goes to work for, the Manhattan School of Pastry, where Max finds a love interest, Deke, marking the first time in the series that Max gets emotional for a man. Caroline has a brief affair with the Pastry School Head Chef Nicholas, which eventually leads to Nicholas closing down the school and moving back to France with his wife. They also attempt to get Deke's parents to invest in the pastry school, planning to run it by themselves, but do not succeed.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: During season four, the women finally start their cupcake business, which succeeds briefly before going into the red. Both Max and Caroline end up working in an elite-class pastry shop called "The High" to make more money to return the loan they took for their business. In the end of season four, Oleg and Sophie get married, with the two realizing they have their own business to worry about and their own dream to work towards, which leads to them quitting "The High" and coming back to their business.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: In season five, Caroline sells her life story to a film producer for $250,000. She uses most of the money to expand their old cupcake space into the adjacent pizza shop, converting it into a dessert bar. The remaining $30,000 is used to purchase part ownership of the diner to help Han pay off his debts from gambling on women's tennis. While in Hollywood with Caroline consulting on her life story script, Max meets her second major love interest in the series, a Los Angeles-based "lawyer to the stars" named Randy. Meanwhile, despite her advancing age, Sophie becomes pregnant with Oleg's child.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Season six has Sophie and Oleg welcoming their baby daughter Barbara to the world. Randy returns to briefly continue his relationship with Max, but it does not work out. Randy wants Max to move to California, but Max, publicly acknowledging her strong friendship with Caroline for the first time, says she cannot do so because she has important people in her life now. Meanwhile, Caroline meets Bobby, a contractor who rebuilds the dessert bar after a storm, and the two start a relationship. By the end of the season, the movie about Caroline's life has been made (albeit with some "creative license" changes), but Caroline destroys a $10,000 on-loan dress at the premiere, which wipes out both her and Max's combined savings and returns them to "broke" status. Randy comes back to New York, this time permanently, and proposes to Max, who accepts. The series ends at this point, as "2 Broke Girls" was unexpectedly cancelled by the network without allowing the creative team to resolve the show's continuing plotlines.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Even before it went to series, the then-undeveloped pilot was the subject of a bidding war, with CBS landing the deal on December 10, 2010, and ordering it to series on May 13, 2011. It was one of two shows commissioned for the 2011–12 television season for which Whitney Cummings served as producer and co-creator, the other being "Whitney", which was picked up by NBC but was cancelled after two seasons.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Dennings was the first to be cast in the role of Max on February 18, 2011. A week later on February 25, 2011, Behrs won an audition to land the role of Caroline, beating out other established actresses. Moy, Morris and Kite were the last three to be cast on March 16, 2011.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: The first episode aired at 9:30 pm (E/P) after "Two and a Half Men" on September 19, 2011, and the show moved to its regular timeslot following "How I Met Your Mother" on Monday nights at 8:30 pm (E/P). Production for the second season began on August 6, 2012.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: For its second season "2 Broke Girls" moved to 9 pm ET/PT after "Two and a Half Men" was moved to Thursdays, and remained there until early in its third season.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: On March 27, 2013, CBS renewed "2 Broke Girls" for a third season. The show was first moved back to its original timeslot, which opened when "We Are Men" was cancelled, and stayed there until March 24, 2014. Beginning on April 7, 2014, "2 Broke Girls" moved to 8 pm to replace "How I Met Your Mother" following its conclusion, with the show's former timeslot given to the short-lived "Friends with Better Lives".


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: On March 13, 2014, CBS renewed "2 Broke Girls" for a fourth season. The network announced a premiere date of October 27, 2014. The move was prompted by CBS' arrangement to air "Thursday Night Football" for the first several weeks of the season and their subsequent decision not to postpone the season premiere of "The Big Bang Theory", which occupied "2 Broke Girls"<nowiki>'</nowiki> timeslot until October 20, and then returned to its normal Thursday timeslot. The fourth season consisted of 22 episodes.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: On March 12, 2015, CBS renewed "2 Broke Girls" for a fifth season which premiered Thursday, November 12, 2015. CBS relocated the show to Thursdays 9:30 pm ET/PT due to "Supergirl" taking over its previous Monday night timeslot. "2 Broke Girls" had its premiere delayed again this season due to CBS airing "Thursday Night Football" for the first few weeks of the season. By November, regular Thursday programming resumed with "The Big Bang Theory" and new comedy "Life in Pieces" moving to Thursdays after airing on Monday nights at the beginning of the season. "Mom" and "2 Broke Girls" then premiered the same month to form CBS' Thursday night comedy block. By midseason, CBS moved "2 Broke Girls" to Wednesdays 8 pm ET/PT starting January 6, 2016 pairing it with the final season of "Mike and Molly". Both comedies were slated to air for six weeks on the Wednesday 8–9 hour before going on an indefinite hiatus due to "Survivor" returning to that timeslot the following month. However, on February 8, 2016, CBS cancelled new comedy "Angel from Hell" with "2 Broke Girls" replacing it and returning to its Thursday timeslot on February 18, 2016.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: The series was canceled after six seasons on May 12, 2017. A combination of factors, including declining ratings, CBS's desire to have an ownership stake, and the network needing to clear space for three new sitcoms in the fall 2017 schedule, led to the show's demise. Because the cancellation news happened once Season 6 had wrapped and the producers and cast were given no indication on the show's status before then, the Season 6 finale does not serve as any kind of de facto series finale in terms of the characters or major plotlines. There are no plans as of 2022 to have any reunion movie or other special show that would become a more "final" finale for the series.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: "2 Broke Girls" is aired in numerous countries around the world. In Canada the series airs on Citytv. In the United Kingdom, "2 Broke Girls" airs on E4. In the Republic of Ireland, it airs on RTÉ2. In India, it airs on Star World, Comedy Central & Colors Infinity. In the Philippines, "2 Broke Girls" airs on ETC In Australia, the show airs on 10 Peach In New Zealand, it airs on TV2.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: "2 Broke Girls" received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the first season holds a rating of 59%, based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs have undeniable chemistry, and although "2 Broke Girls" is at times bogged down by predictable jokes, this old-fashioned odd couple sitcom is rich with laughs." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Much of the show's criticism focused on the perceived overuse of sexually based jokes and offensive racial stereotypes. Tim Goodman of "The Hollywood Reporter" said the show had potential but "squandered it away every week on cheap, predictable and unfunny jokes" and noted that many jokes were of a racist or sexual nature. New Zealand critic Chris Philpott was especially offended by the rape jokes in the first three episodes of the series, calling the series the worst new show of 2012, stating that it "display[ed] a lack of understanding and creativity on the part of the comedy writer." Andrew Ti, writing for "Grantland.com", singled out the portrayal of Han Lee as "a fairly regressive portrayal" of the stereotypical Asian male: "a tiny, greedy, sexless man-child with infantilized speech patterns." Elliot B. Gertel at "Jewish World Review" similarly found that the show misrepresented Orthodox Jews in an episode. When asked about the racial stereotypes at a January 2012 press conference, Michael Patrick King said "I don't find it offensive, any of this".


