title: Jötunn

text: Most stories in Old Norse mythology show a clear division between "This World", pertaining to that of gods and men, and "The Other", which is inhabited by and beings associated with them.


title: Jötunn

text: A common motif is the journeying to obtain secret knowledge from the . In the Eddic poem Hyndluljóð, Freyja travels to the to obtain understanding of the lineage of Ottar, and the "ale of remembrance" () so that he does not forget it. In the Eddic poem Vafþrúðnismál, Óðinn travels to the Vafþrúðnir whereupon they engage in a wisdom contest. He also travels to the to obtain from Suttungr the Mead of poetry, which imparts skill in poetry to any who drink it. The völva who tells the Völuspá prophecy to Óðinn, while not explicitly described as a but was raised by them.


title: Jötunn

text: Cosmology in Germanic mythology, as with other oral cultures, has many apparent contradictions when viewed from a naturalistic standpoint. Despite this, a system of motifs repeat when travelling to the .


title: Jötunn

text: In the Prose Edda that the dwell in Jötunheimr which is at points located in the North or East and in can only be reached by air, however are also found South and across water. such as Suttungr and Skaði live in mountains, which is further reflected in the terms (mountain risar) and (mountain dweller), a kenning for . Their lands of inhabitation are not restricted to this, also including forests, underground, and the shore. Sometimes they are referred to as living in specific geographical locations such as Ægir on Læsø. These motifs are also seen in the section of Beowulf concerning the fight with mother of the Grendel which has been noted by scholars to closely resemble the fight between a and Grettir in his eponymous saga, wherein the female beings may only be reached by crossing through water. The seemingly ununified location of the has been suggested to be an outcome of their intrinsically chaotic nature. Even within the same story, what seem like contradictions have been noted by scholars, prompting the proposal of a model that the otherworld where the dwell can be reached from a number of passages or boundaries that cannot be traversed under normal conditions, such as the mountains, darkness and "flickering flame" crossed by Skírnir in Skírnismál.


title: Jötunn

text: In Eddic sources, present a constant threat to gods and humans, often leading them to confrontation with Thor. In Hárbarðsljóð and Þrymskviða tell that if it was not for Thor and Mjöllnir, would soon overrun Midgard and Asgard respectively. Nonetheless, Thor also has a positive relationship with some , such as Gríðr and the unnamed wife of Hymir, who provide magical items and council that enable him to overcome other .


title: Jötunn

text: The distinction between gods and is not clearly defined and they should be seen as different culturally rather than biologically, with some gods, such as Odin, Thor and Loki being the descendants of . A common motif that often forms the core storyline of Eddic narratives is the unsuccessful attempts of to marry one of the goddesses, be it through either trickery or force. In contrast, the female Skaði chooses the male Vanr Njörðr as a husband. According to Ynglinga saga, she later had children with Odin, from whom kings such as Earl Hakon were descended. The Freyr also marries Gerðr, who are the claimed ancestors of the Ynglings.


title: Jötunn

text: Odin also seduces the Gunnlöð and Rindr and marries Jörð. In the cases when gods marry , they appear to be fully incorporated into the gods and are referred to as Ásynjur in Nafnaþulur. Consistent with this, reference to Skaði's vés in Lokasenna and toponyms such as Skedevi in Sweden suggests that despite being a , she was worshipped in Old Norse religion.


title: Jötunn

text: One of the who dwell in the wood Járnviðr is a mother of "jötnar" in the forms of wolves and from whom are descended all wolves. This has been suggested to be Angrboða, the who begat with Loki the monstrous wolf Fenrir and venomous worm Jörmungandr who become enemies of the gods. Also in "Járnviðr" dwells the "jötunn " Eggþér who has been interpreted as either a guardian of the "gýgjar" who live there or a herdsman of the wolves. Wolves are also taken as mounts by such as Hyndla and Hyrrokkin, the latter of which using snakes as reins. This is further attested in skaldic poetry in which "wolf" is described by the kennings "Leikn's horse", "Gjálp's horse", "Gríðr's horse", while a group of wolves is referred to as "Gríðr's grey herd of horses". Wolf-riding are referred to as ("riders in the night") or ("dusk riders").


title: Jötunn

text: Hræsvelgr is told in Vafþrúðnismál (37) and Gylfaginning (18) to be a in an arnarhamr (eagle-guise) who creates the wind by beating his wings. Other , such as Þjazi and Suttungr are able to become eagles by wearing their , or resemble them like Griðr in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra who has hands like eagle talons.


title: Jötunn

text: In later material composed during the Christian period such as the legendary sagas, are often portrayed as uncivilised and cannibalistic. In the case of "Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss" and Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra they specifically eat both human and horse meat, the latter of which was directly associated with heathen practices. The post-Christian association between and pre-Christian practices is also seen in Beowulf, in which the man-eating Grendel is described as having a "heathen soul" and "heathenish hand-spurs". Female are explicitly described as being heathen in some later sources such as "Orms þáttr Stórólfssonar", in which religion prevents her from being with the hero, and the legendary saga Þorsteins þáttr bæjarmagns, in which she must be baptised before marrying the hero.


title: Jötunn

text: Giants with names cognate to terms for are found in later Northern European folklore, such as the English "ettin" or "yotun", "thurse" and "hobthrust", Danish and Swedish . In Germanic folklore, giants often share traits with , particularly as depicted in legendary sagas, combined with motifs from other European giants and are often interchangeable with trolls.


title: Jötunn

text: As with , Germanic giants live outside of human communities, in woods and mountains. They commonly show an aversion to Christianity, often showing a disdain for the ringing of church bells. Similarities are also both seen in their role in the construction of stoneworks. Akin to the Old Norse tale of the who built the wall of Ásgarðr, giants often enter into wagers involved in the building of churches which they later lose, as with the tale of Jätten Finn who is attributed with the construction of Lund Cathedral. Ruins are also attributed to the works of both beings, as in the Old English poem The Ruin and the aetiological story of Wade's Causeway in Yorkshire.


title: Jötunn

text: Some standing stones in northern Europe are explained as petrified giants such as the Yetnasteen in Orkney which derives its name from ("Jötunn's" stone). According to folklore, it awakens every New Year at midnight whereupon it visits the Loch of Scockness to drink. Orcadian folklore also explains the Ring of Brodgar as dancing giants who were turned to stone by the morning sun. This motif is also seen in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, in which the Hrímgerðr engages in a senna with Helgi Hundingsbane until the sun rises and she is turned to stone.


title: Jötunn

text: The Orcadian tradition of Gyro Night derives its name from and consisted of two older boys dressing up as masked old women one night in February and chasing smaller boys with ropes. Similar to this are the Faroese and Shetlandic popular customs of dressing up as giantesses referred to as (plural ), or other similar terms, in costumes traditionally made from a combination of animal skins, tattered clothes, seaweed, straw and sometimes featuring masks. Grýla is a female creature described in Sturlunga saga as having fifteen tails, and listed as a in the Nafnaþulur section of the Prose Edda who features in folklore throughout the North Atlantic islands settled by Scandinavians.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The tenth season of "The Walking Dead", an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC, premiered on October 6, 2019, and concluded on April 4, 2021, consisting of 22 episodes. Developed for television by Frank Darabont, the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The executive producers are Kirkman, David Alpert, Scott M. Gimple, Angela Kang, Greg Nicotero, Joseph Incaprera, Denise Huth, and Gale Anne Hurd, with Kang as showrunner for the second consecutive season. The tenth season received generally positive reviews. It was nominated for multiple awards, including a fifth consecutive nomination for Best Horror Television Series, at the 46th Saturn Awards.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: This season adapts material from issues #145–174 of the comic book series and focuses on the group's preparation and war against the Whisperers. Set several months after the massacre perpetrated by Alpha (Samantha Morton) during the community fair, the season focuses on the united communities as they initiate a fight in order to end the threat of the Whisperers.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The tenth season is the final season for series regular Danai Gurira, who has portrayed Michonne since the third season. The planned season finale was scheduled to air on April 12, 2020, but post-production was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the episode aired on October 4, 2020, with an additional six episodes added to the tenth season that were broadcast from February 28 to April 4, 2021.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The tenth season features twenty series regulars overall. Ryan Hurst, Eleanor Matsuura, Cooper Andrews, Nadia Hilker, Cailey Fleming, Cassady McClincy, and Lauren Ridloff were all promoted to series regular status, after previously having recurring roles. Hurst is added to the opening credits, while the rest are credited as "also starring". Beginning with episode 17, Lauren Cohan was re-added to the opening credits and as a series regular.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: In February 2019, the series was renewed for a tenth season. Filming began in May 2019. Andrew Lincoln expressed interest in directing an episode for season 10, but he was not able to due to scheduling conflicts. Michael Cudlitz, who directed an episode in season 9, returned to direct the fourth and seventh episodes of season 10. Production for the original 16-episode order of season 10 was completed in November 2019. Production resumed in October 2020, for the six additional episodes for season 10. The series moved from shooting on 16 mm film to digital beginning with the six bonus episodes. This changed was prompted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and safety precautions with there being fewer "touch points" with digital than film.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: In February 2019, it was announced that Danai Gurira, who portrays Michonne, would exit the series in the tenth season. Gurira appeared in a limited capacity, in a handful of episodes that was interspersed throughout the season. Later, in July 2019, Gurira confirmed her exit at a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, and stated:


