title: United Artists

text: In 1959, after failing to sell several pilots, United Artists offered its first ever television series, "The Troubleshooters", and later released its first sitcom, "The Dennis O'Keefe Show".


title: United Artists

text: In the 1960s, mainstream studios fell into decline and some were acquired or diversified. UA prospered while winning 11 Academy Awards, including five for best picture, adding relationships with the Mirisch brothers, Billy Wilder, Joseph E. Levine and others. In 1961, United Artists released "West Side Story", which won a record ten Academy Awards (including Best Picture).


title: United Artists

text: In 1960, UA purchased Ziv Television Programs. UA's television division was responsible for shows such as "Gilligan's Island," "The Fugitive", "Outer Limits", and "The Patty Duke Show". The television unit had begun to build up a profitable rental library, including Associated Artists Productions, owners of Warner Bros. pre-1950 features, shorts and cartoons and 231 "Popeye" cartoon shorts purchased from Paramount Pictures in 1958, becoming United Artists Associated, its distribution division.


title: United Artists

text: In 1963, UA released two Stanley Kramer films, "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "A Child Is Waiting". In 1964, UA introduced U.S. film audiences to the Beatles by releasing "A Hard Day's Night" (1964) and "Help!" (1965).


title: United Artists

text: At the same time, it backed two expatriate North Americans in Britain, who had acquired screen rights to Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. For $1 million, UA backed Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli's "Dr. No" in 1963 and launched the James Bond franchise. The franchise outlived UA's time as a major studio, continuing half a century later. Other successful projects backed in this period included the "Pink Panther" series, which began in 1964, and Spaghetti Westerns, which made a star of Clint Eastwood in the films of "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".


title: United Artists

text: In 1964, the French subsidiary, Les Productions Artistes Associés, released its first production "That Man from Rio".


title: United Artists

text: In 1965, UA released the anticipated George Stevens' production of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and was at the time, the most expensive film which was budgeted at $20 million. Max Von Sydow, in the role of Jesus Christ, led an all-star cast which included Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Martin Landau, Dorothy McGuire, Sal Mineo, Ina Balin, Joanna Dunham, David McCallum, Nehemiah Persoff, Donald Pleasence, José Ferrer and Ed Wynn. The film did not make back its budget and was released to mixed critical receptions. But it has since been acclaimed as a classic by audiences around the world for being admirably inspired in its attempt to be faithful to the four books of the New Testament in the Holy Bible as well as the book of the same name by Fulton Oursler and the radio program which ran from 1947 to 1956. "The Greatest Story Ever Told" received five Academy Award nominations in 1965 and was also listed among the “Top 10 Films of the Year” by the National Board of Review.


title: United Artists

text: On the basis of its film and television hits, in 1967, Transamerica Corporation purchased 98 percent of UA's stock. Transamerica selected David and Arnold Picker to lead its studio. UA debuted a new logo incorporating the parent company's striped T emblem and the tagline "Entertainment from Transamerica Corporation". This wording was later shortened to "A Transamerica Company". The following year, in 1968, United Artists Associated was reincorporated as United Artists Television Distribution.


title: United Artists

text: UA released another Best Picture Oscar winner in 1967, "In the Heat of the Night" and a nominee for Best Picture, "The Graduate", an Embassy production that UA distributed overseas.


title: United Artists

text: Other successful pictures included the 1971 screen version of "Fiddler on the Roof". However, the 1972 film version of "Man of La Mancha" was a failure. New talent was encouraged, including Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Sylvester Stallone, Saul Zaentz, Miloš Forman, and Brian De Palma.


title: United Artists

text: In 1973, United Artists took over the sales and distribution of MGM's films in Anglo-America. Cinema International Corporation assumed international distribution rights for MGM's films and carried on to United International Pictures (made from CIC and UA's International assets being owned by partner MGM) in the 1980s. As part of the deal, UA acquired MGM's music publishing operation, Robbins, Feist, Miller.


title: United Artists

text: In 1975, Harry Saltzman sold UA his 50 percent stake in Danjaq, the holding-company for the Bond films.


title: United Artists

text: UA released "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in 1975, which won the Best Picture Academy Award and was UA's highest-grossing film, with a gross of $163 million. UA followed with the next two years' Best Picture Oscar winners, "Rocky" and "Annie Hall", becoming the first studio to win the award for three years running and also to become the studio with the most Best Picture winners at that time, with 11.


title: United Artists

text: However, Transamerica was not pleased with UA's releases such as "Midnight Cowboy" and "Last Tango in Paris" that were rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America. In these instances, Transamerica demanded the byline "A Transamerica Company" be removed on the prints and in all advertising. At one point, the parent company expressed its desire to phase out the UA name and replace it with Transamerica Films. Krim tried to convince Transamerica to spin off United Artists, but he and Transamerica's chairman could not come to an agreement. Finally in 1978, following a dispute with Transamerica chief John R. Beckett over administrative expenses, UA's top executives, including chairman Krim, president Eric Pleskow, Benjamin and other key officers walked out. Within days they announced the formation of Orion Pictures, with backing from Warner Bros. The departures concerned several Hollywood figures enough that they took out an ad in a trade paper warning Transamerica that it had made a fatal mistake in letting them go.


title: United Artists

text: Transamerica inserted Andy Albeck as UA's president. United had its most successful year with four hits in 1979: "Rocky II", "Manhattan", "Moonraker", and "The Black Stallion".


title: United Artists

text: The new leadership agreed to back "Heaven's Gate", a project of director Michael Cimino, which vastly overran its budget and cost $44 million. This led to the resignation of Albeck who was replaced by Norbert Auerbach. United Artists recorded a major loss for the year due almost entirely to the box-office failure of "Heaven's Gate". It destroyed UA's reputation with Transamerica and the greater Hollywood community. However, it may have saved the United Artists name, as UA's final head before the sale, Steven Bach, wrote in his book "Final Cut" that there was talk about renaming United Artists to Transamerica Pictures.


title: United Artists

text: In 1980, Transamerica decided to exit the film making business, and put United Artists on the market. Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. purchased the company in 1981. Tracinda also owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


title: United Artists

text: In 1981, United Artists Classics, which formerly re-released library titles, was turned into a first-run art film distributor by Nathaniel T. Kwit, Jr. Tom Bernard was hired as the division director, as well as handling theatrical sales, and Ira Deutchman was hired as head of marketing. Later the division added Michael Barker and Donna Gigliotti. Deutchman left to form Cinecom, and Barker and Bernard formed Orion Classics and Sony Pictures Classics. The label mostly released foreign and independent films such as "Ticket to Heaven" and "The Grey Fox", and occasional first-run reissues from the UA library, such as director's cuts of "Head Over Heels" and "Cutter's Way". When Barker and Bernard left to form Orion Classics, the label was briefly rechristened in 1984 as MGM/UA Classics before it ceased operating in the late 1980s.


title: United Artists

text: The merged companies became MGM/UA Entertainment Company and in 1982 began launching new subsidiaries: the MGM/UA Home Entertainment Group, MGM/UA Classics and MGM/UA Television Group. Kerkorian also bid for the remaining, outstanding public stock, but dropped his bid, facing lawsuits and vocal opposition.


title: United Artists

text: In 1981, Fred Silverman and George Reeves via InterMedia Entertainment struck a deal with the studio to produce films and TV shows.


title: United Artists

text: After the purchase, David Begelman's duties were transferred from MGM to MGM/UA. Under Begelman, MGM/UA produced unsuccessful films and he was fired in July 1982. Of the 11 films he put into production, by the time of his termination only "Poltergeist" proved to be a hit.


title: United Artists

text: As part of the consolidation, in 1983, MGM closed United Artists' long time headquarters at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. MGM/UA sold the former UA music publishing division to CBS Songs in 1983.


title: United Artists

text: On March 1, 1983, United Artists filed a lawsuit against EMI Films whereas EMI claimed they got financing and would receive international distribution rights to the film "WarGames", and paid $4.5 million delivery to the film.


title: United Artists

text: "WarGames" and "Octopussy" made substantial profits for the new MGM/UA in 1983, but were not sufficient for Kerkorian. A 1985-restructuring led to independent MGM and UA production units with the combined studio leaders each placed in charge of a single unit. Speculation from analysts was that one of the studios, most likely UA, would be sold to fund the other's (MGM) stock buy-back to take that studio private. However, soon afterwards, one unit's chief was fired and the remaining executive, Alan Ladd, Jr., took charge of both.


title: United Artists

text: On August 7, 1985, Ted Turner announced that his Turner Broadcasting System would buy MGM/UA. As film licensing to television became more complicated, Turner saw the value of acquiring MGM's film library for his superstation WTBS. Under the terms of the deal, Turner would immediately sell United Artists back to Kerkorian.


title: United Artists

text: In anticipation, Kerkorian installed film producer Jerry Weintraub as the chairman and chief executive of United Artists Corporation in November 1985. Former American Broadcasting Company executive Anthony Thomopoulos was recruited as UA's president Weintraub's tenure at UA was brief; he left the studio in April 1986, replaced by former Lorimar executive Lee Rich. In anticipation, during the split, SLM moved its distribution deal to United Artists, after leaving MGM/UA for a brief period of year.