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Emily Nussbaum of "The New Yorker" wrote that while the way the supporting characters are written is "so racist it is less offensive than baffling", she noted that the show has "so much potential", and compared it favorably to Cummings' other show "Whitney". Positive reviews such as one from "Entertainment Weekly" focused on the "potential" that the series has based on the acting and chemistry between Dennings and Behrs. The series also received a B+ from "The Boston Globe" TV critic Matthew Gilbert, who was impressed with the casting and production: "The actresses – especially the Gwen Stefani-esque Dennings – transcend their types, and the pop-savvy humor has spirit thanks to producer Michael Patrick King from "Sex and the City." After the forced opening minutes, it's the best multi-cam-com of the season." Writing weekly reviews of the series, "The A.V. Club" editor Emily VanDerWerff hoped that the series would improve but ultimately wrote: "Most of the problems—weird story construction, stereotypical characters, bad jokes—that have bedeviled the show have been there from the very beginning, though I will certainly say they've gotten worse as the season has gone along and the show hasn't bothered to diversify its rhythms at all."


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: In 2015, Rob Owen of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" said what started out as "a modern "Laverne & Shirley"" attracted many young people to begin with, until they "realized it was a waste of their time."


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: The series premiere was watched by 19.4 million viewers after its lead-in, the first episode of "Two and a Half Men" without Charlie Sheen. This marked the highest rating for a fall premiere of a comedy series since Fall 2001. It scored a 7.1 rating in Adults 18–49. With DVR viewers included, the premiere rose to over 21.5 million viewers and an 8.1 in adults 18–49. The show has done well in ratings with college students and young males.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: On June 20, 2012, it was announced that TBS had secured the cable syndication rights to the sitcom, which began airing on September 20, 2015. The series has also been cleared on CBS and Weigel owned affiliates in 35% of the United States.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: "2 Broke Girls" first became available on DVD in 2012 with the first season via Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and was the only season to receive an additional Blu-ray release in countries United States, Canada and Australia. Subsequent seasons have received only a DVD release.


title: 2 Broke Girls

text: Multiple DVD sets received releases in the United Kingdom and Australia, with the first three-season being made available in 2014. Two subsequent sets containing seasons one to four and seasons one to five were released exclusively only in Australia.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In March 2016, he temporarily stepped away from the band during the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing problems. In September 2020, AC/DC officially confirmed that Johnson along with fellow band-mates Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams had returned in August 2018 to record the band's 2020 album, "Power Up".


title: Brian Johnson

text: Johnson was one of the founding members of the rock band Geordie formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1971. After a few hit singles, including UK Top 10 "All Because of You" (1973), the band split up in 1978. Following the death of Bon Scott on 19 February 1980, Johnson was asked to audition for AC/DC. AC/DC guitarists and founders Angus and Malcolm Young initially reached out to Brian remembering when Bon had been impressed with him after seeing him perform with Geordie. His first album with AC/DC, "Back in Black", became the second-best-selling album of all time, according to most estimates. "The Guardian" ranked the successful transition to Johnson at No. 36 on their list of 50 key events in rock music history.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Johnson is known for his distinctive singing voice and strong Geordie accent. In July 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Northumbria University in the city of Newcastle in recognition of his significant contribution to the music industry.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Johnson was born on 5 October 1947 in Dunston, then in County Durham. He is the oldest of four siblings. His English father, Alan, was a coal miner and sergeant major in the British Army's Durham Light Infantry who died in 1996. His Italian mother, Esther ("née" De Luca), was from Rocca di Papa. When he was young, Johnson performed in various shows with the Scouts, appeared in a play which aired on television, and joined a local church choir. He also served in the Territorial Army with the Parachute Regiment in Germany for two years.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Johnson's first band was the Gobi Desert Canoe Club. He was also in a band called Fresh. From 1970, Johnson played with cabaret/club band the Jasper Hart Band, performing songs from the musical "Hair" as well as soft-rock/pop songs of the time. He and other members of the band went on to form Geordie.


title: Brian Johnson

text: His first and only solo single, "I Can't Forget You Now", he released also as a member of Geordie in January 1976 on the Red Bus label. In 1982, a compilation including ten of Geordie's 1973–1976 songs, was issued as Brian Johnson's solo album "Strange Man" on the MCA label. The U.S. 1989 CD "Keep On Rocking", with re-recorded versions of the band's twelve known songs, was released under the name of Brian Johnson and Geordie as well as the Australian 1991 compilation CD "Rockin' With The Boys 1972–1976".


title: Brian Johnson

text: Following Bon Scott's death, the remaining members of the band briefly considered quitting, before concluding that Scott would have wanted AC/DC to continue. Various candidates were considered for his successor, including ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist Terry Slesser and Slade's Noddy Holder, who declined, before selecting Johnson.