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: In July 2019, it was announced that Thora Birch and Kevin Carroll had been cast; Birch plays Gamma, a member of the Whisperers, and Carroll plays Virgil, a survivor looking for his family. Regarding Lauren Cohan's status on the show as Maggie Greene, showrunner Angela Kang remarked in July 2019, "I'll just say that we're working on it." Cohan left "The Walking Dead" in its ninth season to star in the TV series "Whiskey Cavalier", however that series was canceled after one season. In October 2019, Kang affirmed Cohan would return as a series regular in season 11, but also hinted towards her appearance in the second half of season 10. Kang said that in developing season, even before knowing of Cohan's return, they had kept seeding that Maggie was still considered part of the ongoing narrative so that they could work in her return if she had the opportunity. The teaser trailer for "A Certain Doom", airing after the broadcast of "The Tower", confirmed Maggie's return to the series.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: As part of the extended episodes for season 10, one focuses on Negan's backstory and introduces his wife Lucille, who is played by Morgan's real-life wife, Hilarie Burton. On November 19, 2020, it was announced that Robert Patrick and Okea Eme-Akwari had been cast for the extended episodes as new characters Mays and Elijah, respectively.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The trailer was released on July 19, 2019, at the San Diego Comic-Con. The season premiere was made available for streaming to subscribers of AMC Premiere on September 29, 2019.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: AMC announced in March 2020 that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, post-production on the season finale could not be completed by its planned April 12, 2020, airdate, and instead would air on October 4, 2020. Showrunner Angela Kang stated that the delay on post-production was related with coordination of the worldwide production studios doing their special effects before the state issued its shutdown orders that effectively shuttered their California production studio to combine those into the final episode package. "Home Sweet Home" premiered a week early on February 21, 2021, on AMC+ before its televised air date and subsequent episodes were released every Thursday ahead of its AMC linear premiere on Sunday.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The 22-episode tenth season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 20, 2021, with special features including multiple audio commentaries and an "In Memoriam" featurette.


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The tenth season of "The Walking Dead" has received generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a score of 77% with an average rating of 7 out of 10, based on 6 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "A few changes in front of and behind the camera allow "TWD" create space for compelling new stories and some seriously scary new adversaries." Commenting on the season premiere, Brandon Davis of "Comicbook.com" called it a "perfect return" while Alex Zalben of "Decider" wrote that the episode is "gross, scary, and big budget storytelling the way only "Walking Dead" can do. Season 10 is already off to a promising start". Paul Tassi of "Forbes" praised the writing and direction, writing: "The writing remains on point, the direction is solid. The show is still in a good place."


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: In further reviews based upon the first three episodes available to critics, Tassi wrote that "they're all good episodes, and I think I liked each one more than the last" and "they're very solid and continue my confidence in the Angela Kang era of the show, showing that season 9 wasn't a fluke. The show is genuinely good now, and I can't wait to see what's next". Cameron Bonomolo of "Comicbook.com" praised the episodes for its horror elements, writing: ""The Walking Dead" Season 10 recaptures the same tone of raw realism established by first-season showrunner Frank Darabont, expanding on it with a flavoring that is deliciously eerie. Not only is "The Walking Dead" straight-up scary, it often feels like a genuine horror movie, a feat achieved either through atmosphere and tension-building or pop-up spooks."


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: The tenth season of "The Walking Dead" received five nominations for the upcoming 46th Saturn Awards—Best Horror Television Series (the series' fifth consecutive nomination, with four consecutive wins), Best Supporting Actor on a Television Series for Norman Reedus (his fourth nomination), Best Supporting Actress on a Television Series for Melissa McBride (her seventh consecutive nomination, with two consecutive wins), Best Performance by a Younger Actor on a Television Series for Cassady McClincy, and Best Guest Starring Performance on a Television Series for Jeffrey Dean Morgan (his fourth consecutive nomination, with two wins).


title: The Walking Dead (season 10)

text: At the inaugural Critics' Choice Super Awards, the season was also nominated for Best Horror Series and Best Villain in a Series for Samantha Morton. The first half of the season was nominated for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble a Comedy or Drama Series at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards (the series' eighth consecutive nomination). Additionally, Danai Gurira won the Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Bridge of Spies is a 2015 historical drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, and starring Tom Hanks in the lead role, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. Set during the Cold War, the film tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan, who is entrusted with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers—a U.S. Air Force convicted pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960—in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a convicted Soviet KGB spy held by the United States, whom Donovan represented at trial. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the prisoner exchange took place. The film was an international co-production of the United States and Germany.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: "Bridge of Spies" was shot under the working title of "St. James Place". Principal photography began on September 8, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, and the production proceeded at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on October 16, 2015, in the United States and distributed by 20th Century Fox in other countries. It received critical acclaim for its screenplay, the performances of Hanks and Rylance, Spielberg's direction, Thomas Newman's musical score, and the production values. The film was a box office success, grossing $165 million worldwide on a $40 million budget, and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and won Best Supporting Actor for Rylance.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In 1957 New York City, Rudolf Abel is arrested and charged with spying for the Soviet Union, and insurance lawyer James B. Donovan is appointed to be Abel's legal counsel. Committed to the principle that the accused deserves a vigorous defense, he mounts the best defense of Abel he can, declining along the way to cooperate in the CIA's attempts to induce him to violate the confidentiality of his communications with his client.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Abel is convicted, but Donovan convinces the judge to spare Abel the death penalty because Abel had been serving his country honorably, and he might prove useful for a future prisoner exchange; Abel is sentenced to 30 years. Donovan appeals the conviction to the Supreme Court based on the lack of a search warrant for the seizure of Abel's ciphers and photography equipment. For his principled stand, Donovan and his family are harassed, including shots being fired at their home. The conviction is upheld in a very close margin.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In 1960, Gary Powers, a pilot in the CIA's top-secret U-2 spy plane program, is shot down over the USSR. He is captured and sentenced in a show trial to ten years' confinement, including three years in prison.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Donovan receives a letter from East Germany, purportedly sent by Abel's wife, thanking him and urging him to get in contact with their lawyer, whose name is Vogel. The CIA thinks this is a back-channel message hinting that the USSR is willing to swap Powers for Abel. They unofficially ask Donovan to go to Berlin to negotiate the exchange; he arrives just as the Berlin Wall is going up. Crossing into East Berlin, he meets with a KGB officer in the Soviet Embassy and is then directed to Vogel, who represents the Attorney General of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The Attorney General seeks to swap Abel for an American graduate student named Frederic Pryor, who had been arrested in East Germany; in the process, the GDR hopes to gain official recognition by the United States.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: The CIA wants Donovan to disregard Pryor but he insists that both Pryor and Powers be swapped for Abel. In a message to the Attorney General, he bluffs that they will either release Pryor with Powers or there will be no deal. The exchange of Powers and Abel is to take place at the Glienicke Bridge, with Pryor to be released simultaneously at Checkpoint Charlie. Tension builds as Pryor fails to arrive. The CIA, still primarily concerned with Powers, tell Abel he can go, but he refuses to move. It is confirmed that Pryor has been released, and the exchange takes place.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: The next day, back in the United States, the government publicly acknowledges Donovan for negotiating the deal, rehabilitating his public image.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: "Bridge of Spies" is an American-German co-production based on a script written by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers. Studio Babelsberg co-produced and oversaw production services for the film. James Donovan wrote an account of the incident in 1964 under the title "Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel and Francis Gary Powers". The historical background to the U-2 incident and the story of former West Berlin CIA chief William King Harvey and Operation Gold was published in Rory MacLean's "Berlin: Portrait of a City Through the Centuries" (2014). Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel, who lived and operated in Brooklyn Heights, did dead drops of stolen documents in Prospect Park. His arrest and history were discussed by Truman Capote, another Heights resident at the time, in his book "".


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Charman became interested in Donovan's story after reading a footnote about him in "An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963". After meeting with Donovan's son in New York City, Charman pitched the story to several studios and DreamWorks bought it. Studio co-founder Steven Spielberg became interested in the film and decided to direct. Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger attached themselves as producers along with Spielberg. Joel and Ethan Coen revised Charman's original script. According to Charman, the brothers "were able to really punch up the negotiations on the back end of the movie, then they handed the baton back to me to do a pass after they did their pass, to make the movie just sit in a place we all wanted it to. The flavor they brought is so fun and enjoyable. It needed to be entertaining but truthful."


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In May 2014, it was announced that Tom Hanks would star as James Donovan, with Mark Rylance co-starring as Abel; Rylance had previously been offered a role in Spielberg's 1987 war film "Empire of the Sun", but he declined. Rylance considered the Coen brothers' revisions to the screenplay to have substantially improved his part, stating that at the two versions, it was like looking at the first and second quartos of "Hamlet"." Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Billy Magnussen, and Eve Hewson were reported to star in the film as well. Participant Media co-produced the film. Francis Gary Powers Jr., founder of The Cold War Museum and the pilot's son, was brought on as a technical consultant and has a cameo in the film.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In June 2014, Fox 2000 Pictures agreed to co-finance the film with DreamWorks and Participant Media, with the film's distribution rights being divided between Disney and Fox. During a March 3, 2015, interview with "The Daily Pennsylvanian", Platt revealed the title to be "Bridge of Spies"; it was shot under the working title of "St. James Place". The film also received funds of €3.7 million, from the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF).