title: United Artists

text: On March 25, 1986, Turner finalized his acquisition of MGM/UA in a cash-stock deal for $1.5 billion and renamed it MGM Entertainment Co. Kerkorian then repurchased most of United Artists' assets for roughly $480 million. As a result of this transaction, the original United Artists ceased to exist. Kerkorian, for all intents and purposes, created an entirely new company implementing the inherited assets; thus, the present day UA is not the legal successor to the original incarnation, though it shares similar assets. United Artists has plans to launch its new headquarters on Beverly Hills, which was set to take effect on November 1, 1985, shortly before the Turner deal was finalized. On April 23, 1986, United Artists and Hoyts, the Australian cinema chain and distribution company, inked a three-picture deal in order to co-produce films, in order to serve as equal partners of the upcoming United Artists motion pictures.


title: United Artists

text: Due to financial community concerns over his debt load, Ted Turner was forced to sell MGM's production and distribution assets to United Artists for $300 million on August 26, 1986. The MGM lot and lab facilities were sold to Lorimar-Telepictures. Turner kept the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television library, along with the Associated Artists Productions library, and the RKO Pictures films that United Artists had previously purchased. On August 21, 1986, United Artists announced its re-entry to film production; "Baby Boom" and "Real Men" were the first new films to commence production, with a slate of 26 films to follow in development.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists was renamed MGM/UA Communications Company and organized into three main units: one television production and two film units. David Gerber headed up the television unit with Anthony Thomopoulous at United Artists, and Alan Ladd, Jr. at MGM. Despite a resurgence at the box office in 1987 with "Spaceballs", "The Living Daylights", and "Moonstruck", MGM/UA lost $88 million. That November, Hoyts and United Artists decided to pull their co-production partnership, with a majority of the films will be now heralded directly to United Artists, which was confirmed by Hoyts executive Jonathan Chissick.


title: United Artists

text: In April 1988, Kerkorian's 82 percent of MGM/UA was up for sale; MGM and UA were split by July. Eventually, 25 percent of MGM was offered to Burt Sugarman, and producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, but the plan later fell through. Rich, Ladd, Thomopoulous and other executives grew tired of Kerkorian's antics and began to leave. By summer 1988, the mass exodus of executives started to affect productions, with many film cancellations. The 1989 sale of MGM/UA to the Australian company Qintex/Australian Television Network (owners of the Hal Roach library, which both MGM and United Artists had distributed in the 1930s) also fell through, due to the company's bankruptcy later that year. On November 29, 1989, Turner Broadcasting System (the owners of the pre-May 1986 MGM library) attempted to buy entertainment assets from Tracinda Corporation, including MGM/UA Communications Co. (which also included United Artists, MGM/UA Home Video, and MGM/UA Television Productions), but failed. UA was essentially dormant after 1990 and released no films for several years.


title: United Artists

text: Eventually, in 1990, Italian promoter Giancarlo Parretti purchased UA. He purchased a small company and renamed it Pathé Communications anticipating a successful purchase of Pathé, the original French company. But his attempt failed and instead he merged MGM/UA with his former company, resulting in MGM-Pathé Communications Co. During the transaction, Parretti overstated his own financial condition and within a year defaulted to his primary lender, Crédit Lyonnais, which foreclosed on the studio in 1992. This resulted in the sale or closure of MGM/UA's string of US theaters. On July 2, 1992, MGM-Pathé Communications was again named Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. In an effort to make MGM/UA saleable, Credit Lyonnais ramped up production and convinced John Calley to run UA. Under his supervision, Calley revived the Pink Panther and James Bond franchises and highlighted UA's past by giving the widest release ever to a film with an NC-17 rating, "Showgirls". Credit Lyonnais sold MGM in 1996, again to Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda, leading to Calley's departure.


title: United Artists

text: In 1999, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola attempted to buy UA from Kerkorian who rejected the offer. Coppola signed a production deal with the studio instead.


title: United Artists

text: In 1999, UA was re-positioned as a specialty studio. MGM had just acquired The Samuel Goldwyn Company, which had been a leading distributor of arthouse films. After that name was retired, MGM folded UA into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. G2 Films, the renamed Goldwyn Company and MGM's specialty London operations, was renamed United Artists International. The distributorship, branding, and copyrights for two of UA's main franchises ("Pink Panther", and "Rocky") were moved to MGM, although select MGM releases (notably the James Bond franchise co-held with Danjaq, LLC and the "Amityville Horror" remake) carry a United Artists copyright. The first arthouse film to bear the UA name was "Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her".


title: United Artists

text: United Artists hired Bingham Ray to run the company on September 1, 2001. Under his supervision, the company produced and distributed many art films, including "Bowling for Columbine", 2002's "Nicholas Nickleby", and the winner of that year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "No Man's Land"; and 2004's "Undertow", and "Hotel Rwanda", a co-production of UA and Lions Gate Entertainment, and made deals with companies like American Zoetrope and Revolution Films. Ray stepped down from the company in 2004.


title: United Artists

text: In 2005, a partnership of Comcast, Sony and several merchant banks bought United Artists and its parent, MGM, for $4.8 billion. Though only a minority investor, Sony closed MGM's distribution system and folded most of its staff into its own studio. The movies UA had completed and planned for release—"Capote", "Art School Confidential", "The Woods", and "Romance and Cigarettes" —were reassigned to Sony Pictures Classics.


title: United Artists

text: In March 2006, MGM announced that it would return again as a domestic distribution company. Striking distribution deals with The Weinstein Company, Lakeshore Entertainment, Bauer Martinez Entertainment, and other independent studios, MGM distributed films from these companies. MGM continued funding and co-producing projects released in conjunction with Sony's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group on a limited basis and produced tent-poles for its own distribution company, MGM Distribution.


title: United Artists

text: Sony had a minority stake in MGM, but otherwise MGM and UA operated under the direction of Stephen Cooper (CEO and minority owner of MGM).


title: United Artists

text: On November 2, 2006, MGM announced that Tom Cruise and his long-time production partner Paula Wagner were resurrecting UA. This announcement came after the duo were released from a fourteen-year production relationship at Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures. Cruise, Wagner and MGM Studios created United Artists Entertainment LLC and the producer/actor and his partner owned a 30 percent stake in the studio, with the approval by MGM's consortium of owners. The deal gave them control over production and development. Wagner was named CEO, and was allotted an annual slate of four films with varying budget ranges, while Cruise served as a producer for the revamped studio and the occasional star.


title: United Artists

text: UA became the first motion picture studio granted a Writers Guild of America, West (WGA) waiver in January 2008 during the Writers' Strike.


title: United Artists

text: On August 14, 2008, MGM announced that Wagner would leave UA to produce films independently. Her output as head of UA was two films, both starring Cruise, "Lions for Lambs" and "Valkyrie". Wagner's departure led to speculation that a UA overhaul was imminent.


title: United Artists

text: Since then, UA has served as a co-producer with MGM for two releases: the 2009 remake of "Fame" and "Hot Tub Time Machine"—these are the last original films to date to bear the UA banner.


title: United Artists

text: A 2011 financial report revealed that MGM reacquired its 100 percent stake in United Artists. MGM stated that it might continue to make new films under the UA brand.


title: United Artists

text: On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a 55 percent interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media, both operated by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and partly owned by Hearst Entertainment. The two companies were consolidated into a new television company, United Artists Media Group (UAMG), a revival of the UA brand. Burnett became UAMG's CEO and Downey became president of Lightworkers Media, the UAMG family and faith division. UAMG became the distributing studio for Mark Burnett Productions programming such as "Survivor". UAMG was to form an over-the-top faith-based channel.


title: United Artists

text: On December 14, 2015, MGM announced that it had acquired the remaining 45 percent stake of UAMG it did not already own and folded UAMG into MGM Television. Hearst, Downey, and Burnett received stakes in MGM collectively valued at $233 million. Additionally, Burnett was promoted to CEO of MGM Television, replacing the outgoing Roma Khanna. The planned over-the-top faith service (later to be branded as a combined OTT/digital subchannel service known as Light TV) became a separate entity owned by MGM, Burnett, Downey and Hearst.


title: United Artists

text: By August 2018, MGM relaunched the United Artists brand as a digital production and distribution company aimed at creating original motion pictures, television programs, short-form content and digital series as well as building upon MGM's existing IP for distribution across digital platforms. Known as United Artists Digital Studios, the company's projects include mid-form original series "Stargate Origins", interactive digital series "#WarGames", and scripted series "The Baxters" (which is also the first for LightWorkers Media) and "Weekend at Bernie's". In early October 2018, MGM and Walmart agreed to a partnership for MGM Digital to create exclusive content for Walmart's Vudu and Movies On Us service to begin showing in the first quarter 2019.


title: United Artists

text: MGM's and Annapurna Pictures' Mirror distribution venture was rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, 100 years to the day of United Artists' founding.


title: United Artists

text: A majority of UA's post-1952 library is now owned by MGM, while the pre-1952 films (with few exceptions) were either sold to other companies such as National Telefilm Associates (now a part of the Melange Pictures holdings owned by Paramount Global, with Paramount Pictures handling their distribution) or are in the public domain. However, throughout the studio's history, UA acted more as a distributor than a film studio, crediting the copyright to the production company responsible. This explains why certain UA releases, such as "High Noon" (1952) and "The Final Countdown" (1980), are still under copyright but not owned by MGM. The MGM titles which UA distributed from 1973 to 1982 are now owned by Turner (under Warner Bros.).