title: Brian Johnson

text: AC/DC guitarist and co-founder Angus Young later recalled, "I remember the first time I had ever heard Brian's (Johnson) name was from Bon. Bon had mentioned that he had been in England once touring with a band and he had mentioned that Brian had been in a band called Geordie and Bon had said 'Brian Johnson, he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.' And that was Bon's big idol, Little Richard. I think when he saw Brian at that time, to Bon it was 'Well he's a guy that knows what rock and roll is all about.' He mentioned that to us in Australia. I suppose when we decided to continue, Brian was the first name that Malcolm and myself came up with, so we said we should see if we can find him." The band agreed immediately that Johnson's performing style fit AC/DC's music. In March 1980 Johnson received a phone call inviting him to London to audition as the new vocalist for AC/DC. As a big AC/DC fan, he was happy to oblige. Malcolm remembers the day: "We were all sitting there going, Where's this guy Brian? He should have been here an hour ago. 'Oh him? He's downstairs playing pool with the roadies' – so we thought, well, at least he plays pool."


title: Brian Johnson

text: When someone fetched him to meet them, Malcolm recalls that Johnson, "had tears in his eyes. He was as sad about Bon as we were. Anyway, we said, Do you want to give it a go? And he said, 'I do "Whole Lotta Rosie" with Geordie,' and off he went. We went, this guy is cutting the mustard. Anything else you know? "Nutbush City Limits"? OK, we can knock that out, and he sang that great too. It put a little smile on our faces – for the first time since Bon. So we just started working with him then." Within days, Johnson was in the band, the news being made official on 1 April. A week after that he was sent a plane ticket to the Bahamas (their management's idea, partly for tax purposes and partly because there were no vacant studios in the UK) where he joined the Youngs, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd and "Highway to Hell" producer Mutt Lange in Compass Point Studios.


title: Brian Johnson

text: The result was the album "Back in Black", which was released in July that year. It was a worldwide success and went on to become the second best-selling album of all time. In 1986, Johnson returned to Tyneside and appeared in the music video for "You Shook Me All Night Long", and the video received significant airplay on MTV.


title: Brian Johnson

text: The 1988 album "Blow Up Your Video" was the last AC/DC album to feature lyrics from Johnson. Starting with "The Razors Edge" in 1990, guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young have written all of AC/DC's material. When asked by a fan during a radio interview why he stopped contributing lyrics, he laughed, "I ran out of words" and went on to explain that during recording he did not always enjoy the pressure of having to come up with an album's worth of lyrics and was relieved when the Young brothers filled in during "The Razors Edge". The band has since continued in that tradition for every album since.


title: Brian Johnson

text: A symbol of the working class in the north of England, Johnson customarily wears a newsboy cap on stage and frequently off. Johnson has occasionally worn baseball caps as well. His brother suggested that the singer wear the cap onstage to prevent sweat rolling off his thick, curly hair into his eyes while singing. "He said, 'Put it on, at least you'll be able to see what the bloody freak you're doing!' So I put it on and after three songs in the second set, I looked at him, put my thumbs up – 'This is brilliant!' He never did get that hat back."


title: Brian Johnson

text: In April 2016, during the Rock or Bust World Tour, AC/DC announced the departure of Johnson, citing hearing issues. As the band explained it, Johnson risked total hearing loss if he continued. Johnson stated that his hearing issues hadn't come from performing for 36 years with AC/DC, but from having forgotten to put ear plugs in during a race that left him with a punctured left ear drum. Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose was recruited to complete the remaining ten shows in North America and twelve shows in Europe. Johnson's last show with AC/DC was on 28 February 2016; at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. He stated in an interview that he "had a pretty good run" in AC/DC and implied that he might not be returning. After departing AC/DC, he recorded a new song with comedian Jim Breuer called "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll". Johnson made a cameo appearance with rock band Muse on 31 August 2017, performing a rendition of "Back in Black" with the group.


title: Brian Johnson

text: In August 2018, rumours began circulating that Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd had rejoined AC/DC. According to members of the band Terrorizer, in January 2019 Johnson confirmed to them that he is back in AC/DC after getting "sick of denying it" and that he is working on a new album.


title: Brian Johnson

text: On 30 September 2020, AC/DC posted a photo on social media listing the band's new line-up, including Johnson on vocals, as well as a photo featuring, him, Angus, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd and Stevie Young reunited.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Since April 2003, Johnson, who says "I love musical theatre, especially the classic stuff, like Rodgers and Hammerstein", has been working on a musical version of "Helen of Troy" with Sarasota Ballet choreographer, Robert de Warren. The musical is a "Les Misérables"-style musical with rousing anthems, tender ballads and minimal dialogue. He conceived the project with writers Ian La Frenais, Dick Clement, and Brendan Healy after seeing Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats" and being underwhelmed at what he saw.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Malcolm McDowell, who made his recording debut singing one of the songs for the soundtrack in Brian's studio, agreed to play Zeus. The Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan and Bruce Vilanch were also set to participate. In 2004, Johnson travelled to Greece to film an episode of the television series "Goddess Odyssey" in which he researched the Helen of Troy myth. It was released on DVD in July 2005 and contains music from the theatre production. Phil Carson, former chief executive of Atlantic Records, supported the project but it was never staged.


title: Brian Johnson

text: A car and racing enthusiast, Johnson currently enjoys racing his vintage race cars: a Royale RP-4 and a Pilbeam MP84, which he races in vintage and historic races throughout the United States. In 1997, Johnson recorded with the band Jackyl on their song "Locked and Loaded", and in 2002, wrote lyrics on the track "Kill the Sunshine" from their album "Relentless". In the video game "", he voices Sergeant Starkey. He made a cameo appearance in the 2005 film "Goal!" where he appears as a Newcastle United fan in a bar in California watching a Newcastle game.