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Principal photography began on September 8, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City. On September 14, filming took place in Dumbo, a Brooklyn neighborhood, where crews transformed Anchorage Street to appear as it did in the 1960s. On September 15, filming took place in Astoria, between Astoria Park and Ditmars Boulevard. Filming was done on 18 Street and 26 Avenue in Astoria, where Spielberg was spotted transforming the 5 Corners Deli into a 1950s grocery store. On September 26, filming took place on 44th Street in Manhattan, as evidenced by crews stationed on 44th Street, between Madison and 6th Avenues. On September 27, Hanks was spotted filming scenes on Wall Street among extras wearing 1960s costumes. On September 28, filming of some day and night scenes took place on the corner of Henry Street and Love Lane in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the block was set with vintage cars, street signs, rain machines, and spotlights. On September 29, filming took place on Hicks Street and Pineapple Street, where a shop, Perfect Paws, was transformed into a 1960s dress shop named Brooklyn Pearl, and at the NYS Appellate Division courthouse on Monroe Place and Pierrepont Street. On October 6, Hanks and the crew were spotted on the same location on Hicks Street. The scene in the court hallway in which Donovan, to Watters' consternation, announces his intention to appeal the guilty verdict, was filmed on the first floor on the Queens County Supreme Courthouse at 88–11 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica, New York.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In early October, after filming wrapped in New York City, further production began at Babelsberg Studios in Berlin and Potsdam, Germany, and would continue there through the end of November. Filming in Berlin began with shooting at the former Tempelhof Airport in October, for scenes that actually took place there, such as Donovan's descending from a historic C-54 Skymaster. The prisoner exchange scene was filmed on the Glienicke Bridge (the so-called "Bridge of Spies"), where the historical exchange actually took place in 1962. The bridge spans the Havel narrows between Berlin and Potsdam, and was closed to traffic for filming over the last weekend of November. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former president Bill Clinton visited the set to watch the filming of these scenes. Other filming locations included Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial and Marquardt Palace. Principal photography officially ended on December 4, at Berlin Tempelhof. Shooting also took place in Wrocław, Poland, in the second half of November. During mid-December, filming took place at Beale Air Force Base, located near Marysville, California. The film was shot on 35mm motion picture film, including Kodak Vision3 250D color negative film 5207 and Vision3 500T color negative film 5219.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Frequent Spielberg collaborator John Williams was originally announced to compose the film's score. However, Williams had to drop out of production due to a health issue. Thomas Newman was then contacted by Spielberg to replace him, marking Spielberg's first film without Williams' music since 1985's "The Color Purple", which was scored by Quincy Jones. Hollywood Records released the film's soundtrack on October 16, 2015.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: The theatrical poster for the film was released on June 4, 2015, with the first trailer appearing online the following day. It was distributed in North America by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, through the Touchstone Pictures banner. Disney held the film's world premiere on October 4, 2015 at the 53rd annual New York Film Festival. The film went into general theatrical release in the United States on October 16, 2015. 20th Century Fox distributed the film in the remaining international territories.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: "Bridge of Spies" grossed $72.3 million in North America and $93.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $165.6 million, against a budget of $40 million.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: In the United States and Canada, pre-release tracking predicted "Bridge of Spies" to open to around $15–20 million from 2,811 theaters. The film opened alongside "Goosebumps", "Crimson Peak", and "Woodlawn" on October 16, 2015, facing particular competition from the former, and also from "The Martian", which was entering its third week. The film made $500,000 from its early Thursday night showings and $5.3 million on its first day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15.4 million, finishing third at the box office behind "Goosebumps" ($23.5 million) and "The Martian" ($21.5 million). Its biggest international markets have been Italy ($12.1 million) and United Kingdom ($11.0 million).


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: The film was released by Touchstone Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download in North America on January 12, 2016, and by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in other territories.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: "Bridge of Spies" received critical acclaim. Richard Roeper of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film four out of four stars and praised Spielberg's direction, saying: "Spielberg has taken an important but largely forgotten, and hardly action-packed slice of the Cold War, and turned it into a gripping character study, and thriller that feels a bit like a John Le Carre adaptation if Frank Capra were at the controls". Michael Phillips of "Chicago Tribune" called the film a "a confident, slightly square, highly satisfying example of old-school Hollywood craftsmanship, starring a major movie star brandishing a briefcase, and a handkerchief, rather than a pistol". "The A.V. Club" Ignatiy Vishnevetsky described it as "one of the most handsome movies of Spielberg's latter-day phase, and possibly the most eloquent [...] "Bridge of Spies" turns a secret prisoner exchange between the CIA and the KGB into a tense and often disarmingly funny cat-and-mouse game". Thomas Sotinel of the French newspaper "Le Monde" praised the film for harkening back to "classic American cinema", noting Spielberg's virtuosic illustration of the mechanisms of Cold War politics.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: On the other hand, Mike Scott of the "New Orleans Times-Picayune", had a more mixed reaction, saying: ""Bridge of Spies", with its stop-and-go momentum, is also more merely interesting than it is full-on riveting. It's still quite good stuff, but despite its impressive pedigree ... it doesn't feel as if it's quite the sum of all of its parts". Preston Jones of "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five. Jones wrote that "For all Spielberg, his star-packed cast, led by Tom Hanks, and his on-screen and off-screen team (Joel and Ethan Coen co-wrote the screenplay) bring to the table, "Bridge of Spies" is remarkable only for how stuffy and surprisingly inert the film becomes".


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 90%, based on 309 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Bridge of Spies" finds new life in Hollywood's classic Cold War espionage thriller formula, thanks to reliably outstanding work from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Commentators have noted that the shortening of timespans in the film at times gives a misleading impression. A certain licence is taken in the depiction of the Berlin Wall; Donovan did not see Berlin Wall escapees being shot; those most similar to the ones depicted was the killing of Peter Fechter, the summer "after" the Powers/Abel exchange on the Glienicke Bridge. The circumstances of Frederic Pryor's detention were not accurately portrayed—he could not have crossed a partially built wall and was convicted of obtaining "confidential" material.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Apart from the depiction of the wall, Donovan did not suffer the violence depicted: he was not shot at in his home and he did not have his overcoat stolen. The film also changed the location of Donovan's suggestion to the judge to spare Abel for the sake of a possible exchange, which was made in court. Donovan is presented in the film as a private practice attorney with no mention of any prior association with the United States' intelligence services. However, during WWII Donovan served as the general counsel of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), shortly before it was re-organized as the CIA.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: There was some controversy over Rylance's decision to portray Abel with a Scottish accent, despite Abel having been born and educated entirely within the Tyneside region of north east England where the Geordie accent is prevalent.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: Frederic Pryor stated in an interview that various details of the plot related to his involvement were incorrect. He did not cross the Berlin wall during its construction, as he was on vacation in Denmark at the time. He was detained after his return, when he crossed into East Berlin to visit a friend's sister, without knowing that she had fled to West Berlin using "some sort of passport manipulation", and that her apartment was under surveillance to catch anyone attempting to retrieve its contents. Pryor also stated that the film's depiction of Wolfgang Vogel was unfair. Pryor said that Vogel was a nice, quiet, well-spoken man with whom he later became friends and frequently visited. The film depicts Powers' U2 plane being hit by a volley of three SAMs but more than 14 were launched. A MiG-19 fighter that was scrambled to intercept the plane was also shot down by friendly fire during this salvo, killing the pilot Sergei Safronov.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: When interviewed by the "Harvard Gazette" in 2016, Donovan's granddaughter Beth Amorosi described as "artistic license" the movie's portrayal of his rather antagonistic relationship with his CIA handler ("an amalgam" of several CIA people), whereas he "actually had a very good relationship with the CIA agent he worked with, M.C. Miskovsky". After the spy swap in February 1962, the two again worked successfully together to free 1200 prisoners from Cuba in December 1962.


title: Bridge of Spies (film)

text: The visual blog "Information is Beautiful" deduced that, while taking creative licence into account, the film was 88.8 percent accurate, calling it "pretty damn truthful, reflecting a general trend in Hollywood towards more historically accurate tales".