title: United Artists

text: UA originally leased the home video rights to its films to Magnetic Video, the first home video company. Fox purchased Magnetic in 1981 and renamed it 20th Century-Fox Video that year. In 1982, 20th Century-Fox Video merged with CBS Video Enterprises (which earlier split from MGM/CBS Home Video after MGM merged with UA) giving birth to CBS/Fox Video. Although MGM owned UA around this time, UA's licensing deal with CBS/Fox was still in effect. However, the newly renamed MGM/UA Home Video started releasing some UA product, including UA films originally released in the mid-80s. Prior to MGM's purchase, UA licensed foreign video rights to Warner Bros. through Warner Home Video, in a deal that was set to expire in 1991. In 1986, the pre-1950 WB and the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television libraries were purchased by Ted Turner after his short-lived ownership of MGM/UA, and as a result CBS/Fox lost home video rights to the pre-1950 WB films to MGM/UA Home Video. When the deal with CBS/Fox (inherited from Magnetic Video) expired in 1989, the UA released films were released through MGM/UA Home Video.


title: United Artists

text: Before the Magnetic Video and Warner Home Video deals in 1980, United Artists had exclusive rental contacts with a small video label called VidAmerica in the US, and another small label called Intervision Video in the UK. for the home video release of 20 titles from the UA library (e.g. "The Great Escape", "Some Like It Hot", and "Hair", along with a few pre-1950 WB titles).


title: United Artists

text: United Artists owned and operated two television stations under the "United Artists Broadcasting" name: WUAB in Cleveland, Ohio (nominally licensed to Lorain, Ohio) which the studio built and sign on in 1968, WRIK-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was purchased in 1969, and held a construction permit for a station in Houston, Texas. In 1970, United Artists purchased radio station WWSH in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists left the broadcasting business starting in 1977 by selling WUAB to the Gaylord Broadcasting Company and WWSH to Cox Enterprises, followed by WRIK-TV's sale to Tommy Muñiz in 1979.


title: United Artists

text: United Artists Releasing (UAR), formerly Mirror (commonly, given its former use as the third party label and legally, Mirror Releasing, LLC), is a film distribution joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Annapurna Pictures and MGM's Orion Pictures unit with offices in West Hollywood and Annapurna's offices in New York City's Soho neighborhood. The distributor also offers alternative services to the major studios and streaming companies with 10–14 films to be released each year.


title: United Artists

text: Mirror was founded as a film distribution joint venture between Annapurna and MGM in December 2017. This marks MGM's return to domestic distribution, in which they expect to have approximately six to eight releases per year starting in March 2018. Annapurna's existing distribution staff would be the initial staff of the joint venture. Films issued by MGM and Annapurna would be distributed respectively under their own names, while films released for third parties would use the Mirror releasing label. "Death Wish" was MGM's first release by the joint venture on March 2, 2018. Under the initial agreement, the distribution unit reported to MGM and Annapurna on their movies. By the end of January 2019, the distributor released eight titles total.


title: United Artists

text: The venture was rebranded as United Artists Releasing on February 5, 2019, 100 years to the day of United Artists' founding. The rationale for the move is to better compete against the major studios, especially with respect to their tentpole films that dictate the release calendar. Orion Pictures, an MGM company, would add its distribution staff and films to the venture as part of the change. Pam Kunath, a former Screen Gems executive, was appointed chief operating officer. A board of directors consisting of executives from the partner firms would oversee the three executives running UAR; Kunath, David Kaminow and Erik Lomis, Annapurna's president of marketing and president of distribution, respectively. "Missing Link" would be the first release under the UAR banner, which also would win the company its first Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.


title: United Artists

text: On October 7, 2020, it was announced that MGM relaunched American International Pictures as a label for films it will acquire for digital and limited theatrical releases. UAR will handle the U.S. theatrical distribution for those titles, beginning with "Breaking News in Yuba County", which was released on February 12, 2021.


title: United Artists

text: On May 17, 2021, online retail and technology company Amazon entered negotiations to acquire MGM. The negotiations were made directly with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich, whose Anchorage Capital is a major MGM shareholder. On May 26, 2021, it was officially announced that the studio would be acquired by Amazon, subject to regulatory approval, for $8.45 billion, and continue to operate as a label under the new parent company with the fate of UAR to be determined. The merger was finalized on March 17, 2022. Later that day, Amazon Studios and Prime Video SVP Mike Hopkins emphasized that Amazon will continue to partner with UAR, which will remain in operation post-merger.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla ( , ; ; ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is one of the special member state territories of the European Union. Movements to and from the rest of the EU and Melilla are subject to specific rules, provided for "inter alia" in the Accession Agreement of Spain to the Schengen Convention.


title: Melilla

text: As of 2019, Melilla had a population of 86,487. The population is chiefly divided between people of Iberian and Riffian extraction. There is also a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus. Regarding sociolinguistics, Melilla features a diglossia between the official Spanish (strong language) and Tarifit (weak language).


title: Melilla

text: Melilla, like the autonomous city of Ceuta and Spain's other territories in Africa, is subject to an irredentist claim by Morocco.


title: Melilla

text: The original name (currently rendered as "Rusadir") was a Punic language name, coming from the name given to the nearby Cape Three Forks. "Addir" meant "powerful". The name creation is similar to that of other names given in Antiquity to outlets along the North African coast, including "Rusguniae", "Rusubbicari", "Rusuccuru", "Rusippisir", "Rusigan" (Rachgoun), "Rusicade", "Ruspina", "Ruspe" or "Rsmlqr".


title: Melilla

text: Meanwhile, the etymology of the current city name (dating back to the 9th century, rendered as in Spanish) is uncertain. Since Melilla was an active beekeeping location in the past, the name has been related to honey; this is tentatively backed up by two ancient coins featuring a bee as well as the inscriptions and . Others relate the name to "discord" or "fever" or also to an ancient Arab personality.


title: Melilla

text: It was a Phoenician and later Punic trade establishment under the name of Rusadir ("Rusaddir" for the Romans and "Russadeiron" () for the Greeks). Later Rome absorbed it as part of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana. Rusaddir is mentioned by Ptolemy (IV, 1) and Pliny (V, 18) who called it ""oppidum et portus"" (a fortified town and port). It was also cited by Mela (I, 33) as "Rusicada", and by the "Itinerarium Antonini". Rusaddir was said to have once been the seat of a bishop, but there is no record of any bishop of the purported see, which is not included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.


title: Melilla

text: As centuries passed, it was ruled by Vandal, Byzantine and Visigoth bands. The political history is similar to that of towns in the region of the Moroccan Rif and southern Spain. Local rule passed through a succession of Phoenician, Punic, Roman, Umayyad, Cordobese, Idrisid, Almoravid, Almohad, Marinid, and then Wattasid rulers.


title: Melilla

text: During the 15th century, the city subsumed into decadence, just like most of the rest of cities of the Kingdom of Fez located along the Mediterranean coast, eclipsed by those along the Atlantic facade. Following the completion of the conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, their Secretary started to compile information about the sorry state of the north-African coast with the prospect of a potential territorial expansion in mind, sending field agents to investigate, and subsequently reporting the Catholic Monarchs that, by early 1494, locals had expelled the authority of the Sultan of Fez and had offered to pledge service. While the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas put Melilla and Cazaza (until then reserved to the Portuguese) under the sphere of Castile, the conquest of the city had to wait, delayed by the occupation of Naples by Charles VIII of France.


title: Melilla

text: The Duke of Medina Sidonia, Juan Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán promoted the seizure of the place, to be headed by , while the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon endorsed the initiative, also providing the assistance of their artillery officer Francisco Ramírez de Madrid during the operation. Melilla was occupied on 17 September 1497 virtually without any violence as it, located on the border between the Kingdom of Tlemcen and the Kingdom of Fez, and as a result, it had been fought over many times and so had been left abandoned. No big-scale expansion into the Kingdom of Fez ensued, and, barring the enterprises of the Cardinal Cisneros along the coast in Mers El Kébir and Oran (in the Algerian coast), and the rock of Badis (this one in the territorial scope of the Kingdom of Fez), the imperial impetus of the Hispanic monarchy was eventually directed elsewhere, to the Italian Wars waged against France, and, particularly since 1519, to the newly discovered continent across the Atlantic.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla was initially jointly administered by the House of Medina Sidonia and the Crown, and a 1498 settlement forced the former to station a 700-men garrison in Melilla and forced the latter to provide the city with a number of maravedíes and wheat "fanegas". The Crown's interest in Melilla decreased during the reign of Charles V. During the 16th century, soldiers stationed in Melilla were badly remunerated, leading to many desertions. The Duke of Medina Sidonia relinquished responsibility over the garrison of the place on 7 June 1556.


title: Melilla

text: During the late 17th century, Alaouite sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif attempted to conquer the "presidio", taking the outer fortifications in the 1680s and further unsuccessfully besieging Melilla in the 1690s.


title: Melilla

text: One Spanish officer reflected, "an hour in Melilla, from the point of view of merit, was worth more than thirty years of service to Spain."