title: Brian Johnson

text: In 2006, he took part in car racing reality television series "The Race", broadcast on Sky One in the UK. In 2007, Johnson and AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams took part in the Classic Rock Cares tour to raise funds for the John Entwistle Foundation, which is run by Entwistle's long-time friend and drummer Steve Luongo. They performed AC/DC songs as well as songs written by Johnson for the film "".


title: Brian Johnson

text: On 26 July 2009, Johnson appeared as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on the BBC's "Top Gear". His time of 1:45.9 tied him with "Britain's Got Talent" judge Simon Cowell and "Grand Designs" host Kevin McCloud for the second fastest time in the Chevrolet Lacetti, just 0.1 seconds behind Jay Kay. Johnson subsequently appeared in the premiere of "Top Gear" series 20 and was the first star to record a time in their new Vauxhall Astra test vehicle, recording a time of 1:45.1. In April 2015, Johnson stated it was a mistake for the BBC to sack Jeremy Clarkson after the "Top Gear" presenter punched a colleague: "I know Jeremy and I know the lads [Richard Hammond and James May] and it's [the punch] just totally out of character."


title: Brian Johnson

text: His autobiography "Rockers and Rollers" was published in 2000. He raced in the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona on 29 and 30 January 2012. He finished 12th in the Daytona Prototype class, driving for 50+Predator/Alegra Racing, sharing the #50 RileyTech/BMW Daytona Prototype with Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Byron DeFoor, Jim Pace, and Carlos de Quesada. He competed in the 2012 Silverstone Classic Celebrity Challenge race. In 2013, Johnson appeared as a guest singer on two songs on Sting's album "The Last Ship" which features artists with roots in the northeast of England.


title: Brian Johnson

text: In May 2014, Quest broadcast "Cars That Rock with Brian Johnson", a documentary series fronted by Johnson where he explores his favourite iconic motor cars. The first episode looks at the history of the Mini, with Johnson driving a big selection of the cars, including the car from the 1969 British caper film "The Italian Job" and the world's fastest Mini. It concludes with Johnson racing a Mini Cooper at Brands Hatch, and finishes with him stating he has bought the car he raced. As of 2016, the show can now be seen on the Velocity channel.


title: Brian Johnson

text: In April 2017, Sky Arts broadcast the first episode of "Brian Johnson: A Life on the Road". Series 1 comprised six episodes, with Johnson meeting contemporaries in the music industry to talk about their musical upbringings and careers. Featured were Roger Daltrey (The Who), Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Sting (The Police), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin).


title: Brian Johnson

text: On 3 September 2022, Johnson took to the stage at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert and performed "Back in Black" and "Let There Be Rock" with Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich and the Foo Fighters. Johnson's memoirs, entitled "The Lives of Brian", was published by Harper Collins and released on Oct 25, 2022.


title: Brian Johnson

text: Johnson married his first wife, Carol, in 1968, and they have two daughters: Joanne (born 1968), and Kala (born 1973). They divorced during the writing of "The Razors Edge" album. He is now married to Brenda, and lives in Sarasota, Florida, US.


title: Brian Johnson

text: He is an avid supporter of Newcastle United F.C. and was asked to invest in the club in the early 1980s after being invited to meet the board by club legend Jackie Milburn.


title: Brian Johnson

text: In September 2009, Johnson was diagnosed with Barrett syndrome, causing AC/DC to cancel several shows on their 2010 tour in support of "Black Ice". However, doctors were able to prevent the disease from developing into cancer.


title: Brian Johnson

text: According to the "Sunday Times" Rich List of British millionaires in music, Johnson was worth £50 million in 2011.


title: Brian Johnson

text: On 9 July 2014, Johnson was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Northumbria University in recognition of his significant contribution to the music industry. In October 2014, he became a supporter of the Yorkshire Dementia Charity based in the village of Topcliffe.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has received many awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Award nomination.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: Born in Evanston, Illinois, McGovern spent most of her early life in Los Angeles. After attending the American Conservatory Theater and the Juilliard School, she made her feature film debut in "Ordinary People" (1980). For her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the musical film "Ragtime" (1981), she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently had lead roles in a number of major studio films, including "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "She's Having a Baby" (1987), "The Bedroom Window" (1987), "The Handmaid's Tale" (1990), and "The Wings of the Dove" (1997).


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 2007, McGovern, after years of studying guitar, formed the musical group Sadie and the Hotheads, with whom she has released four studio albums since 2016. She gained further international attention for her portrayal of Cora, Countess of Grantham, in the British drama series "Downton Abbey" (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award. She reprised her role as Cora in the subsequent films "Downton Abbey" (2019) and "" (2022).


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott (née Watts), a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. She is of Irish, English, and Scottish descent. Her younger sister is novelist Cammie McGovern. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern, her maternal great-grandfathers were U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts and Admiral Charles P. Snyder, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Congressman Charles P. Snyder.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: When McGovern was 10 years old, she relocated with her family from Illinois to Los Angeles, California, where her father accepted a teaching position at UCLA School of Law. She attended North Hollywood High School, where she began performing in school plays. After high school, she attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and studied toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama at the Juilliard School in New York City as a member of Group 12 from 1979 to 1981.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 1980, while studying at Juilliard, McGovern was offered a part in what became her first film, "Ordinary People", in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton). The following year she completed her acting education at the American Conservatory Theatre and Juilliard, and began to appear in plays, first Off-Broadway and later in famous theaters.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 1981 she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the film "Ragtime". She then appeared in "Beginners" (1982).


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 1984, she starred in Sergio Leone's gangster epic "Once Upon a Time in America" as Robert De Niro's romantic interest Deborah Gelly. She had leading roles in two other films that year, "Racing with the Moon", a coming-of-age story also starring Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage, and the comedy "Lovesick", as a patient whose psychiatrist (Dudley Moore) falls in love with her, risking his practice.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 1989, she played Mickey Rourke's girlfriend in "Johnny Handsome", directed by Walter Hill, and the same year she appeared as a rebellious lesbian in Volker Schlöndorff's film "The Handmaid's Tale".