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment, feeling directionless and trapped in his working-class ethnic neighborhood. The story is based on "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", a mostly fictional article by music writer Nik Cohn, first published in a June 1976 issue of "New York" magazine. The film features music by the Bee Gees and many other prominent artists of the disco era.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: A major critical and commercial success, "Saturday Night Fever" had a tremendous impact on popular culture of the late 1970s. The film helped to popularize disco music around the world and initiated a series of collaborations between film studios and record labels. It also made Travolta, already well known from his role in the TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter", a household name. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, becoming the fifth-youngest nominee in the category. The film showcases aspects of the music, dancing, and subculture surrounding the disco era, including symphony-orchestrated melodies, haute couture styles of clothing, pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity, and graceful choreography. The "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees, is one of the best-selling soundtracks in history. John Travolta reprised his role of Tony Manero in "Staying Alive" in 1983, which was panned by critics despite being successful at the box office.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: In 2010, "Saturday Night Fever" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Tony Manero is a 19-year-old Italian-American from the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He lives with his parents, grandmother, and younger sister, and works at a dead-end job in a small paint store. To escape his day-to-day life, Tony goes to 2001 Odyssey, a local discotheque, where he is king of the dance floor and receives the admiration and respect he craves. Tony has four close Italian-American friends from the neighborhood: Joey, Double J, Gus, and Bobby C. A fringe member of his group of friends is Annette, a neighborhood girl who is infatuated with Tony; however, he is not attracted to her.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Tony and his friends ritually stop on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to clown around. The bridge has special significance for Tony as a symbol of escape to a better life.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Tony agrees to be Annette's partner in an upcoming dance contest, but her happiness is short-lived when Tony is mesmerized by another woman at the club, Stephanie Mangano, whose dancing skills exceed Annette's. Although Stephanie rejects Tony's advances, she eventually agrees to be his partner in the dance competition, provided that their partnership remains professional.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Frank Jr., Tony's older brother and the pride of the family as a Roman Catholic priest, brings despair to their parents and grandmother when he tells them he has quit the priesthood. Tony shares a warm relationship with Frank Jr., but Tony feels pleased that he is no longer the black sheep of the family. Frank Jr. tells Tony that he never wanted to be a priest and only did it to make their parents happy. He also encourages Tony to do something with his dancing.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: While on his way home from the grocery store, Gus is attacked by a gang and hospitalized. He tells Tony and his friends that his attackers were the Barracudas, a Puerto Rican gang. Meanwhile, Bobby C. has been trying to get out of his relationship with his devout Catholic girlfriend, Pauline, who is pregnant with his child. Facing pressure from his family and others to marry her, Bobby asks Frank Jr. if the Pope would grant him dispensation for an abortion. When Frank tells him such a thing would be highly unlikely, Bobby's feelings of desperation increase.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Eventually, the group gets their revenge on the Barracudas and crash Bobby C's car into their hangout. Tony, Double J, and Joey get out of the car to fight, but Bobby C. runs away when a gang member tries to attack him in the car. When the group visits Gus in the hospital, they are angry when he tells them that he may have identified the wrong gang. Later, Tony and Stephanie dance at the competition and end up winning first prize. However, Tony believes that a Puerto Rican couple performed better, and that the judges' decision was ethnically motivated. He gives the Puerto Rican couple his trophy and award money and leaves with Stephanie. Once inside Bobby's car, Stephanie mocks Tony and tells him she was using him. Tony tries to rape Stephanie, but she resists and runs from him.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Tony's friends come to the car along with an intoxicated Annette. Joey says she has agreed to have sex with everyone. Tony tries to lead her away but is subdued by Double J and Joey and sullenly leaves with the group in the car. Joey has sex with Annette in the back seat of the car. After Joey finishes with Annette, he switches places with Double J who then proceeds to rape Annette despite her loud protests, with Tony clearly uncomfortable with the situation in the front seat. Bobby C. pulls the car over on the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge for their usual cable-climbing antics. Instead of abstaining as usual, Bobby performs stunts more recklessly than the rest of the gang. Realizing that he is acting recklessly, Tony tries to get him to come down. Bobby's strong sense of despair, the situation with Pauline, and Tony's broken promise to call him earlier that day all lead to a suicidal tirade about Tony's lack of caring, before Bobby slips and falls to his death in the water below.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Disgusted and disillusioned by his friends, his family, and his life, Tony angrily storms off, leaving Double J, Joey, and Annette behind. He spends the rest of the night riding the graffiti-riddled subway into Manhattan. Morning has dawned by the time he appears at Stephanie's apartment. He apologizes for his bad behavior, telling her that he plans to relocate from Brooklyn to Manhattan to try to start a new life. Stephanie forgives Tony, and tells him that she was wrong to say she was using him, and that she danced with him because he gave her respect and moral support. Tony and Stephanie salvage their relationship and agree to be friends.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: According to the DVD commentary for "Saturday Night Fever", the producers intended to use the song "Lowdown" by Boz Scaggs in the rehearsal scene between Tony and Annette in the dance studio, and choreographed their dance moves to the song. However, representatives for Scaggs' label Columbia Records refused to grant legal clearance for it, as they wanted to pursue another disco movie project, which never materialized. Composer David Shire, who scored the film, had to in turn write a song to match the dance steps demonstrated in the scene and eliminate the need for future legal hassles. However, this track does not appear on the movie's soundtrack.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The song "K-Jee" was used during the dance contest with the Puerto Rican couple that competed against Tony and Stephanie. Some VHS cassettes used a more traditional Latin-style song instead. The DVD restores the original recording.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The album, like its parent film, has been added to the Library of Congress via the National Recording Registry.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Norman Wexler's screenplay was adapted from a 1976 "New York" magazine article by British writer Nik Cohn, "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night". Although presented as an account of factual reporting, Cohn acknowledged in the mid-1990s that he fabricated most of the article. A newcomer to the United States and a stranger to the disco lifestyle, Cohn was unable to make any sense of the subculture he had been assigned to write about; instead, the character who became Tony Manero was based on an English mod acquaintance of Cohn.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Shortly after Cohn's article was published, British music impresario Robert Stigwood purchased the film rights and hired Cohn to adapt his own article to screen. After finishing a single screenplay draft, Cohn was replaced by Norman Wexler, who'd previously picked up Oscar nominations for "Joe" (1970) and "Serpico" (1973).


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: John G. Avildsen was originally hired as the film's director, but was replaced one month before principal photography by John Badham over "conceptual disagreements." Badham was a lesser-known director who, like his star, had mostly worked in television. His sole prior film credit, "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings", was released while "Saturday Night Fever" was already well into production.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The film went through several different titles, including "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" and "Saturday Night." Badham chose the final title after the Bee Gees' track "Night Fever", which they submitted for the soundtrack.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The film's relatively low budget ($3.5 million) meant that most of the actors were relative unknowns, many of whom were recruited from New York's theatre scene. For more than 40% of the actors it was their film debut. The only actor in the cast who was already an established name was John Travolta, thanks to his role on the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter". His performance as Tony Manero brought him critical acclaim and helped launch him into international stardom. Travolta researched the part by visiting the real 2001 Odyssey discotheque, and claimed he adopted many of the character's swaggering mannerisms from the male patrons. He insisted on performing his character's own dance sequences after producers suggested he be substituted by a body double, rehearsing his choreography with Lester Wilson and Deney Terrio for three hours every day, losing 20 pounds in the process.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Karen Lynn Gorney was nine years older than Travolta when she was cast as his love interest Stephanie. Although Gorney had dance experience before she was cast, she found it difficult to keep up with her co-star due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident some years before. After the success of "Saturday Night Fever", Gorney took a break from film acting to work as a dance instructor at a performing arts academy in Brooklyn. Jessica Lange, Kathleen Quinlan, Carrie Fisher, and Amy Irving were all considered for the part before Gorney was cast.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Donna Pescow was considered almost "too pretty" by Paramount heads Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg for the role of Annette. She corrected this matter by putting on weight. She also had to relearn her native Brooklyn accent, which she had overcome while studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The film was shot entirely on-location in Brooklyn, New York. The 2001 Odyssey Disco was a real club located at 802 64th Street, which has since been demolished. The interior was modified for the film, including the addition of a $15,000 lighted floor, which was inspired by a Birmingham, Alabama establishment Badham had visited. A similar effect was achieved on the club's walls using tinfoil and Christmas lights. Since the Bee Gees were not involved in the production until after principal photography wrapped, the "Night Fever", "You Should Be Dancin'", and "More Than a Woman" sequences were shot with Stevie Wonder tracks that were later overdubbed in the sound mix. During filming, the production was harassed by local gangs over use of the location, and was even firebombed.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The dance studio was Phillips Dance Studio in Bensonhurst, the Manero home was a house in Bay Ridge, the paint store was Pearson Paint & Hardware, also in Bay Ridge. Other locations included the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, John J. Carty Park, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: To try to throw off Travolta's fans who might disrupt filming, Badham and his team took to shooting exterior scenes as early in the morning as possible before people caught on – often at the crack of dawn. They would also generate fake call sheets. The tactics worked well enough that Badham was usually able to get the scenes done before significant crowds had time to gather.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Two theatrical versions of the film were released: the original R-rated version and an edited PG-rated version in 1979.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The R-rated version released in 1977 represented the movie's first run, and totaled 119 minutes. After the success of the first run, the film's content was re-edited into a 112-minute, toned down, PG-rated version, not only to attract a wider audience, but also to capitalize on attracting the target audience of the teenagers who were not old enough to see the film by themselves, but who made the film's soundtrack album a monster hit. The R-rated version's profanity, nudity, fight sequence, and a multiple rape scene in a car, were all de-emphasized or removed from the PG version. Numerous profanity-filled scenes were replaced with alternate takes of the same scenes, substituting milder language initially intended for the network television cut.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Paramount planned to theatrically release the PG-rated version, which was being shown by airlines, in 1978; however, MPAA rules at the time did not allow for two different rated versions of a film to be shown in U.S. theaters at the same time. This required the film to be withdrawn from exhibition for 90 days before a different rated version could be shown, delaying Paramount's release plans. The PG-rated version was eventually released in 1979 and was later paired by Paramount in a double feature along with its other John Travolta blockbuster, "Grease". In the A&E documentary "The Inside Story: Saturday Night Fever", producer Robert Stigwood critiqued of the PG-rated version:


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: In 2017, the director's cut (running 122 minutes) premiered at the TCM Classic Film Festival at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Fathom Events hosted special screenings of this version in 2017.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Both theatrical versions were released on VHS. The PG-rated version never had a home video release on Laserdisc. The R-rated special-edition DVD release includes most of the deleted scenes present on the PG version, as well as a director's commentary and "Behind the Music" featurettes.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: On May 5, 2009, Paramount released "Saturday Night Fever" on Blu-ray Disc in aspect ratio. This release retains the R-rated version of the film, in addition to including many special features new to home media.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The 4K director's cut (122 minutes) was released on Blu-ray on May 2, 2017. This disc includes both the director's cut and the original theatrical version, as well as the bulk of the bonus features from the prior release.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: When HBO acquired the pay television rights to "Saturday Night Fever" in 1980, both versions of the film were aired by the network: the PG version during the day, and the R version during the evening. (HBO, which had primarily operated on a late afternoon-to-early overnight schedule at the time, had maintained a programming policy restricting the showing of R-rated films to the nighttime hours, a rule that continued long after it switched to a 24-hour schedule full-time in December 1981.) The R-rated theatrical version premiered on the network at midnight Eastern Time on January 1, 1980.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: For the film's network television premiere, airing on ABC on November 16, 1980, a new milder version was created to conform with network broadcast standards. The network television version—which is among the longest cuts of the film—was basically a slightly shortened cut of the PG-rated version, but to maintain runtime, a few additional scenes deleted from both theatrical releases were restored to make up for the lost/cut material (including Tony dancing with Doreen to "Disco Duck", Tony running his finger along the cables of the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge, and Tony's father getting his job back). The last two deleted scenes were included in the 2017 director's cut.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Starting in the late 1990s, VH1, TBS and TNT began showing the original R-rated version with a TV-14 rating, although with nudity removed/censored, and the stronger profanity either being edited or (on recent airings) silenced. However, this version of the TV cut included some innuendo included in the original theatrical release that was edited or removed from the PG version. Turner Classic Movies has aired the film in both versions: the original R-rated version (rated TV-MA on the network) is the cut commonly broadcast, although the PG cut has been presented as part of TCM's family-oriented "Funday Night at the Movies" and "Essentials Jr." film showcases.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The film grossed $25.9 million in its first 24 days of release and grossed an average of $600,000 a day throughout January to March going on to gross $94.2 million in the United States and Canada and $237.1 million worldwide.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: "Saturday Night Fever" received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1977. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 82% based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.49/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Boasting a smart, poignant story, a classic soundtrack, and a starmaking performance from John Travolta, "Saturday Night Fever" ranks among the finest dramas of the 1970s." At Metacritic the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: It was added to "The New York Times" "Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made", which was published in 2004. In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Film critic Gene Siskel, who would later list this as his favorite movie, praised the film: "One minute into "Saturday Night Fever" you know this picture is onto something, that it knows what it's talking about." He also praised John Travolta's energetic performance: "Travolta on the dance floor is like a peacock on amphetamines. He struts like crazy." Siskel even bought Travolta's famous white suit from the film at a charity auction.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Film critic Pauline Kael wrote a gushing review of the film in "The New Yorker": "The way "Saturday Night Fever" has been directed and shot, we feel the languorous pull of the discotheque, and the gaudiness is transformed. These are among the most hypnotically beautiful pop dance scenes ever filmed ... Travolta gets so far inside the role he seems incapable of a false note; even the Brooklyn accent sounds unerring ... At its best, though, "Saturday Night Fever" gets at something deeply romantic: the need to move, to dance, and the need to be who you'd like to be. Nirvana is the dance; when the music stops, you return to being ordinary."


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: Historians of disco have criticized the film as a whitewashed representation of disco. Katherine Karlin wrote: "The film is wrongly credited with sparking the disco culture; it’s more accurate to say that it marks the moment when disco—up to that moment a megaphone for voices that were queer, black, or female—became accessible to straight white men, and thus the moment marking its decline." Music historians Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton wrote in their book "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life": "The Bee Gees did for disco what Elvis Presley did for rhythm and blues, what Diana Ross did for soul, what Dave Brubeck did for jazz; they made it safe for white, straight, middle-class people, hauling it out of its subcultural ghetto and into the headlight glare of the mainstream. Here was something middle America could move its uptight ass to."


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The 1980 comedy "Airplane!" by directors David & Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, included a flashback scene that directly parodied the dance competition scene at the disco in "Saturday Night Fever".


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: In 2008, director Pablo Larraín made a film, "Tony Manero", about a Chilean dancer obsessed by the main character in "Saturday Night Fever" who tries to win a Tony Manero look-alike contest.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: On April 17, 2012, Fox aired series "Glee"s episode 16, "Saturday Night Glee-ver", which pays tribute to the film and features various songs from its soundtrack (especially the songs performed by the Bee Gees), covered by the series' cast.


title: Saturday Night Fever

text: The Red Hot Chili Peppers 2016 music video for their song "Go Robot" is heavily inspired by the film and recreates the opening scene and classic characters from the film who are portrayed by each band member.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty and speciality items, and a variety of "value menu" items. , Taco Bell serves over customers each year, at 7,072 restaurants, more than 93 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.


title: Taco Bell

text: PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell in 1978, and later spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell, an entrepreneur who first opened a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In in San Bernardino, California, in 1948. Bell watched long lines of customers at a Mexican restaurant called the Mitla Cafe, located across the street, which became famous among residents for its hard-shelled tacos. Bell attempted to reverse-engineer the recipe, and eventually the owners allowed him to see how the tacos were made. He took what he had learned and opened a new stand in 1951. The name underwent several changes, from Taco-Tia through El Taco, before settling on Taco Bell.


title: Taco Bell

text: Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 at 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. Currently there is a Taco Bell location across the street at 7127 Firestone Blvd, in Downey. The original location was a building about the size of a two-car garage, and was built with Mission-style arches that covered a small walk-up window that served the original menu items: Tostadas, burritos, frijoles, chiliburgers, and tacos, all for 19 cents ($ in dollars ). The first restaurant closed in 1986, while the building was saved from demolition November 19, 2015, and was moved to the Taco Bell Corporate Office at 1 Glen Bell Way in Irvine and is currently stored intact on the corporate parking lot premises and known as "Taco Bell Numero Uno".


title: Taco Bell

text: In 1964, the first franchisee opened, in Torrance, California, at the intersection of West Carson Street and South Western Avenue which still exists but has been repurposed at 1647 West Carson Street. In 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South Brookhurst in Anaheim which was later replaced by a new restaurant at 324 South Brookhurst. The first location east of the Mississippi River opened on East Main Street in Springfield, Ohio, in 1968. Original Taco Bells only featured walk-up windows without indoor seating or drive-thru service and former original Taco Bell locations still survive while having been repurposed, frequently as other Mexican restaurants. In 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants.


title: Taco Bell

text: The corporate office has had a few locations, and previously maintained an office at 2516 Via Tejon in Palos Verdes, then at 2424 Moreton Street in Torrance before settling into Irvine more than 40 years ago in 1976 at 17901 Von Karman Avenue.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell. Several locations in the Midwestern United States were converted from Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain which PepsiCo acquired in 1986. In 1990, the Hot 'n Now chain was acquired. Taco Bell sold Hot 'n Now to a Connecticut company in 1997.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco. Taco Bell Express locations operate primarily inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls, and airports. Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995 when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina. The chain has since co-branded with Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's as well.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 1997, PepsiCo experimented with a new "fresh grill" concept, opening at least one Border Bell restaurant in Mountain View, California, on El Camino Real (SR 82). Close to the time that PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business in 1997,<ref name="TRICON-GLOBAL-RESTAURANTS-Aug-1997-10-12B/A"></ref> the Border Bell in Mountain View was closed and converted to a Taco Bell restaurant which was still open in 2018.


title: Taco Bell

text: In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded shells were recalled from supermarkets. The shells contained a variety of genetically modified corn called StarLink that was not approved for human consumption. StarLink was approved only for use in animal feed because of questions about whether it can cause allergic reactions in people. It was the first-ever recall of genetically modified food (GMO). Corn was not segregated at grain elevators and the miller in Texas did not order that type. In 2001, Tricon Global announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers. They stated that it would go to Taco Bell franchisees and TGR would not take any of it.


title: Taco Bell

text: PepsiCo spun out Taco Bell and its other restaurant chains in late 1997 in Tricon Global Restaurants.<ref name="TRICON-GLOBAL-RESTAURANTS-Jul-1997-10-12B/A"></ref> With the purchase of Yorkshire Global Restaurants, the owners of A&W and Long John Silver's chains, Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands on May 16, 2002.


title: Taco Bell

text: In March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) won a landmark victory in its national boycott of Taco Bell for human rights. Taco Bell agreed to meet all the coalition's demands to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers in its supply chain. After four years of boycott, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands agreed to make an agreement called the "CIW-Yum agreement" with representatives of CIW at Yum! Brands headquarters.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell began experimenting with fast-casual and urban concepts when it created U.S. Taco Co. and Urban Taproom in 2014 reflecting a market shift due to the popularity of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The menu consisted of tacos with American fillings, and did not sell the food sold in Taco Bell restaurants such as burritos. It was launched in Huntington Beach, California, in August 2014. U.S. Taco Co. closed on September 15, 2015, so the company could focus on its new similar Taco Bell Cantina concept, which featured special menu items and served alcohol. It opened its first location a few days later in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, followed by a location in San Francisco about a month later, located less than a block away from AT&T Park. In 2016, Taco Bell launched the Taco Bell Cantina flagship store located on the Las Vegas strip. The 24-hour restaurant serves alcohol, unique menu items, and features a DJ. It was announced in August 2017 that the store would begin hosting weddings. Taco Bell Cantina currently has locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Chicago (2 locations), Las Vegas, Austin, Fayetteville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Atlanta, Newport Beach, San Diego, San Jose, and plans to open soon in Somerville, Massachusetts. In March 2020, Taco Bell announced that it would be converting 3 of its suburban stores into Cantinas this year as part of a test run.


title: Taco Bell

text: In March 2016, Taco Bell introduced private beta testing of an artificial intelligence bot on the messaging platform Slack designed to take orders of select menu items from local Taco Bell locations and have the orders delivered. Taco Bell plans to have a wider roll-out of this functionality in the coming months.