title: Melilla

text: The current limits of the Spanish territory around the Melilla fortress were fixed by treaties with Morocco in 1859, 1860, 1861, and 1894. In the late 19th century, as Spanish influence expanded in this area, the Crown authorized Melilla as the only centre of trade on the Rif coast between Tetuan and the Algerian frontier. The value of trade increased, with goat skins, eggs and beeswax being the principal exports, and cotton goods, tea, sugar and candles being the chief imports.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla's civil population in 1860 still amounted to only 375 estimated inhabitants. In a 1866 Hispano-Moroccan arrangement signed in Fes, both parts agreed to allow for the installment of a customs office near the border with Melilla, to be operated by Moroccan officials. The Treaty of Peace with Morocco that followed the 1859–60 War entailed the acquisition of a new perimeter for Melilla, bringing its area to the 12 km the autonomous city currently stands. Following the declaration of Melilla as free port in 1863, the population began to increase, chiefly by Sephardi Jews fleeing from Tetouan who fostered trade in and out the city. The first Jews from Tetouan probably arrived in 1864, meanwhile the first rabbi arrived in 1867 and began to operate the first synagogue, located in the Calle de San Miguel. Many Jews arrived fleeing from persecution in Morocco, instigated by Roghi Bu Hamara. Following the 1868 lifting of the veto to emigrate to Melilla from Peninsular Spain, the population further increased with Spaniards. The Jewish population, who also progressively acquired Spanish citizenship, increased to 572 in 1893. The economic opportunities created in Melilla henceforth favoured the installment of a Berber population.


title: Melilla

text: The first proper body of local government was the "junta de arbitrios", created in 1879, and in which the military used to enjoy preponderance. The Polígono excepcional de Tiro, the first neighborhood outside the walled core (Melilla la Vieja), began construction in 1888.


title: Melilla

text: In 1893, Riffian tribesmen launched the First Melillan campaign to take back this area; the Spanish government sent 25,000 soldiers to defend against them. The conflict was also known as the "Margallo War", after Spanish General Juan García y Margallo, Governor of Melilla, who was killed in the battle. The new 1894 agreement with Morocco that followed the conflict increased trade with the hinterland, bringing the economic prosperity of the city to a new level. The total population of Melilla amounted for 10,004 inhabitants in 1896.


title: Melilla

text: The turn of the new century saw however the attempts by France (based in French Algeria) to profit from their newly acquired sphere of influence in Morocco to counter the trading prowess of Melilla by fostering trade links with the Algerian cities of Ghazaouet and Oran. Melilla began to suffer from this, to which the instability brought by revolts against Muley Abdel Aziz in the hinterland also added, although after 1905 Sultan pretender El Rogui (Bou Hmara) carried out a defusing policy in the area that favoured Spain. The French occupation of Oujda in 1907, compromised the Melillan trade with that city. and the enduring instability in the Rif still threatened Melilla. Between 1909 and 1945, the "modernista" (Art Nouveau) style was very present in the local architecture, making the streets of Melilla a "true museum of "modernista"-style architecture", second only to Barcelona (in Spain), mainly stemming from the work of prolific architect Enrique Nieto.


title: Melilla

text: Mining companies began to enter the hinterland of Melilla by 1908. A Spanish one, the , was constituted in July 1908, shared by Clemente Fernández, Enrique Macpherson, the Count of Romanones, the and , who appointed Miguel Villanueva as chairman. Thus two mining companies under the protection of Bou Hmara, started mining lead and iron some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Melilla. They started to construct a railway between the port and the mines. In October of that year, Bou Hmara's vassals revolted against him and raided the mines, which remained closed until June 1909. By July the workmen were again attacked and several were killed. Severe fighting between the Spaniards and the tribesmen followed, in the Second Melillan campaign that took place in the vicinity of Melilla.


title: Melilla

text: In 1910, the Spaniards restarted the mines and undertook harbor works at Mar Chica, but hostilities broke out again in 1911. On 22 July 1921, the Berbers under the leadership of Abd el Krim inflicted a grave defeat on the Spanish at the Battle of Annual. The Spanish retreated to Melilla, leaving most of the protectorate under the control of the Republic of Rif.


title: Melilla

text: A royal decree pursuing the creation of an "ayuntamiento" in Melilla was signed on 13 December 1918 but the regulation did not come into force, and thus the existing government body, the , remained in force.


title: Melilla

text: A "junta municipal" with a rather civil composition was created in 1927; on 10 April 1930, an "ayuntamiento" featuring the same membership as the junta was created, equalling to the same municipal regime as the rest of Spain on 14 April 1931, with the arrival of the first democratically elected municipal corporation on the wake of the proclamation of the Second Republic.


title: Melilla

text: The city was used as one of the staging grounds for the July 1936 military coup d'état that started the Spanish Civil War.


title: Melilla

text: In the context of the passing of the Ley de Extranjería in 1986, and following social mobilization from the Berber community, conditions for citizenship acquisition were flexibilised and allowed for the naturalisation of a substantial number of inhabitants, until then born in Melilla but without Spanish citizenship.


title: Melilla

text: In 1995, Melilla (which was until then just another municipality of the Province of Málaga) became an "autonomous city", as the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.


title: Melilla

text: On 6 November 2007, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia visited the city, which caused a demonstration of support. The visit also sparked protests from the Moroccan government. It was the first time a Spanish monarch had visited Melilla in 80 years.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla (and Ceuta) declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday from 2010 onward. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival has been officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista.


title: Melilla

text: In 2018, Morocco decided to close the customs office near Melilla, in operation since the mid-19th century, without consulting the counterparty.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is located in the northwest of the African continent, on the shores of the Alboran Sea, a marginal sea of the Mediterranean, the latter's westernmost portion. The city layout is arranged in a wide semicircle around the beach and the Port of Melilla, on the eastern side of the peninsula of Cape Tres Forcas, at the foot of and around the mouth of the Río de Oro intermittent water stream, above sea level. The urban nucleus was originally a fortress, Melilla la Vieja, built on a peninsular mound about in height.


title: Melilla

text: The Moroccan settlement of Beni Ansar lies immediately south of Melilla. The nearest Moroccan city is Nador, and the ports of Melilla and Nador are both within the same bay; nearby is the Bou Areg Lagoon.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla has a warm Mediterranean climate influenced by its proximity to the sea, rendering much cooler summers and more precipitation than inland areas deeper into Africa. The climate, in general, is similar to the southern coast of peninsular Spain and the northern coast of Morocco, with relatively small temperature differences between seasons.


title: Melilla

text: The government bodies stipulated in the Statute of Autonomy are the Assembly of Melilla, the President of Melilla and the Council of Government. The assembly is a 25-member body whose members are elected through universal suffrage every 4 years in closed party lists following the schedule of local elections at the national level. Its members are called "local deputies" but they rather enjoy the status of "concejales" (municipal councillors). Unlike regional legislatures (and akin to municipal councils), the assembly does not enjoy right of initiative for primary legislation.


title: Melilla

text: The president of Melilla (who, often addressed as Mayor-President, also exerts the roles of Mayor, president of the Assembly, president of the Council of Government and representative of the city) is invested by the Assembly. After local elections, the president is invested through a qualified majority from among the leaders of the election lists, or, failing to achieve the former, the leader of the most voted list at the election is invested to the office. In case of a motion of no confidence the president can only be ousted with a qualified majority voting for an alternative assembly member.


title: Melilla

text: The Council of Government is the traditional collegiate executive body for parliamentary systems. Unlike the municipal government boards in the standard "ayuntamientos", the members of the Council of Government (including the vice-presidents) do not need to be members of the assembly.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is the city in Spain with the highest proportion of postal voting; vote buying (via mail-in ballots) is widely reported to be a common practice in the poor neighborhoods of Melilla. Court cases in this matter had involved the PP, the CPM and the PSOE.


title: Melilla

text: On 15 June 2019, following the May 2019 Melilla Assembly election, the regionalist and left-leaning party of Muslim and Amazigh persuasion Coalition for Melilla (CPM, 8 seats), the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, 4 seats) and Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs, 1 seat) voted in favour of the Cs' candidate (Eduardo de Castro) as the Presidency of the Autonomous City, ousting Juan José Imbroda, from the People's Party (PP, 10 seats), who had been in office since 2000.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is subdivided into eight districts ("distritos"), which are further subdivided into neighbourhoods ("barrios"):


title: Melilla

text: The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the autonomous community was 1.6 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 0.1% of Spanish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,900 euros or 66% of the EU27 average in the same year. Melilla was the NUTS2 region with the lowest GDP per capita in Spain.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla does not participate in the European Union Customs Union (EUCU). There is no VAT (IVA) tax, but a local reduced-rate tax called IPSI. Preserving the status of free port, imports are free of tariffs and the only tax concerning them is the IPSI. Exports to the Customs Union (including Peninsular Spain) are however subject to the correspondent customs tariff and are taxed with the correspondent VAT. There are some special manufacturing taxes regarding electricity and transport, as well as complementary charges on tobacco and oil and fuel products.