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern co-starred with Kevin Bacon in a romantic comedy, "She's Having a Baby", directed by John Hughes, and starred in the thriller "The Bedroom Window", directed by Curtis Hanson. She teamed with Michael Caine in 1990's "A Shock to the System", a comic mystery about a man who plots the murder of his wife.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In a 1994 comedy, "The Favor", McGovern played a woman who cheats on her boyfriend (played by Brad Pitt) by becoming her married best friend's proxy in a tryst with a man the friend has fantasized about.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern appeared in a number of films in the 21st century, including "Woman in Gold", a drama starring Helen Mirren and directed by her husband Simon Curtis.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 2018, McGovern starred in "The Chaperone", directed by Michael Engler and written by Julian Fellowes, whom she also worked with on the British drama series Downton Abbey. Based on the novel by Laura Moriarty, McGovern played Norma Carlisle, a middle-aged wife and mother who volunteers to chaperone the young Louise Brooks to New York City to study dance at the Denishawn School. "The Chaperone" is the first film that McGovern has also produced. Her husband, Simon Curtis, was an executive producer for the film.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern reprised her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham for the "Downton Abbey" film in 2019 and its 2022 . The films continue the storyline of the TV series.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern has appeared in several television productions, mostly in the UK. In 1999 and 2000 McGovern played Marguerite St. Just in a BBC television series loosely based on the novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel". She also starred in the four-part television crime drama series "Thursday the 12th" that same year.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: On American TV, she appeared in a 2006 episode of "" titled "Harm", in which her character of Dr. Faith Sutton was a psychiatrist accused of complicity in detainee abuse. Her other television work includes "Broken Glass" (Arthur Miller, 1996); "Tales from the Crypt"; "The Changeling"; "Tales from Hollywood"; the HBO series "Men and Women";" The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt"; "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre" ("Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"); and "If Not for You" (CBS 1995, own series).


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In May 2007, she played Ellen Doubleday, Daphne du Maurier's paramour, in "Daphne", a BBC2 television drama by Amy Jenkins based on Margaret Forster's biography of the author.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In December 2008, McGovern appeared as Dame Celia Westholme in "Appointment with Death", an episode of "Agatha Christie's Poirot". In the same year, she appeared in the three-part BBC comedy series "Freezing", written by James Wood and directed and co-produced by her husband Simon Curtis. First broadcast on BBC Four, it was also shown on BBC2 in February 2008. McGovern played an American expatriate actress named Elizabeth, living in Chiswick with her publisher husband, played by Hugh Bonneville, and co-starring Tom Hollander as her theatrical agent.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, wife of Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) in the British TV series "Downton Abbey", and also in the 2019 and 2022 film adaptations. "Downton Abbey" was the third time McGovern and Bonneville have been cast as a married couple on screen, having previously co-starred in "Freezing" and "Thursday the 12th" together.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern is also a singer-songwriter and plays the guitar. In 2008 she began fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads at The Castle pub venue in Portobello Road, London. The band released an album of songs she developed with The Nelson Brothers, who are now part of the band. The album, "I Can Wait", also includes Ron Knights on bass and Rowan Oliver, borrowed from Goldfrapp, as drummer for the recording sessions. Michelle Dockery, who plays McGovern's eldest daughter in "Downton Abbey", has occasionally sung with the band. Dockery was also a guest backing vocalist on the bands second album "How Not To Lose Things", released in 2012. Terl Bryant also joined the band, taking over from Rowan Oliver as drummer and percussionist.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: Throughout 2013, Sadie and the Hotheads toured the UK and Europe and performed in festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. At the end of the year they announced that they were working on their third album with support from former direct-to-fan crowdfunding company PledgeMusic. "Still Waiting" was released in early 2014 prior to their next UK tour as the support act for Mike and the Mechanics.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern recorded three Christmas tracks in 2014. Her rendition of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and duet with Julian Ovenden performing "The First Noel" appear on the double-disc album "Christmas At Downton Abbey", produced by Warner Music. Sadie and the Hotheads also released their cover version of the Christmas song The Little Drummer Boy.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: Following the conclusion of TV series "Downton Abbey" in late 2015, McGovern and her band Sadie and the Hotheads began work on a fourth album and embarked on a mini tour of the UK. While they continued to record their new album, the band released a compilation album of songs from their first three albums entitled "The Collection (Everybody's Got A Song)" in early 2016.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 2017, McGovern and "Hothead" Simon Nelson collaborated with American singer and musician Duke Robillard on a track for his album "Duke Robillard & His Dames of Rhythm". McGovern sings vocals for "Me, Myself and I" while Nelson is a guest musician on electric guitar for the track.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: McGovern's fifth album, "The Truth", was released in early 2019. Unlike her previous albums with her band, "The Truth" was released under her name, though it features all of the musicians from Sadie and the Hotheads. The album includes a track which Samuel L. Jackson appears on as a guest vocalist.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In her theatre programme CVs (below), McGovern lists her other theatre work in the U.S. as including:


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In early 2020, McGovern was in rehearsal to star in a revival of The Little Foxes by American playwright Lillian Hellman at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. However, due to the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts, the show has been postponed indefinitely.


title: Elizabeth McGovern

text: In 1992, McGovern married British film director and producer Simon Curtis; the couple have two daughters and live in Chiswick, London.


title: Square Enix

text: The original Square Enix Co., Ltd. was formed in April 2003 from a merger between Square and Enix, with the latter as the surviving company. Each share of Square's common stock was exchanged for 0.85 shares of Enix's common stock. At the time, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of the merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda was named vice president. Yasuhiro Fukushima, the largest shareholder of the combined corporation and founder of Enix, became chairman. In October 2008, Square Enix conducted a company split between its corporate business and video game operations, reorganizing itself as the holding company Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., while its internally domestic video game operations were formed under the subsidiary Square Enix Co., Ltd.