title: Taco Bell

text: Previously, Taco Bell's hot sauces were only available in packets at the chain itself. In February 2014, Taco Bell made its hot sauces available at grocery stores, sold in bottles. These would be followed by further grocery store products including chips in May 2018 and shredded cheese in 2019. In September 2016, Taco Bell opened a pop-up in New York City in the SoHo, Manhattan area called the Taco Bell VR Arcade. Taco Bell and VR fans could demo PlayStation VR, games, and food.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2016, Taco Bell built a restaurant out of five cargo shipping containers for the Texas music festival, South by Southwest. Due to popularity, the franchise decided to move the restaurant to a lot in South Gate, California, and it opened to the public a year later. The restaurant features Taco Bell's full menu, with outdoor seating, a walk-up window, and a drive-thru, but no indoor seating unlike regular Taco Bell locations. Taco Bell announced plans in November 2017 to open 300 more urban and Cantina-style locations by 2022, with 50 to be located about New York City's five boroughs. In 2019 Taco Bell opened a pop-up hotel called "The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort" for one weekend in August. Upon the announcement the hotel was booked up in two minutes


title: Taco Bell

text: In 1993, Taco Bell was part of product placement for the movie "Demolition Man" and updated their currently used logo.


title: Taco Bell

text: In March 2001, Taco Bell announced a promotion to coincide with the re-entry of the Mir space station. They towed a large target out into the Pacific Ocean, announcing that if the target was hit by a falling piece of Mir, every person in the United States would be entitled to a free Taco Bell taco. The company bought a sizable insurance policy for this gamble. No piece of the station struck the target.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2004, a local Taco Bell franchisee bought the naming rights to the Boise State Pavilion in Boise, Idaho, and renamed the stadium Taco Bell Arena. Also, in 2004, Mountain Dew offered Taco Bell stores the exclusive right to carry Mountain Dew Baja Blast, a tropical lime flavor of the popular soft drink.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2007, Taco Bell first offered the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion—if any player from either team stole a base in the World Series, the company would give away free tacos to everyone in the United States in a campaign similar to the Mir promotion, albeit with a much higher likelihood of being realized. After Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox stole a base in Game 2, the company made good on the promotion on October 30, 2007. The promotion has subsequently been offered in multiple World Series, most recently in 2022, with Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies successfully stealing a base in Game 1.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell sponsors a promotion at home games for both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers in which everyone in attendance receives a coupon for a free Chalupa if the home team scores 100 points or more.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2009, Taco Bell introduced a music video style commercial entitled "It's all about the Roosevelts" composed and produced by Danny de Matos at his studio for Amber Music on behalf of DraftFCB Agency. Featuring, Varsity Fanclub's Bobby Edner, the rap music style commercial shows a group of friends gathering change as they drive toward Taco Bell. The commercial represents Taco Bell's first foray into movie theater advertising, featuring the ad during the opening previews of "" and "Public Enemies" as well as screens in some movie theater lobbies.


title: Taco Bell

text: On July 1, 2009, Taco Bell replaced 20-year sponsor McDonald's as the fast-food partner of the NBA. Taco Bell and the NBA agreed on a 4-year deal allowing them to advertise on ABC, TNT and ESPN, and NBA-themed promotions. On July 21, 2009, Gidget, the Chihuahua featured in Taco Bell ads in the late 1990s, was euthanized after suffering a stroke. She was 15 years old. 2009 commercials for the "Frutista Freeze" frozen drink feature Snowball, an Eleonora cockatoo noted for his ability to dance to human music. In an effort to promote its $2 Meal Deals, Taco Bell started a Facebook group in June 2010 to collect signatures on a petition that appeals to the Federal Reserve to produce more two-dollar bills.


title: Taco Bell

text: A large advertising push by Taco Bell was begun in late February 2011 in response to a consumer protection lawsuit filed against the company by an Alabama law firm. The promotion sought to counter allegations that the company falsely advertised the ratio of ingredients in its beef filling for its tacos. The spots featured employees and franchisees stating that the filling has always been a mixture of 88% beef and various spices and binders and nothing else. The ad followed several full-page print ads in the "New York Times" and other newspapers that featured the headline "Thank you for suing us." Additionally, the chain added a new social campaign using Twitter and Facebook. The company invested heavily in the campaign, spending more than $3 million (USD) putting out its message—about 20 percent more than the company usually spends on an advertising program. The various campaigns came shortly before the company began its official response to the suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and were designed to bring public opinion into their camp. Various analysts stated that the company would have been better off using a grass-root campaign that involved in store advertising and other non-broadcast media. The suit was eventually withdrawn, and the company continued its advertising response by publicly requesting an apology from the suing firm of Beasley Allen. Analyst Laura Ries, of marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries, stated she believed Taco Bell's latest response was a mistake. She commented that reviving memories of a suit that the majority of the public had forgotten after the initial burst of publicity was the wrong strategy from Taco Bell.


title: Taco Bell

text: In March 2012, Taco Bell teamed up with Frito-Lay and created the Doritos Locos Tacos, which is a taco with a Dorito Nacho Cheese flavored taco shell. Taco Bell is releasing a Mountain Dew infused drink called Mountain Dew A.M.


title: Taco Bell

text: On June 6, 2012, Taco Bell announced it would be testing a new "Cantina Menu" with upscale items in their Kentucky and California restaurants. The new menu was created by celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, and featured the addition of: Black Beans; Cilantro Rice; Citrus & Herb Marinated Chicken; and Cilantro Dressing.


title: Taco Bell

text: The "Cool Ranch Doritos Taco", became available to order on March 7, 2013. Shortly before its release, Taco Bell launched a promotion advertising that fans could get the new flavor at its stores a day early if they "just asked" on March 6. However, they neglected to inform the majority of their stores of this – leading to numerous complaints on its social media accounts and news sites from disappointed consumers who were unable to obtain the new taco.


title: Taco Bell

text: On July 23, 2013, Taco Bell announced they were discontinuing the sale of kids' meals and accompanying toys at all of their U.S.–based restaurants by January 2014. Some outlets ceased their sale as early as July 2013.


title: Taco Bell

text: On August 6, 2013, the chain announced it was expanding its test market of "Waffle Tacos" to ≈100 restaurants in Fresno, California, Omaha, Nebraska, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning on August 8 of that year. The Waffle Taco included scrambled eggs, sausage, and a side of syrup. It was the top–selling item during breakfast hours at the five Southern California restaurants where they had been test–released earlier in 2013. The breakfast menu started on March 27, 2014. Other items include: the A.M. Crunchwrap, Cinnabon Delights, Breakfast Burrito, A.M. Grilled Sausage Flatbread Melt, Hash Browns, Coffee and Orange Juice. The ad–campaign, which began March 27, used twenty-five men who were named Ronald McDonald, a reference to the famous clown mascot of McDonald's. Another commercial advertisement for the Waffle Taco, features the narrator singing, "I've been eating Egg McMuffins since 1984. But when I saw Taco Bell made a Waffle Taco, I figured I would get with the times" set to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"— another shot at McDonald's.


title: Taco Bell

text: On April 28, 2014, Taco Bell ridiculed McDonald's for its "out–dated muffins", in a breakfast campaign devised by Taylor. The advertisement stated the claim that the McMuffin belonged in 1984. In October 2014, Taco Bell launched the "Pink Strawberry Starburst Freeze" beverage for a limited time. In August 2016, Taco Bell brought back its Pink Strawberry Starburst Freeze. In October 2015, Taco Bell launched a certified vegetarian menu.


title: Taco Bell

text: In August 2016, Taco Bell announced it would begin testing a mashup known as Cheetos Burritos at select Taco Bell restaurants On September 19, 2016, Taco Bell launched Airheads Freeze, a drink inspired by the candy Airheads White Mystery, and allow people to guess its flavor on social media. On September 15, 2016, Taco Bell introduced the Cheddar Habanero Quesarito, a quesadilla shelled burrito. In April 2017, Taco Bell announced that it will begin testing the Naked Breakfast Taco in Flint, Michigan in mid-April. The breakfast taco, which uses a fried egg as the shell for potato bites, nacho cheese, shredded cheddar, and bacon or sausage crumble.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2017, the company released the Naked Chicken Chalupa that uses a chalupa shell made from chicken, using a similar idea to the Double Down and later that year the Naked Chicken Chips, which are chicken nuggets shaped like chips with nacho cheese.


title: Taco Bell

text: In July 2017, Taco Bell announced a partnership with Lyft in which Lyft passengers in Orange County, California, can request "Taco Mode" on their way to their destination from 9 PM to 2 AM, having a stop at Taco Bell. The program was cancelled after much negative feedback from drivers.


title: Taco Bell

text: On September 21, 2018, Taco Bell announced National Taco Day celebrating its global reach outside of the United States, to be celebrated in 20 countries.


title: Taco Bell

text: In January 2021, Taco Bell announced the return of potatoes to the menu after a brief discontinuation in August 2020 in efforts to streamline processes in their restaurants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the potatoes, the company had announced plans to expand their vegetarian menu by introducing Beyond Meat as a plant-based vegetarian customization option.


title: Taco Bell

text: In April 2021, Taco Bell said that it will start reusing hot sauce packets in partnership with the recycling company TerraCycle, aiming to reduce the environmental pollution.


title: Taco Bell

text: On April 18, 2022, Taco Bell announced that Mexican Pizza will return to its menu on May 19, after having previously been discontinued in November 2020.


title: Taco Bell

text: On January 6, 2022, Taco Bell launched a digital taco subscription service called the Taco Lover's Pass through the company app. For the cost of $10, a customer can order one of seven different tacos each day for 30 consecutive days.


title: Taco Bell

text: On August 18, 2014, Taco Bell launched a new value menu called Dollar Cravings. Replacing the old Why Pay More menu, Dollar Cravings currently contains thirteen food items all priced at a United States dollar.