title: Melilla

text: The principal industry is fishing. Cross-border commerce (legal or smuggled) and Spanish and European grants and wages are the other income sources.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is regularly connected to the Iberian peninsula by air and sea traffic and is also economically connected to Morocco: most of its fruit and vegetables are imported across the border. Moroccans in the city's hinterland are attracted to it: 36,000 Moroccans cross the border daily to work, shop or trade goods. The port of Melilla offers several daily connections to Almería and Málaga. Melilla Airport offers daily flights to Almería, Málaga and Madrid. Spanish operators Air Europa and Iberia operate in Melilla's airport.


title: Melilla

text: Many people travelling between Europe and Morocco use the ferry links to Melilla, both for passengers and for freight. Because of this, the port and related companies form an important economic driver for the city.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla's water supply primarily came from a network of dug wells (which by the turn of the 21st century suffered from overexploitation and had also experienced a degradation of the water quality and the intrusion of seawater), as well as from the capture of the Río de Oro's underflow. Seeking to address the problem of water supply in Melilla, works for the construction of a desalination plant in the Aguadú cliffs, projected to produce a day, started in November 2003. The plant entered operation in March 2007. The daily operation of the plant is partially funded by the central government. Relative to the Spanish average (and similarly to the Canary and Balearic Islands), the city's population spends a comparatively larger amount of money on bottled water.


title: Melilla

text: Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the , works for the expansion of the plant's production capabilities up to a day started by September 2020.


title: Melilla

text: The dome of the Chapel of Santiago, built in the mid-16th century by Miguel de Perea with help from Sancho de Escalante, is a rare instance of Gothic architecture in the African continent.


title: Melilla

text: Parallel to the urban development of Melilla in the early 20th century, the new architectural style of "modernismo" (irradiated from Barcelona and associated to the bourgeois class) was imported to the city, granting it a "modernista" architectural character, primarily through the works of the prolific Catalan architect Enrique Nieto.


title: Melilla

text: Accordingly, Melilla has the second most important concentration of "Modernista" works in Spain after Barcelona. Nieto was in charge of designing the main Synagogue, the Central Mosque and various Catholic Churches.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla has been praised as an example of multiculturalism, being a small city in which one can find Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists represented. There is a small, autonomous, and commercially important Hindu community present in Melilla, which has fallen over the past decades as its members move to the Spanish mainland and numbers about 100 members today. According to the Spanish Center for Sociological Research, Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Melilla. In 2019, the proportion of Melillans that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 65.0% (41.7% define themselves as not practising, while 23.3% as practising). 20% identify as followers of other faiths, 11.7% identify as non-believers, and 3.3% identify as atheists. Muslims may account for roughly half the population in Melilla.


title: Melilla

text: Regarding sociolinguistics, Melilla features a diglossia with Spanish being the strong and official language, whereas Tarifit remains the weak and unofficial language, with limited written codification, and usage restricted to family and domestic relations and oral speech.


title: Melilla

text: The population can be thus divided in 1st) monolingual Spanish speakers of European ethnic origin (without competence in any other language than those formally taught at school); 2nd, those descent of Tamazight-speaking parents, usually bilingual in Spanish and Tamazight; and 3rd, Moroccan immigrants and cross-border workers, with a generally dominant Tamazight language (with some also featuring competence in Arabic) and a L2 competence in Spanish. The Spanish spoken in Melilla is similar to the Andalusian variety from Cádiz, whereas the Berber variant spoken in Melilla is the Riffian language common with the neighbouring Nador area. Rather than Berber (), Berber speakers in Melilla use either the glotonym , or, when speaking Spanish, for their language.


title: Melilla

text: The first attempt to legislate a degree of recognition for Berber in Melilla was in 1994, in the context of the elaboration of the Statute of Autonomy, by mentioning the promotion of the linguistic and cultural pluralism (without explicitly mentioning the Berber language). The initiative went nowhere, voted down by PP and PSOE. Reasons cited for not recognizing Tamazight are related to the argument that the variety is not standardized.


title: Melilla

text: The defence of the enclave is the responsibility of the Spanish Armed Forces' General Command of Melilla. The Spanish Army's combat components of the command include:


title: Melilla

text: In addition to the defence of Melilla, the garrison is also responsible for the defence of islands and rock formations claimed by Spain off the coast of Morocco. Units of the garrison are deployed to these rock formations to secure them against Moroccan incursions and did so notably during the Perejil Island crisis in 2002. Melilla itself is about 350 km distant from the main Spanish naval base at Rota on the Spanish mainland while the Spanish Air Force's Morón air base is within 300 km proxmity.


title: Melilla

text: The Civil Guard is responsible for border security and protects both the territory's fortified land border against frequent, and sometimes significant, migrant incursions.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla forms a sort of trans-border urban conurbation with limited integration together with the neighbouring Moroccan settlements, located at one of the ends of a linear succession of urban sprawl spanning southward in Morocco along the R19 road from Beni Ensar down to Nador and Selouane. The urban system features a high degree of hierarchization, specialization and division of labour, with Melilla as chief provider of services, finance and trade; Nador as an eminently industrial city whereas the rest of Moroccan settlements found themselves in a subordinate role, presenting agro-town features and operating as providers of workforce.


title: Melilla

text: The asymmetry, as reflected for example in the provision of healthcare, has fostered situations such as the large-scale use of the Melillan health services by Moroccan citizens, with Melilla attending a number of urgencies more than four times the standard for its population in 2018. In order to satisfy the workforce needs of Melilla (mainly in areas such as domestic service, construction and cross-border bale workers, often under informal contracts), Moroccan inhabitants of the province of Nador were granted exemptions from visa requirement to enter the autonomous city. This development in turn induced a strong flux of internal migration from other Moroccan provinces to Nador, in order to acquire the aforementioned exemption.


title: Melilla

text: The 'fluid' trans-border relations between Melilla and its surroundings are however not free from conflict, as they are contingent upon the 'tense' trans-national relations between Morocco and Spain.


title: Melilla

text: Following the increasing influx of Algerian and sub-Saharan irregular migrants into Ceuta and Melilla in the early 1990s, a process of border fortification in both cities ensued after 1995 in order to reduce the border permeability, a target which was attained to some degree by 1999, although peak level of fortification was reached in 2005.


title: Melilla

text: The Melilla's border with Morocco is secured by the Melilla border fence, a tall double fence with watch towers; yet migrants (in groups of tens or sometimes hundreds) storm the fence and manage to cross it from time to time. Since 2005, at least 14 migrants have died trying to cross the fence. The Melilla migrant reception centre was built with a capacity of 480. In 2020 works to remove the barbed wire from the top of the fence (meanwhile raising its height up to more than in the stretches most susceptible to breaches) were commissioned to .


title: Melilla

text: In June 2022, at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants and two Moroccan security personnel were killed when around 2000 migrants stormed the border in an attempt to cross into Melilla. The death toll has been estimated to be as high as 37 by certain NGOs. Around 200 Spanish and Moroccan law enforcement officers and at least 76 migrants were injured. Hundreds of migrants succeeded in breaching the fence, and 133 made it across the border. Widely circulated footage showed dozens of motionless migrants piled together. It was the worst such incident in Melilla's history. The United Nations, the African Union and a number of human rights groups condemned what they deemed excessive force used by Moroccan and Spanish border guards, although no lethal weapons were employed, and the deaths were later attributed to "mechanical asphyxiation".


title: Melilla

text: Morocco has been paid tens of million euros by both Spain and the European Union to outsource the EU migration control. Besides the double fence in the Spanish side of the border, there is an additional high fence entirely made of razor wire lying on the Moroccan side as well as a moat in between.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla Airport is serviced by Air Nostrum, flying to the Spanish cities of Málaga, Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Granada, Badajoz, Sevilla and Almería. In April 2013, a local enterprise set up Melilla Airlines, flying from the city to Málaga. The city is linked to Málaga, Almería and Motril by ferry.


title: Melilla

text: Melilla is a surfing destination. The city's football club, UD Melilla, plays in the third tier of Spanish football, the Segunda División B. The club was founded in 1943 and since 1945 have played at the 12,000-seater Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro. Until the other club was dissolved in 2012, UD Melilla played the Ceuta-Melilla derby against AD Ceuta. The clubs travelled to each other via the Spanish mainland to avoid entering Morocco. The second-highest ranked club in the city are Casino del Real CF of the fourth-tier Tercera División. The football's governing institution is the Melilla Football Federation.


title: Melilla

text: The government of Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, along with uninhabited islets such as the Alhucemas Islands, the rock of Vélez de la Gomera and the Perejil island, drawing comparisons with Spain's territorial claim to Gibraltar. In both cases, the national governments and local populations of the disputed territories reject these claims by a large majority. The Spanish position states that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of Spain, and have been since the 16th century, centuries prior to Morocco's independence from France in 1956, whereas Gibraltar, being a British Overseas Territory, is not and never has been part of the United Kingdom. Both cities also have the same semi-autonomous status as the mainland region in Spain. Melilla has been under Spanish rule for longer than cities in northern Spain such as Pamplona or Tudela, and was conquered roughly in the same period as the last Muslim cities of Southern Spain such as Granada, Málaga, Ronda or Almería: Spain claims that the enclaves were established before the creation of the Kingdom of Morocco. Morocco denies these claims and maintains that the Spanish presence on or near its coast is a remnant of the colonial past which should be ended. The United Nations list of non-self-governing territories does not include these Spanish territories and the dispute remains bilaterally debated between Spain and Morocco.


title: Melilla

text: In 1986, Spain entered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However Ceuta and Melilla are not under NATO protection since Article 6 of the treaty limits the coverage to Europe and North America and islands north of the Tropic of Cancer. This contrasts with French Algeria which was explicitly included in the treaty. Legal experts have interpreted that other articles could cover the Spanish North African cities but this take has not been tested in practice. On the occasion of NATO's Madrid Summit in 2022, the issue of the protection Cueta and Melilla was a prominent one with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stating: "On which territories NATO protects and Ceuta and Melilla, NATO is there to protect all Allies against any threats. At the end of the day, it will always be a political decision to invoke Article 5, but rest assured NATO is there to protect and defend all Allies".


title: Melilla

text: On 21 December 2020, following the affirmations of the Moroccan Prime Minister, Saadeddine Othmani, stating that Ceuta and Melilla "are Moroccan as the [Western] Sahara [is]", Spain urgently summoned the Moroccan Ambassador to convey that Spain expects respect from all its partners to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its country and asked for explanations about the words of Othmani.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show", which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also known for his roles as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom "Malcolm & Eddie", and Dr. Alex Reed in the sitcom "Reed Between the Lines".