title: Square Enix

text: Several of Square Enix's franchises have sold over 10 million copies worldwide after 2020, with "Final Fantasy" selling 173 million, "Dragon Quest" selling 85 million, and "Kingdom Hearts" shipping 36 million. In 2005, Square Enix acquired arcade corporation Taito. In 2009, Square Enix acquired British game publisher Eidos Interactive, which was later absorbed into Square Enix Europe. Square Enix is headquartered at the Shinjuku Eastside Square Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and has over 5,000 employees worldwide through its base operations and subsidiaries.


title: Square Enix

text: Enix was founded on September 22, 1975, as Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese architect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima. Enix focused on publishing games, often by companies who exclusively partnered with the company, and is perhaps most famous for publishing the "Dragon Quest" series of console games developed by Chunsoft. Key members of the developer's staff consisted of director Koichi Nakamura, writer Yuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama, among others. The first game, Dragon Warrior, in the Famicom-based RPG series, was released in 1986 and would eventually sell 1.5 million copies in Japan, establishing "Dragon Quest" as the company's most profitable franchise. Despite the announcement that Enix's long-time competitor Square would develop exclusively for PlayStation, Enix announced in January 1997 that it would release games for both Nintendo and Sony consoles. This caused a significant rise in stock for both Enix and Sony. By November 1999, Enix was listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, indicating it as a "large company".


title: Square Enix

text: Square was started in October 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto as a computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by his father. While at the time, game development was usually conducted —by only one programmer, Miyamoto believed that it would be more efficient to have graphic designers, programmers and professional story writers working together.


title: Square Enix

text: In September 1986, the division was spun off into an independent company led by Miyamoto, officially named Square Co., Ltd. After releasing several unsuccessful games for the Famicom, Square relocated to Ueno, Tokyo in 1987 and developed a role-playing video game titled "Final Fantasy", which was inspired by Enix's success in the genre with the 1986 "Dragon Quest". "Final Fantasy" was a success with over 400,000 copies sold, and it became Square's leading franchise, spawning dozens of games in a series that continues to the present.


title: Square Enix

text: Buoyed by the success of their "Final Fantasy" franchise, Square developed notable games and franchises such as "Chrono," "Mana", "Kingdom Hearts" (in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company), and "Super Mario RPG" (under the guidance of Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto). By late 1994 they had developed a reputation as a producer of high-quality role-playing video games. Square was one of the many companies that had planned to develop and publish their games for the Nintendo 64, but with the cheaper costs associated with developing games on CD-based consoles such as the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation, Square decided to develop titles for the latter system. "Final Fantasy VII" was one of these games, and it sold 9.8 million copies, making it the second-best-selling game for the PlayStation.


title: Square Enix

text: A merger between Square and Enix was considered since at least 2000; the financial failure in 2001 of Square's first movie, "", made Enix reluctant to proceed while Square was losing money. With the company facing its second year of financial losses, Square approached Sony for a capital injection, and on October 8, 2001, Sony Corp purchased an 18.6% stake in Square. Following the success of both "Final Fantasy X" and "Kingdom Hearts", the company's finances stabilized, and it recorded the highest operating margin in its history in the fiscal year 2002. It was announced on November 25, 2002, that Square and Enix's previous plans to merge were to officially proceed, intending to decrease development costs and to compete with foreign developers. As described by Square's president and CEO Yoichi Wada: "Square has also fully recovered, meaning this merger is occurring at a time when both companies are at their height."


title: Square Enix

text: Some shareholders expressed concerns about the merger, notably Miyamoto (the founder and largest shareholder of Square), who would find himself holding a significantly smaller percentage of the combined companies. Other criticism came from Takashi Oya of Deutsche Securities, who expressed doubts about the benefits of such a merger: "Enix outsources game development and has few in-house creators, while Square does everything by itself. The combination of the two provides no negative factors but would bring little in the way of operational synergies." Miyamoto's concerns were eventually resolved by altering the exchange ratio of the merger so that each Square share would be exchanged for 0.85 Enix shares rather than 0.81 shares, and the merger was greenlit. The merger was set for April 1, 2003, on which date the newly merged entity Square Enix came into being. At the time of the merger, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of the merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda became its vice president. The founder of Enix and the largest shareholder of the newly combined corporation, Yasuhiro Fukushima, was made its honorary chairman.


title: Square Enix

text: As a result of the merger, Enix was the surviving company and Square Co., Ltd. was dissolved. In July of that year, the Square Enix headquarters were moved to Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, to help combine the two companies.


title: Square Enix

text: To strengthen its wireless market, Square Enix acquired mobile application developer UIEvolution in March 2004, which was sold in December 2007, and the company instead founded its own Square Enix MobileStudio in January 2008 to focus on mobile products. In January 2005, Square Enix founded Square Enix China, expanding their interests in the People's Republic of China.


title: Square Enix

text: In September 2005, Square Enix bought the gaming developer and publisher Taito, renowned for their arcade hits such as "Space Invaders" and the "Bubble Bobble" series; Taito's home and portable console games divisions were merged into Square Enix itself by March 2010. In August 2008, Square Enix made plans for a similar expansion by way of a friendly takeover of video game developer Tecmo by purchasing shares at a 30 percent premium, but Tecmo rejected the proposed takeover. Tecmo would later merge with Koei in April 2009 to form Koei Tecmo. In April 2007, Square Enix Ltd. CEO John Yamamoto also became CEO of Square Enix, Inc. In 2008–2009, Square Enix was reportedly working with Grin on a Final Fantasy spin-off codenamed Fortress. The project was allegedly canceled by Square Enix after introducing seemingly impossible milestones and without payments made, resulting in Grin declaring bankruptcy and its co-founders blaming Square Enix for being "betrayed".