title: Taco Bell

text: It was renamed "Cravings Value Menu", when prices were increased on some of the items. In April 2019, they introduced a "loaded nacho taco" for a dollar.


title: Taco Bell

text: One of Taco Bell's original 1960s menu items was the Chiliburger, later known as the Bell Burger, then the Bell Beefer. This was a loose meat sandwich with taco-seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese and lettuce, diced onions and tomato with mild red sauce, served on a steamed hamburger bun. The sandwich was removed from the menu sometime in the late 1980s to keep a strictly Tex Mex-inspired line up.


title: Taco Bell

text: Other discontinued items include: Enchirito (name revived for a different menu item); Taco Lite; Taco Grande; Chilito (Chili Cheese Burrito); Beefy Crunch Burrito; Beefy Melt Burrito; Seafood Salad; Chicken Fiesta Burrito; Potatorito; Volcano Taco; BLT Taco; Cheesarito; Cinnamon Crispas; Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito; Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito; Grilled Stuft Nacho; Fully Loaded Nachos; Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme; Blackjack Taco; Bean Burrito Especial; Border Ices; and the Meximelt.


title: Taco Bell

text: In September 2019, Taco Bell made new changes to its menu. Items discontinued from there include: Beefy Mini Quesadilla; Chips and Salsa; Chipotle Chicken Loaded Griller; Double Decker Taco; Cool Ranch and Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos; Double Tostada; Power Menu Burrito, and the XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito.


title: Taco Bell

text: , the menu underwent another update, discontinuing the following items: Grilled Steak Soft Taco; 7-Layer Burrito; Nachos Supreme; Beefy Fritos Burrito; Spicy Tostada; Triple Layer Nachos; Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes; Loaded Grillers, both Cheesy Potato and Beefy Nacho; Chips & Dips; and Mini Skillet Bowl.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2003, Taco Bell entered the Chinese market by opening a restaurant in the Shanghai People's Square, named "Taco Bell Grande". Three more TBG restaurants opened before they were closed in 2008. Taco Bell relaunched in the Chinese market when a store opened in Pudong, Shanghai in late 2015.


title: Taco Bell

text: India's first Taco Bell outlet opened at the Mantri Square mall in Bangalore in 2010. Taco Bell announced an exclusive national master franchise agreement with Burman Hospitality on May 15, 2019. The chain operated 35 outlets across India as on the same date. Yum! Brands stated that it planned to open 600 new Taco Bell outlets in India by 2029.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell opened its first Indonesian restaurant in South Jakarta on December 18, 2020. As of 2022, Taco Bell has since opened three more restaurants in Indonesia, all located in Jakarta.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell opened its first Malaysian store in Cyberjaya, Sepang on April 2, 2021. It then opened its second store in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Kuala Lumpur followed by Tropicana Gardens Mall and Setiawangsa outlets. In early 2022, Taco Bell opened up in Wangsa Maju, Sunway Pyramid, Puchong and has continued in expanding to other states as well. It currently has 13 stores scattered across Klang Valley.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell once operated shops in Tokyo and Nagoya in the 1980s but withdrew several years later. Since then, there were shops only at United States Forces Japan bases. In 2015, Taco Bell returned to the Japanese market with a new shop in the downtown area of Shibuya, Tokyo. It had "Taco rice" and "Shrimp and avocado burrito" on its original menu.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell opened its first Philippine branch on October 30, 2004, at the Gateway Mall in Cubao, Quezon City. They now have one on the ground floor and one on the fourth floor in the food court at the Gateway Mall. There is also a branch at the TriNoma mall in Quezon City.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell in Singapore existed for a number of years, mostly as combination stores with KFC such as the one that operated at the Funan Digital Life Mall, but in 2008, Taco Bell completely pulled out of Singapore.


title: Taco Bell

text: There are currently two locations in Seoul, in the Itaewon and Hongdae districts, which attract the most foreigners and college students. The two branches opened in the summer of 2010, Itaewon's branch coming first. A Taco Bell had long been a presence at the U.S. Army's Yongsan Garrison, which is off-limits to non-military personnel, and for a time there was a tongue-in-cheek grassroots campaign by non-Korean, non-military foreigners in Seoul to get another Taco Bell location.


title: Taco Bell

text: A Taco Bell opened in Cyprus in December 2009 in Limassol at the MY MALL Limassol. Further restaurants are planned to be opened within the next 18 months (probably also in Cyprus' capital Nicosia).


title: Taco Bell

text: On June 15, 2017, Finnish restaurant company announced that it is bringing Taco Bell to Finland. The first restaurant opened in central Helsinki on November 9, 2017. Restaurants in Sello and Iso Omena malls in Espoo opened later in November 2017. Finland is the first country to include pulled oats (a meat substitute) in the menu. In 2019, the Taco bell expanded outside the Helsinki Metropolitan area to Lappeenranta and Turku. In July 2021, a new branch will be opened in Oulu. As of November 2022 there are 16 Taco Bell restaurants in Finland, most of them in the Greater Helsinki area.


title: Taco Bell

text: Greece's first Taco Bell opened in Athens upon the grand opening of the newly constructed Athens Metro Mall on November 30, 2010. The restaurant closed in August 2012 and the chain withdrew from the Greek market due to the country's recession.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell in Iceland is operated as a part of the KFC establishment in Hafnarfjörður, suburb of Reykjavík. It was established in late 2006, after the departure of the U.S. Navy from Naval Air Station Keflavik. A second location opened in the Ártúnshöfði part of Reykjavík in November 2008.


title: Taco Bell

text: On April 4, 2017, Taco Bell opened its first restaurant in Eindhoven, Netherlands. On October 12, Taco Bell opened another restaurant in Tilburg. A third restaurant has opened in Breda.


title: Taco Bell

text: The first Polish Taco Bell store was opened in 1993. Following an aggressive campaign of expansion, Taco Bell's efforts soon withered, and the chain withdrew from Poland shortly thereafter.


title: Taco Bell

text: The first Taco Bell store opened in Romania's capital, Bucharest, on October 12, 2017, and there are currently 13 stores on the Romanian market. For the time being, Romania is the only country in Eastern Europe that has a Taco Bell store.


title: Taco Bell

text: In the early 1990s, PepsiCo opened several Taco Bell locations inside the Moscow metro system, including Metro Park Kulturi and Metro Komsomolskaya. This experiment lasted only a few years but these locations live on under different ownership and a different name.


title: Taco Bell

text: Spain is the most important market for Taco Bell in Europe. There are 67 Taco Bell branches by late 2019, more than twice than in 2017 when Taco Bell had 32 branches in Spain. The first Taco Bell in Spain was opened at Naval Station Rota in 2004 and is available only to those authorized to access the naval base. The first Taco Bell for the public was opened in the Islazul Shopping Mall, Madrid, in December 2008. Yum! Brands announced that it would open additional restaurants in Spain in early 2009 as part of a test trial for the European market. The second location of Taco Bell in Spain was opened at the La Vaguada Shopping Mall, Madrid (03/2010). Taco Bell announced, at least, 10 new restaurants through Spain.


title: Taco Bell

text: As of March 2017, there are 32 Taco Bell restaurants in Spain; 13 of them are in Madrid, and the other 19 Taco Bell are distributed through Valencia (5), Málaga (2), Barcelona (2), Zaragoza (2), Alicante (2) and Jerez de la Frontera, Murcia, Cádiz, Granada, Sevilla and Naval Station Rota with 1 restaurant.


title: Taco Bell

text: The United Kingdom was the first European country with a Taco Bell. In 1986, a location was opened in London on Coventry Street (between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus) followed by a second location in Earl's Court near the Earl's Court tube station. One other store opened in Uxbridge but all closed in the mid-1990s. In 1994, the university food provider Compass announced plans for outlets on its university and college sites. However, only one store was opened at Birmingham University, which is now closed.


title: Taco Bell

text: After the Birmingham University branch closed, there were only two Taco Bell branches in the UK, at the Strategic Air Command and United States Air Force bases at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. Access is restricted to relevant service personnel.


title: Taco Bell

text: In the late 2000s, Yum! Brands announced that it was reopening Taco Bell locations in the United Kingdom as part of a large planned expansion into Europe. Yum! took advantage of the recent great recession which led to increasing sales at other fast food outlets; it also said that there was now a greater awareness of Mexican food in the UK and that it can be successful with improved menu offerings and marketing. The first new store opened at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex on June 28, 2010. Another store opened in Basildon, Essex, on November 29, 2010, and a third in the Manchester Arndale Food Court on November 7, 2011.


title: Taco Bell

text: On March 1, 2013, it was announced that trace amounts of horse meat from a European supplier had been found in various food products, including Taco Bell's beef in the UK. By August 2017, there were 17 Taco Bell branches in the United Kingdom, all of which were in England and outside of London. The first Scottish branch was opened in Glasgow in December 2017. As of June 2019 there are 39 branches in Scotland and England, including three in London. Beginning in October 2019, Taco Bell locations in the UK began serving Doritos Locos Tacos.


title: Taco Bell

text: More recently, in November 2021, Taco Bell opened its 77th UK store, and a return to the British Midlands with a store in The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.