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Warner also became an executive producer for the PBS Kids series "The Magic School Bus", which is also produced by Nelvana, Scholastic, and South Carolina Educational Television. In 2015, he received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "Jesus Children" alongside Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway. He later appeared as Al Cowlings on the FX limited series "". Warner currently plays Dr. AJ Austin on the FOX medical drama "The Resident".


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Warner was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was raised by his divorced mother, Pamela, who served as his manager. He was named for Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. At the age of nine, he demonstrated an interest in show business which led to enrollment in acting schools. His career as a child performer later led him to graduate high school from The Professional Children's School in New York City, New York.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: With appearances and roles on many television shows and films, he landed his most successful role as Theo Huxtable, the only son of Heathcliff Huxtable, who was played by Bill Cosby on the NBC sitcom, "The Cosby Show" from 1984 to 1992. Warner auditioned for the role on the final day of the nationwide search and was chosen by Cosby himself.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: During his tenure on "The Cosby Show" Warner turned his hand to directing, making music videos including New Edition's "N.E. Heart Break" (1989), rapper Special Ed's "I'm the Magnificent" (1989), and British R&B group Five Star's "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" (1994). He has directed episodes of many sitcoms, including "The Cosby Show", "All That", "Kenan & Kel", and "Malcolm & Eddie". In addition, Warner directed the acclaimed, teen-oriented public health video "Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You" (1992), which featured Arsenio Hall and Earvin "Magic" Johnson discussing the realities of HIV and AIDS and the best ways to prevent its spread.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: He went on to star in "Jeremiah", was the voice of The Producer character on "The Magic School Bus" and co-starred with comedian Eddie Griffin for four years on the UPN sitcom "Malcolm & Eddie". Warner continued his career on the CBS sitcom "Listen Up!" with Jason Alexander and was the host of the literacy-promoting children's show "CBS Storybreak". He guest-starred on an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" playing the role of Hilary's boyfriend. In 1995, Warner appeared as a homeless man on "Touched by an Angel".


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: In 2003, Warner released his debut EP, "The Miles Long Mixtape". In 2007, Warner followed up with his second CD entitled "Love & Other Social Issues". In 2009 he guest starred in an episode in the new TNT series "HawthoRNe". In 2011 and 2012, he guest starred in four episodes of the NBC series "Community" as Andre, the ex-husband of Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown). His character subtly referenced his "Cosby Show" past by wearing a "Cosby sweater" that he stated was from his dad.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: He is a bass guitar player and a performance poet, and has performed at the National Black Theatre Festival since 2003, in addition to hosting its Poetry Jam.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Warner has co-starred in BET's scripted comedic television series "Reed Between the Lines". He played the role of Alex Reed, an English professor married to Carla Reed, a psychologist played by former "Girlfriends" star Tracee Ellis Ross. The couple had three children: Kaci and Kenan Reynolds, Carla's children from a previous relationship, and Alexis Reed, their child together. The show highlighted the couple's ups and downs together as a blended family. In 2012 Warner was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a comedy series at the NAACP Image awards for his role in "Reed Between the Lines". In the spring of 2015, it was announced that Warner would be playing the part of Al Cowlings in the crime series "American Crime Story", based on the events of the O.J. Simpson trial.


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Warner portrays recurring characters on multiple current TV series. He played prison counselor Julius Rowe on the sixth season of USA network's "Suits". On the TNT series "Major Crimes" he portrays Lt. Chuck Cooper, a member of the LAPD's Special Investigation's Section (SIS) and the love interest of the Major Crime Division's Detective Amy Sykes. He also plays the role of parole officer James Bagwell on Amazon Prime's show "Sneaky Pete" and as Dr. AJ “The Raptor” Austin on The Resident [FOX].


title: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

text: Warner had a relationship with actress Michelle Thomas, who portrayed his girlfriend Justine Phillips on "The Cosby Show", until 1994 and was at her bedside when she died in 1998. He was in a relationship with actress Karen Malina White for seven and a half years. Warner also dated actress Regina King from 2011 until March 2013. He is married with a daughter, and has not disclosed his wife's or their child's name publicly citing privacy concerns.


title: Honda NSX

text: The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seat, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda.


title: Honda NSX

text: The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept, which was a mid-engine 3.0 L V6 engine rear wheel drive sports car. Honda committed to the project, with the intention of meeting or exceeding the performance of the then V8 engine Ferrari range, while offering reliability and a lower price point. The concept thus evolved and had its name changed to NS-X, which stood for "New", "Sportscar" "eXperimental", although the production model was launched as the NSX.


title: Honda NSX

text: Gordon Murray, the designer of the McLaren F1 supercar, stated that he used the NSX as the inspiration for the F1 after test driving many high performance cars and finding the NSX chassis performed the best. Murray stated that the design was "monumental" to sportscar design. He found that the car could easily have handled more power and attempted to convince Honda to develop a more powerful engine, but they declined. This resulted in Murray developing the F1 with a BMW engine, but he was so fond of the NSX that he bought one for personal use and drove it for 75,000 km. Murray stated that the NSX was "dear to his heart".


title: Honda NSX

text: The NSX was designed by a team led by Chief Designer Masahito Nakano and Executive Chief Engineer Shigeru Uehara. It benefited from advanced aerodynamics and styling inspired by an F-16 fighter jet cockpit and input from the late Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna during the final development stages.


title: Honda NSX

text: This NSX became the world's first mass-produced car to feature an all-aluminium body. It was powered by an all-aluminium 3.0 L V6 engine, which featured Honda's VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) system developed in the 1980s, a 5-speed manual transmission, or starting in 1994 the SportShift 4-speed automatic transmission, also known as F-Matic, which allows the option of conventional automatic shifting or manually shifting with a fingertip shift lever on the steering column.


title: Honda NSX

text: It was presented at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show and was built in a purpose-made factory in Japan, for sale from 1990. It was originally available as a coupé and, from 1995, a targa top. It underwent a performance upgrade in 1997, which saw the arrival of a larger 3.2 L V6 engine, and a facelift in 2002 where the pop-up headlights were removed. The first generation NSX was discontinued in 2005. North American models were sold as the Acura NSX.


title: Honda NSX

text: Cars with the 3.0 L C30A engine are referred to as NA1 models, while the 3.2 L C32B engine cars are known as NA2 models.


title: Honda NSX

text: In December 2007, Acura announced plans to launch a NSX successor by 2010, based on the styling of the front V10-engined Acura ASCC (Advanced Sports Car Concept). Despite prototypes being tested for production, just a year later, Honda announced that plans had been canceled due to poor economic conditions. Instead, in March 2010, Honda unveiled the HSV-010 GT for participation in the Japanese Super GT Championship. This car never reached production as a street-legal car.


title: Honda NSX

text: Reports that Honda was again developing a successor to the NSX re-emerged in April 2011. By December 2011, Honda officially announced a second generation NSX concept, which was unveiled the following month at the 2012 North American International Auto Show as the Acura NSX Concept.


title: Honda NSX

text: The production model was displayed three years later at the 2015 North American International Auto Show, for sale in 2016.


title: Honda NSX

text: Although the original name was retained, this time it was defined as "New Sports eXperience". Unlike the first generation NSX which was manufactured in Japan, the second generation NSX was designed and engineered in Marysville, Ohio, at Honda's plant, led by chief engineer Ted Klaus.


title: Honda NSX

text: The second generation NSX has a hybrid electric powertrain, with a 3.5 L twin-turbocharged V6 engine and three electric motors, two of which form part of the SH-AWD (Super Handling-All Wheel Drive) drivetrain, altogether capable of . The transmission is a 9-speed dual-clutch automatic. Its body utilizes a space frame design—which is made from aluminum, ultra-high-strength steel, and other rigid and lightweight materials, some of which are the world's first applications.