title: Square Enix

text: In February 2009, Square Enix announced a takeover deal for Eidos plc, the holding company for Eidos Interactive, the UK-based publisher of the "Tomb Raider", "Hitman", "Deus Ex", "Thief" and "Legacy of Kain" franchises, along with its multiple subsidiary development studios that developed the games The acquisition of Eidos was completed in April 2009, and in November the publisher was merged with Square Enix's European publishing organization to form Square Enix Europe. In April 2010, a new Japanese label for Western games bearing CERO restrictions called "Square Enix Extreme Edges" was announced. In July 2010, Mike Fischer was appointed CEO of Square Enix, Inc.


title: Square Enix

text: In March 2011, Square Enix founded the mobile development studio Hippos Lab and Square Enix Montréal in 2012. In July 2011, it was reported that Square Enix closed their Los Angeles Studio. In January 2012, Square Enix North American office could pursue smaller niche, mobile and social media games due to its existing revenue streams. In October 2012, Square Enix was perceived as a "force in mobile" games by Kotaku. The price of Final Fantasy Dimensions and Demons' Score, $30 and $44 respectively, was criticized.


title: Square Enix

text: On March 26, 2013, citing sluggish sales of major Western games, Square Enix announced major restructuring, expected loss of ¥10 billion and resignation of President Yoichi Wada, whom Yosuke Matsuda replaced. Phil Rogers was elected as a new Director, among others. With the restructuring, Square Enix of America CEO Mike Fischer left the company in May, with former Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers becoming CEO of Americas and Europe. Further executive changes at Square Enix Western studios were mentioned in a statement. With the consolidation of Square Enix Western divisions around 2015, Square Enix Ltd. and Square Enix Inc. are collectively referred to as Square Enix West.


title: Square Enix

text: It said with the fiscal year report in March 2013, sales of "Tomb Raider" (2013) and "Hitman: Absolution" were weak, despite critical acclaim. The North American sales force was said to be ineffective as the game sold two-thirds the number of units it did in Europe. Price pressure was intense, which forced spending additional channel costs such as price protection. Matsuda noted the long development time of their important games and said they need to shift to a business model with frequent customer interactions, noting Kickstarter as an example, and finally, make sure games meet customer expectations.


title: Square Enix

text: In March 2013, Square Enix India opened in Mumbai; however the studio was closed in April 2014 and later reopened five years later. As well as Square Enix Latin America in Mexico, which was closed in 2015. A mobile studio called Smileworks was founded in Indonesia in June 2013; however it was closed in January 2015.


title: Square Enix

text: In 2014, Square Enix signed a strategic alliance with French video game company Ubisoft; it has served as the Japanese publisher of video games since 2009. In March 2014, following the success of "Bravely Default", Square Enix said it will "go back to their roots" and focus on creating content that will appeal to their core audience. In 2015, Square created a new studio known as Tokyo RPG Factory to develop what was then dubbed "Project Setsuna."


title: Square Enix

text: On February 21, 2017, the formation of a new studio Studio Istolia was announced. The studio, headed by Hideo Baba, would be working on the new RPG "Project Prelude Rune". Baba departed the studio in early 2019, and shortly after this, Studio Istolia was closed, and "Project Prelude Rune" cancelled following an assessment of the project, with its staff being reassigned to different projects within the company.


title: Square Enix

text: In 2019, Square Enix opened an Indian office again, now in Bangalore, which expanded into publishing mobile games for the Indian market in 2021. In March 2021, Forever Entertainment, a Polish studio, was reported to be working to bring several of Square Enix's properties to modern systems.


title: Square Enix

text: On May 1, 2022, Square Enix announced that it would sell several assets of their Square Enix Europe subsidiary to the Swedish holding company Embracer Group for $300 million. This included studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montreal, IPs "Deus Ex", "Legacy of Kain", "Thief" and "Tomb Raider" and rights to "over 50 games". Square Enix stated that the sale will further help it in investment into blockchain and other technologies, and to "assist the company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources". Square Enix also stated that it would remain publisher for the "Life Is Strange", "Outriders" and "Just Cause" franchises, implying that they are not included in the sale. However, during the Japanese publisher's full-year financial results briefing on May 13, president Yosuke Matsuda clarified the past statement and said the money from the sale will be used to strengthen the company's core games business. “Rather than using the proceeds from the divestiture in new investment domains such as NFT and blockchain, we intend to use them primarily to fund our efforts to foster solid IP and to enhance our development capabilities in our core Digital Entertainment segment,” he said.


title: Square Enix

text: In the company's financial statement for the following quarter, released in September 2022, Matsuda said they were moving away from outright owning studios due to rising costs of development, but were looking at means to invest in studios such as joint ventures or investment opportunities.


title: Square Enix

text: On October 1, 2008, Square Enix transformed into a holding company and was renamed Square Enix Holdings. At the same time, the gaming and publishing businesses were transferred to a spin-off named Square Enix, sharing the same corporate leadership and offices with the holding company. The primary offices for Square Enix and Square Enix Holdings are in the Shinjuku Eastside Square Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo.


title: Square Enix

text: After the merger in 2003, Square Enix's development department was organized into eight Square and two Enix , each focused on different groupings of games. The divisions were spread around different offices; for example, Product Development Division 5 had offices both in Osaka and Tokyo.


title: Square Enix

text: According to Yoichi Wada, the development department was reorganized away from the Product Development Division System by March 2007 into a project-based system. Until 2013, the teams in charge of the "Final Fantasy" and "Kingdom Hearts" series were still collectively referred to as the . The 1st Production Department was formed from the fall 2010 combination of Square Enix's Tokyo and Osaka development studios, with Shinji Hashimoto as its corporate executive.