title: Taco Bell

text: A Taco Bell opened in the United Arab Emirates in November 2008 in Dubai at the Dubai Mall. A fourth UAE location was also planned for Bawadi Mall in the city of Al Ain. As of February 2012, the locations at Dubai Mall, Deira City Centre, and Mirdif City Centre have all closed and Taco Bell has completely pulled out of the Emirati market. Taco Bell is still open in Kuwait and has not been pulled out ever since from the Kuwaiti market.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell has been present in Canada since 1981, with the first store opening in Windsor, Ontario. There are currently Taco Bell locations in 7 of the 10 Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Taco Bell had operated in the province of Quebec for close to 15 years, however announced its withdrawal on January 6, 2022, due to apparent struggles with its restrictive language laws. For some time it was possible to order draft beer with one's order. Taco Bell offers free soda refills in its stores.


title: Taco Bell

text: On March 31, 2011, Priszm, owner of Taco Bell (Canada), went into bankruptcy protection in Ontario and British Columbia. On May 6, 2011, Priszm Income Fund was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange for failure to meet the continued listing requirements. Since then, some Taco Bell restaurants have been closed down including those in Guelph, Hamilton, and Cambridge, Ontario among others.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell has attempted to enter the Mexican market twice. After a highly publicised launch in Mexico City in 1992, all the restaurants were closed two years later. In September 2007, Taco Bell returned to Monterrey, projecting an American image with an Americanized menu that included french fries, but it closed in January 2010 due to low patronage.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell first opened in Australia in September 1981, but Taco Bell was ordered to change its name after the owner of a local restaurant successfully sued Taco Bell for misleading conduct. The local restaurant was called "Taco Bell's Casa" and had been operating in Australia since the 1970s. The owner successfully argued that Sydneysiders would confuse the takeaway chain with his restaurant, and this would damage his reputation. Taco Bell later opened in 1997 in Australia with a store in the cinema district on George Street, Sydney and a year later in 1998 within a few KFC stores in the state of New South Wales, but by 2005, the Taco Bell brand was pulled out of the country.


title: Taco Bell

text: On September 13, 2017, Collins Foods announced that Taco Bell would return to the Australian market, with their first store being situated in the Brisbane suburb of Annerley in Queensland using a refurbished Sizzler restaurant which had closed earlier that year. The Annerley store opened on Saturday November 4, 2017 with about 50 people camping out overnight to be first to try the store. The store has 96 seats in indoor and outdoor settings and has an open kitchen so diners can see their food being prepared. There is also a drive-through. The menu appears to be a subset of the US menu based on food tasting research undertaken by the company. The Annerley store does not have a breakfast menu, but offers beers and margaritas similar to their Mexican food competitors in the Australian market. In 2018, Collins Foods signed a development deal with Yum! Brands to open over 50 Taco Bell restaurants across Australia between January 2019 and December 2021. A legal dispute with Victoria-based restaurant chain Taco Bill was resolved in February 2020.


title: Taco Bell

text: As of November 2022, there are 36 Taco Bell restaurants across Australia; 12 in New South Wales (including one that does not serve pork), 13 in Queensland, eight in Victoria and three in Western Australia. By city or town, there are eight in Melbourne, seven in Sydney, four each in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast, three in Perth, two on the Gold Coast and one each in Ballina, Cairns, Ipswich, Newcastle, Orange, Tamworth, Townsville and Wollongong. There are also plans to open restaurants in other locations, such as Canberra, the Central Coast, Port Macquarie and Toowoomba.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell officially opened its first New Zealand location on November 12, 2019 in the suburb of New Lynn, Auckland.


title: Taco Bell

text: As of November 2022, there are 14 Taco Bell restaurants across New Zealand; 10 on the North Island and four South Island. By city, there are seven in Auckland, three in Christchurch and one each in Dunedin, Rotorua, Taupiri and Wellington.


title: Taco Bell

text: There are 15 outlets in Brazil, mainly in the São Paulo area. Taco Bell has fourteen stores in Chile, thirteen of which are operated in conjunction (and in the same facilities) with Pizza Hut. All Taco Bell stores are in shopping malls located mainly in Santiago. There were four outlets in the Bogotá area in Colombia, but these closed in late 2018.


title: Taco Bell

text: Taco Bell is present in the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Portugal and on AAFES military bases in Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Iraq, Brazil, Guatemala, and El Salvador.


title: Taco Bell

text: In 2017, Forever 21 produced a clothing line in partnership with Taco Bell, featuring branded T-shirts and sweatshirts, as well as bodysuits made to look like Border Sauce packets.


title: Taco Bell

text: In November 2019, Taco Bell announced "Taco Bell's Taco Shop", an online store with Taco Bell branded merchandise including hoodies and tees, holiday ornaments, inflatable sauce packets, and wedding-related items.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film "Georgy Girl", which starred Lynn Redgrave. She soon began making French and Italian arthouse films, notably Luchino Visconti's "The Damned" (1969) and Liliana Cavani's "The Night Porter" (1974). She went on to star in many European and English-language films, including "Stardust Memories" (1980); in "The Verdict" (1982); "Long Live Life" (1984), and "The Wings of the Dove" (1997). In the 2000s, she became the muse of French director François Ozon, appearing in several of his films, notably "Swimming Pool" (2003). On television, she is known for her role as Dr. Evelyn Vogel in "Dexter" (2013).


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: In 2012 she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, both for her performance in the miniseries "Restless". For her performance in the 2015 film "45 Years", she won the Berlin Film Festival Award for Best Actress, the European Film Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2017, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 74th Venice International Film Festival for "Hannah". She received an Honorary César in 2001 and France's Legion of Honour in 2002. She was made an OBE in 2000 for her services to the arts, and received the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Film Awards.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: In 2015, she released her autobiography, which she wrote in French, titled "Qui Je Suis". She later worked on an English translation, "Who I Am", which was published in March 2017.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Tessa Charlotte Rampling was born in 1946 in Sturmer, Essex, the daughter of Isabel Anne (née Gurteen; 1918–2001), a painter, and Godfrey Rampling (1909–2009), an Olympic gold medallist runner and British Army officer. She spent most of her early life in Gibraltar, France and Spain, before she returned to the UK in 1964.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: She attended Académie Jeanne d'Arc in Versailles and St Hilda's School, a boarding school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. She had one sister, Sarah, who died by suicide in 1966, aged 23. She and Sarah had a close relationship, and they had performed in a cabaret act together during their young years.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Rampling made her stage debut at the age of 14, singing French chansons with her sister at Bernays Institute in Stanmore. She began her career as a model and first appeared in a Cadbury advertisement. She was working as a secretary when she was noticed by a casting agent in the same building. She made uncredited appearances in two films directed by Richard Lester, his first film with the Beatles, "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), and as a water skier in "The Knack ...and How to Get It" (1965). In 1965, she was cast in the role of Meredith in the film "Georgy Girl" and was given a role by John Boulting in the comedy "Rotten to the Core". In 1967, she starred opposite Yul Brynner in the adventure film "The Long Duel". She also appeared alongside Franco Nero in the Italian film "Sardinia Kidnapped" ("Sequestro di persona") (1968), directed by Gianfranco Mingozzi.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: On television, Rampling played the gunfighter Hana Wilde in "The Superlative Seven", a 1967 episode of "The Avengers". In 1969, she starred opposite Sam Waterston in the romance-drama "Three", and in 1972, she starred opposite Robert Blake in the drama "Corky" and portrayed Anne Boleyn in the costume drama "Henry VIII and His Six Wives". After this, her acting career blossomed in both English and French cinema.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Despite an early flurry of success, she told "The Independent": "We weren't happy. It was a nightmare, breaking the rules and all that. Everyone seemed to be having fun, but they were taking so many drugs they wouldn't know it anyway."


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Rampling has performed controversial roles. In 1969, in Luchino Visconti's "The Damned" ("La Caduta degli dei"), she played a young wife sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Critics praised her performance, and it cast her in a whole new image: mysterious, sensitive, and ultimately tragic. "The Look," as her co-star Dirk Bogarde called it, became her trademark.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: She appeared in the cult classic "Vanishing Point", in a scene deleted from the U.S. theatrical release (included in the U.K. release). Lead actor Barry Newman remarked that the scene was of aid in the allegorical lilt of the film.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: In 1974's "The Night Porter", in which she again appears alongside Dirk Bogarde, she plays a former concentration camp inmate who, after World War II, reunites with a former camp guard (Bogarde) with whom she had had an ambiguous, sadomasochistic relationship. Their relationship resumes, and she becomes his mistress and victim once again. In "Max mon amour", she played a woman who falls in love with a chimpanzee. In 1974, she posed nude for "Playboy" photographs by Helmut Newton. In 1976 she co-presented for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Award with Anthony Hopkins at the 48th Academy Awards.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: In 1974, Rampling starred in John Boorman's science-fiction film "Zardoz" opposite Sean Connery. She also starred with Peter O'Toole in "Foxtrot" (1976) and with Richard Harris in "Orca" (1977). She gained recognition from American audiences as the leading lady in a well-received remake of Raymond Chandler's detective story "Farewell, My Lovely" (1975) starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, and later with Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" (1980), and in "The Verdict" (1982), an acclaimed drama directed by Sidney Lumet that starred Paul Newman.


title: Charlotte Rampling

text: Rampling starred in Claude Lelouch's 1984 film "Viva la vie (Long Live Life)", before going on to star in the cult-film "Max, Mon Amour" (1986), and appear in the thriller "Angel Heart" (1987). For a decade she withdrew from the public eye due to depression. In the late 1990s, she appeared in "The Wings of the Dove" (1997), played Miss Havisham in a BBC television adaptation of "Great Expectations" (1998), and starred in the film adaptation of Anton Chekov’s "The Cherry Orchard" (1999), directed by Michael Cacoyannis.. In 1997, she was a jury member at the 54th Venice International Film Festival.