title: Honda NSX

text: The first production vehicle with VIN #001 was auctioned off by Barrett Jackson on 29 January 2016. NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick won the auction with a bid for . The entire bid was donated to the charities Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Camp Southern Ground. The first NSX rolled off the line in Ohio on 27 May 2016. Hendrick was there to drive it off. The first sales of the second generation NSX in the US were registered in June 2016.


title: Honda NSX

text: The NSX Type S was revealed on August 12, 2021, with an increase to 602 hp. The Type S is the last update before the November 2022 discontinuation. Only 300 units of the NSX Type S were destined for the United States, 30 units for Japan, and 15 units for Canada.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: An anime adaptation by J.C.Staff aired between April and September 2015. A second season, titled "Food Wars! The Second Plate" aired between July and September 2016. The first cour of the third season, titled "Food Wars! The Third Plate", aired between October and December 2017. The second half aired between April and June 2018. A fourth season, titled "Food Wars! The Fourth Plate", aired between October and December 2019. The fifth and final season, titled "Food Wars! The Fifth Plate", aired between April and September 2020. The series has also had a pair of video games released in 2015. The series has received mixed reviews, with positive reactions to the narrative and genuine recipes depicted, whilst many critics panned the overuse of fan service.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: The series is set mainly at Tōtsuki Culinary Academy (Tōtsuki Saryō Ryōri Gakuen), an elite culinary school located in Tokyo, Japan, where only a handful of students graduate from each year. Its students mostly come from Totsuki's junior high school, but transfers are taken provided that they pass the entrance exam. The campus is a wide-ranging resort with many research societies (clubs), cooking classrooms, and large arenas used for competitions. Housing varies, but the most affordable is the Polaris Dormitory, where students have to impress the dorm matron with a dish in order to secure residence. Tōtsuki also runs a chain of resort hotels, with the biggest being the Tōtsuki resort run by , which is visited during Soma's first year at Tōtsuki.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: The top student chefs occupy seats on the Council of Ten Masters, the highest governing body in the school aside from the school director. Students can initiate a "shokugeki" (anime: food war), a cook-off with stipulations on the line, with any other student or alumnus. Battles fought in this way could be for cooking utensils, research society facilities, council membership, or even expulsion from the school.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Teenager Soma Yukihira aspires to become a full-time chef in his father Joichiro's family restaurant, "Restaurant Yukihira", and to surpass his father's culinary skills. However, Joichiro gets a new job that requires him to travel around the world and close his shop. Joichiro has enrolled Soma in Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, an elite culinary school where students engage in cooking competitions called "shokugeki". Soma secures himself a spot at the school, despite the objections of Erina Nakiri, the talented granddaughter of the school's dean. Soma is assigned to Polaris Dormitory where he meets other aspiring chefs, including Megumi Tadokoro. The story follows his adventures as he interacts with his peers and challenges Tōtsuki's students as well as others in shokugeki competitions. Learning that his father was not only a student of Tōtsuki, but also the second seat in the Council of Ten, Soma plans on becoming the best at the academy.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Soma and the other first-year students participate in a cooking camp judged by the school's alumni who expels about a third of the entering class. He enters the Fall Classic, a competition that takes the top 60 first-year students and pares them down to eight students who then compete in a single elimination tournament, The Autumn Elections. The first-years then participate in week-long "stagiaire" internships at local restaurants, as well as a large-scale school-wide Moon Festival. During the Moon Festival, Erina's father Azami takes over the school, and Soma and Erina form a rebel faction to challenge the establishment. The disgruntled members of the Council join the Rebel Faction and with support from Joichiro and Gin, the Rebels confront Azami's organization "Central" in a Regiment De Cuisine (Team Shokugeki). Eventually the Rebels emerge victorious and oust Azami with Erina as the new Headmaster.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Afterwards, Soma and the others enter into their second year. Several of the members in the Fall Classic have been promoted into the council, replacing the graduating third year batch. Their first assignment concerns about the existence of "dark chefs", those who work with criminal organizations and other VIPs. A particular organization, the "Les Cuisiniers Noirs", is led by Joichiro's former protege Asahi Saiba who defeated the former. Asahi infiltrates Totsuki, and abducts Erina from the Academy, with the intention to marry her. To recover Erina, the trio of Soma, Megumi and Takumi participate in an invitation-only cooking competition called BLUE, organized by the World Gourmet Organization under its Headmaster Mana Nakiri, Erina's mother. The trio encounter and fight against the Dark Chefs, with Soma eventually defeating Asahi. The manga ends with Soma and Erina facing each other in the final match of BLUE. Erina acknowledges Soma's cooking but insists on calling it "disgusting".


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: In the events of the epilogue ~Le dessert~, after the events of BLUE, Soma took an indefinite leave before taking the third year exams. During this time Erina and Hisako ask Joichiro about his past with Tamako, whereas Mana and Azami discover that Asahi is Azami's biological son and Erina's half-brother, leading the former to request him to join the Nakiri family. Many years after all Jewel Generation students graduation from Totsuki, Soma tells Erina that he's returning home and offers another challenge for her to which she gladly accepts, certain that he will make Erina finally say "delicious".


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Yuto Tsukuda has worked on two minor sports manga series, "Shōnen Shikku" which was about soccer; and "Ao no Rettou" which was about ski jumping, the latter series he wrote while "Food Wars" was serialized. In an interview with Anime News Network, Tsukuda said that illustrator Shun Saeki "came up with the idea of a girl eating food, and she expresses herself about the food with 'ecstasy'," but since Saeki wanted to focus on drawing the manga, he needed someone to write a storyline so he got Tsukuda. Tsukuda said that he knew Saeki as a senpai from university. Celebrity chef Yuki Morisaki was brought in as a food consultant. Regarding the dynamics of the team, Tsukuda said that his "motivation throughout this whole project came from wanting to demonstrate the greatness of Saeki-sensei's art", and for Saeki, he didn't think he had the storytelling power that Tsukuda had.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Tsukuda said that he and Saeki would collaborate on ideas for the storyline, and that later their editor would also be involved in the discussion. Some of the reactions to the dishes were the result of free association games, where they would pick some of the unexpected phrases. They keep a library of possible dishes that they researched before and every week they would see if any would fit their storyline.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: "Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma" is written by Yūto Tsukuda and illustrated by Shun Saeki. A one-shot was first published in Shueisha's "Jump Next!" in April 2012. The manga began its serialization in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" on November 26, 2012. The series finished in the magazine on June 17, 2019, while a three-chapter sequel titled "Shokugeki no Soma -Le dessert-" was published in "Jump GIGA" from June 27 to August 29, 2019. The first "tankōbon" volume was published on April 4, 2013. The thirty-sixth and last volume was published on October 4, 2019. Viz Media has licensed the manga for North America and published the first volume on August 5, 2014 and the last on June 2, 2020. Shueisha began to simulpublish the series in English on the website and app "Manga Plus" in January 2019.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: An spin-off series, titled "Shokugeki no Soma: L'étoile", ran in the "Shōnen Jump+" website and app from February 20, 2015, to June 21, 2019. The individual chapters have been compiled into eight "tankōbon" volumes. A crossover story, titled "Shokugeki no Sanji", was developed as a tribute to "One Piece" and has been published in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" since July 23, 2018. Two light novels, written by Michiko Itō, were also released, titled "~à la carte~" in 2014 and "~Fratelli Aldini~" in 2015.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: An anime adaptation was announced in October 2014 by Shueisha. The anime was directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani at J.C.Staff with Shogo Yasukawa as the series scriptwriter and starred Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as the main character, Sōma Yukihira. Crunchyroll began streaming the anime on April 3, 2015. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime for digital and home video release in North America. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, the series is licensed by Medialink. For the first fourteen episodes of the first season, the series' opening theme is by Ultra Tower, and the ending theme is by Tokyo Karankoron. From episode fifteen onwards, the opening theme is by Misokkasu, while the ending theme is by Seiko Oomori. A 25-minute original video animation (OVA) was bundled with the 19th volume of the manga, which was released on July 4, 2016. It was later released on DVD releases alongside "Black Clover" and "My Hero Academia" bundled with the future volumes of their respective manga, as it was announced on Jump Special Anime Festa event. A second OVA was also released as a part of the first season.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: A 13-episode second season, titled aired from July 2 to September 24, 2016. A fourth OVA was released with the 25th manga on July 4, 2017. The second season's opening theme song is "Rough Diamonds" by Screen Mode, while the ending theme song is by Nano Ripe. A third OVA was bundled with manga volume 24.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: The first cour of the third season, titled "Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma: The Third Plate", aired from October 4 to December 20, 2017. A fifth OVA was released during the third series. The first opening theme song is "Braver" by Zaq, while the ending theme song is by Nano Ripe. The second half aired from April 9 to June 25, 2018. The second opening theme is by Luck Life, and the ending theme song is by Fo'xTails. In July 2019, Sentai Filmworks licensed season 3, which will be released on home video with an English dub in 2020. A fourth season entitled aired from October 12 to December 28, 2019. The opening theme is "Chronos" by Stereo Dive Foundation, while the ending theme song is "Emblem" by Nano Ripe.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: A fifth and last season entitled aired from April 11 to September 26, 2020. The opening theme is "Last Chapter" by Nano Ripe, while the ending theme song is "Crossing Road" by Mai Fuchigami. On April 17, 2020, it was announced that after the second episode, the remaining episodes of season would be delayed until further notice due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In late May 2020, it was announced that weekly new episodes will resume on July 18 after Japanese TV stations reran the first two episodes on July 4 and July 11.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Two games released in Japan were produced. is a mobile game published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was released for iOS and Android on August 17, 2015.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first volume of the manga series a B; praising the art and Soma as a likeable protagonist. However, she called the amount of fan service unnecessary and noted that it might make some readers uncomfortable. On the conclusion of the first series, Silverman commented "bumpy run with a slow start and some problems along the way". Ashley Hawkins writing for "Manga Library" called the manga a "insta-buy" due to its depictions of food and how the recipes are genuine. However, she was also put off by the amount of fan service present in both the manga and anime.