title: Square Enix

text: In December 2013, Square Enix's development was restructured into 12 Business Divisions. In 2017, Business Division 9 was merged into Business Division 8, while Business Divisions 11 and 12 merged to become the new Business Division 9, while a new Business Division 11 was created with some staff from Business Division 6.


title: Square Enix

text: In 2019, Square Enix announced that their eleven Business Divisions would be consolidated into four units by 2020 with a new title, Creative Business Unit. Naoki Yoshida, who was previously the head of Business Division 5, became the head of Creative Business Unit III.


title: Square Enix

text: The current structure for the development and production division called Creative Business Unit is as follows:


title: Square Enix

text: In those four departments, most of the development is done outside of Square Enix under outsourced development studios, while Creative Business Unit produce and supervise those developers. Most of the internal development done by Creative Business Units are for AAA titles such as mainline Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and other series with AAA investment, while their mid-size titles have the development outsourced to other companies for most of the cases such as "Team Asano", a team of producers from Creative Business II who had Artdink and Netchubiyori developing Triangle Strategy or Historia developing the remake of Live A Live.


title: Square Enix

text: The business model of post-merger Square Enix is centered on the idea of "polymorphic content", which consists of developing franchises on multiple potential media rather than being restricted by a single gaming platform. An early example of this strategy is Enix's "Fullmetal Alchemist" manga series, which has been adapted into two anime television series, two movies, and several novels and video games. Other polymorphic projects include the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII", "Code Age", "World of Mana", "Ivalice Alliance" and "Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy" subseries. According to Yoichi Wada, "It's very difficult to hit the jackpot, as it were. Once we've hit it, we have to get all the juice possible out of it". Similar to Sony's Greatest Hits program, Square Enix also re-releases their best selling games at a reduced price under a label designated "Ultimate Hits".


title: Square Enix

text: The standard game design model Square Enix employs is to establish the plot, characters, and art of the game first. Battle systems, field maps, and cutscenes are created next. According to Taku Murata, this process became the company's model for development after the success of Square's "Final Fantasy VII" in 1997. The team size for "Final Fantasy XIII" peaked at 180 artists, 30 programmers, and 36 game designers, but analysis and restructuring were done to outsource large-scale development in the future.


title: Square Enix

text: Square Enix's primary concentration is on video gaming, and it is primarily known for its role-playing video game franchises. Of its properties, the "Final Fantasy" franchise, begun in 1987, is the best-selling, with a total worldwide sales of over 173 million units as of March 2022. The "Dragon Quest" franchise, begun in 1986, is also high-selling; it is considered one of the most popular game series in Japan and new installments regularly outsell other games at the times of their release, with a total worldwide sales of over 85 million units. More recently, the "Kingdom Hearts" series (developed in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company beginning in 2002) has become popular, with 36 million units shipped as of March 2022. Other popular series developed by Square Enix include the "SaGa" series with nearly 10 million copies sold since 1989, the "Mana" series with over 6 million sales since 1991, and the "Chrono" series with over 5 million sold since 1995. In addition to their sales numbers, many Square Enix games have been highly reviewed; 27 Square Enix games were included in "Famitsu" magazine's 2006 "Top 100 Games Ever", with 7 in the top 10 and "Final Fantasy X" claiming the number 1 position. The company also won IGN's award for Best Developer of 2006 for the PlayStation 2.


title: Square Enix

text: Square and Enix initially targeted Nintendo home consoles with their games, but Square Enix currently develops games for a wide variety of systems. In the seventh generation of video game consoles, Square Enix released new installments from its major series across all three major systems, including "Final Fantasy XIII" on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and "Dragon Quest X" on the Wii. Square Enix has also developed titles for handheld game consoles, including the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo 3DS, and PlayStation Vita. Also, they have published games for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and various models of mobile phones and modern smartphones. Square Enix mobile phone games became available in 2004 on the Vodafone network in some European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy.


title: Square Enix

text: Before its launch, Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, spoke about the PlayStation 3, saying, "We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them, but we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much." Square Enix continued to reiterate their devotion to multi-platform publishing in 2007, promising more support for the North American and European gaming markets where console pluralism is generally more prevalent than in Japan. Their interest in multi-platform development was made evident in 2008 when the previously PlayStation 3-exclusive game "Final Fantasy XIII" was announced for release on the Xbox 360.


title: Square Enix

text: In 2008, Square Enix released their first game for the iPod, "". Square Enix made a new brand for younger children gaming that same year, known as Pure Dreams. Pure Dreams' first two games, "" and "Pingu's Wonderful Carnival", were released that year. After acquiring Eidos in 2009, Square Enix combined it with its European publishing wing to create Square Enix Europe, which continues to publish Eidos franchises such as "Tomb Raider" (88 million sales), "Deus Ex" (4 million), "Thief" and "Legacy of Kain" (3.5 million). In November 2017, Square Enix stopped publishing the "Hitman" franchise and sold the IP to game developer IO Interactive. Square Enix has also served as the Japanese publisher for Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft games since 2009.


title: Square Enix

text: In 2022, Square Enix invested in seven business strategic cooperations in the blockchain and cloud services such as Zebedee (United States), Blocklords (Estonia), Cross The Ages (France), Blacknut (France), Animoca Brands-owned The Sandbox (Australia and Hong Kong), and Ubitus (Japan).


title: Square Enix

text: In 2004, Square Enix began to work on a "common 3D format" that would allow the entire company to develop titles without being restricted to a specific platform: this led to the creation of a game engine named Crystal Tools, which is compatible with the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, Windows-based PCs and to some extent the Wii. It was first shown off at a tech demo shown off at E3 2005 and was later used for "Final Fantasy XIII" based on the demo's reception. Crystal Tools was also used for "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" before its re-branding as "Final Fantasy XV" and its shift onto next-gen platforms. Refinement of the engine continued through the development of "Final Fantasy XIII-2", and it underwent a major overhaul for "". Since that release, no new titles have been announced using Crystal Tools, and it is believed that the development of the engine has halted permanently.