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Cecilia D'Anastasio writing a piece on fan service for "Kotaku" also commented that they wouldn't watch the anime, saying it had a "distracting breast-to-food quotient". Russel Fernande, of "One Tech Traveller" gave the series a 4.7/5, calling it "addictive". It was number twelve on the 2014 "Kono Manga ga Sugoi!" Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey, and it was number three in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2014. Dan Barnett commented for the UK Anime Network that despite it having a "simplistic structure", the series was "utterly brilliant". However, Helen Knight, also writing for the UK Anime Network likened the series to the marmite slogan "either you love it or hate it".


title: Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma

text: Volume 1 has sold 139,657 copies as of April 28, 2013; volume 2 has sold 176,682 copies as of June 16, 2013; volume 3 has sold 238,590 copies as of August 18, 2013, volume 4 has sold 252,975 copies, as of September 22, 2013; volume 5 has sold 271,570 copies as of December 22, 2013; volume 6 has sold 277,726 copies as of February 23, 2014; and volume 7 has sold 279,364 copies as of April 20, 2014. As of May 2, 2018, it was revealed that the manga had 14 million copies in print. By June 17, 2019, the manga had 19 million copies in print. As of March 2020, manga sales reached 20 million.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Bully (released in the PAL region as Canis Canem Edit; Latin for "dog eat dog") is an action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar Vancouver and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 October 2006 for the PlayStation 2. A remastered version of the game, subtitled "Scholarship Edition", was developed by Mad Doc Software and released on 4 March 2008 for Xbox 360 and Wii, and on 21 October 2008 for Windows. "Bully" was re-released for PlayStation 4 available via PlayStation Network on 22 March 2016. An updated version of the "Scholarship Edition", titled "Anniversary Edition", was developed by War Drum Studios and released for Android and iOS on 8 December 2016.


title: Bully (video game)

text: The game is played from a third-person perspective and its open world is navigated on foot, skateboard, motor scooter, bicycle, or go-kart. Set in the fictional town of Bullworth, the single-player story follows juvenile delinquent student James "Jimmy" Hopkins, who is involuntarily enrolled at Bullworth Academy for a year, and his efforts to rise through the ranks of the school system in order to put a stop to bullying. Players control Jimmy as he attempts to become more popular among the school's various "cliques", in addition to attending classes and completing various side missions. The "Scholarship Edition" includes a two-player competitive multiplayer mode that lets two players compete for the highest score in different classes.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Its expected violence and sexual content were initially controversial. "Bully" received positive reviews, with praise directed at the game's missions, narrative and character development, though its presentation and glitches received criticism. The original version of "Bully" sold over 1.5 million copies, and received multiple year-end accolades.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully" is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective. The game's single-player mode has the player control a high school student—teenage rebel, James "Jimmy" Hopkins. Throughout the story, Jimmy rises through the ranks of the school groups, archetypes which include Bullies, Nerds, Preppies, Greasers, and Jocks. Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. Missions reward the player with cash, new items, and increase/decrease the respect of certain groups. If a group holds Jimmy in high regard, they will act friendly towards him (and have the option of being hired as "bodyguards" or "muscle"); if a group despises Jimmy, they will attack him on sight. Outside of missions, the player can freely roam the game's open world, consisting of the fictional town of Bullworth, and has the ability to complete optional side missions.


title: Bully (video game)

text: When not performing missions, the player can attend classes, presented as minigames. Each course has five classes, which increase in difficulty, and passing all five will result in the player passing the course. Classes reward the player with new clothing items or abilities; for example, English allows the player to apologise to authority figures after violating rules, Chemistry allows players to create their own throwable weapons, Geography highlights special collectibles on the game's map, and Gym unlocks new fighting moves. Not attending classes when they are available is considered a violation of rules, unless they have been completed, in which case they become optional.


title: Bully (video game)

text: The player can use melee attacks and weapons to fight enemies. The weapons available include slingshots, bags of marbles and itching powder, stink bombs, firecrackers (including bottle rockets), baseball bats, planks of wood, and spud guns. Jimmy can run, jump, swim or use vehicles to navigate the game's world. The vehicles featured in the game include a skateboard, scooters, bicycles and go-karts. The player can also grab onto the back of a moving car while on a skateboard, but can't drive cars themselves. Bus stops located in various locations around the world allow the player to quickly travel back to Bullworth Academy. Should the player take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated using multiple techniques, such as drinking sodas, which can be obtained from vending machines, and kissing certain NPCs after interacting with them. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops and the player respawns at the nearest medical center.


title: Bully (video game)

text: If the player breaks rules while playing, the game's authority figures (prefects and policemen) may respond as indicated by a "trouble" meter in the head-up display (HUD). The levels displayed on the meter indicate the current level of severity. Authority figures will attempt to grab and subdue the player, who may fight back. The higher the severity level is, the harder will authority figures try to catch the player; at the maximum level, the player can no longer fight back, as they will be instantly "busted" should they be grabbed. If the player is busted, they respawn at the nearest police station or the school principal's office and all their weapons (sans the slingshot, skateboard and camera) are confiscated. If a class is in progress, the player will instead be taken to it and forced to attend (even if they have already completed it). Authority figures can subdue other students as well, should they cause trouble.


title: Bully (video game)

text: The game's multiplayer component, exclusive to "Scholarship Edition" on Wii and Xbox 360 and "Anniversary Edition", has two players compete to gain the highest score in the same minigames used for classes. One player controls Jimmy, and the other Gary Smith.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully" takes place in the fictitious town of Bullworth situated in the New England region of the United States. After being expelled from seven previous schools, the game's protagonist, 15-year-old James "Jimmy" Hopkins, is sent to the town's prominent private boarding school, Bullworth Academy, for a year while his mother and her new husband go on their honeymoon. The school campus is designed in a neo-gothic style, similar to public schools and colleges in the United Kingdom and New England, such as Fettes College in Edinburgh. The school itself is the game's primary setting, while the rest of the town is gradually unlocked as the story progresses.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Bullworth consists of four main districts: Bullworth Town, the town's commercial borough; Old Bullworth Vale, a suburb area where the town's mansions, beach and funfair are located; New Coventry, a run-down, urban-poor borough, consisting mainly of tenement housing; and Blue Skies Industrial Park, an industrial borough consisting of factories, industrial buildings, the town docks, and a trailer park. There is also the Happy Volts Asylum, a psychiatric institute located between the Blue Skies Industrial Park and the Bullworth Academy.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Because the game's story spans an entire school year, Bullworth's appearance changes between chapters, most notably during the third chapter, which takes place around the Christmas season.


title: Bully (video game)

text: After being dropped off at Bullworth Academy, Jimmy Hopkins (Gerry Rosenthal) meets the school's principal, Dr. Thaddeus Crabblesnitch (Ralph Gunderman), who urges him to "keep his nose clean". He soon befriends senior Gary Smith (Peter Vack) and freshman Peter "Petey" Kowalski (Matt Bush), and begins working with them to try and assert their dominance over Bullworth's various "cliques": the Bullies, Nerds, Preppies, Greasers, and Jocks. However, an increasingly paranoid Gary eventually betrays Jimmy and pits him against Russell Northrop (Cody Melton), the Bullies' leader, in an underground fight. Jimmy defeats Russell and forces him to stop picking on his fellow students, earning the Bullies' respect.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Over the following months, Jimmy works with Petey to take over the other cliques in an attempt to restore peace to Bullworth. He begins with the Preppies, but just as he begins to win them over, Gary manipulates them into turning against him. In response, Jimmy enters a boxing tournament hosted by the Preppies' leader, Derby Harrington (John Lavelle). Despite his victory, the Preppies refuse to accept Jimmy's dominance and fight him together, but are defeated. Turning his attention to the Greasers, Jimmy agrees to help their leader, Johnny Vincent (Rocco Rosanio), expose an affair between his girlfriend Lola Lombardi (Phoebe Strole) and Preppy member Gord Vendome (Drew Gehling). However, the Greasers turn on Jimmy after he is forced to make amends with the Preppies by vandalizing the Greasers' territory. After Gary tips Johnny off on Jimmy's growing closeness with Lola, he lures Jimmy into an ambush, but is ultimately defeated and surrenders Greaser leadership to him.


title: Bully (video game)

text: To take over the Jocks, regarded as the most powerful clique, Jimmy seeks the assistance of their main rivals, the Nerds. When they refuse to help, Jimmy defeats their leader, Earnest Jones (Jesse Tendler), and earns his and the Nerds' respect by guaranteeing they will never be picked on again. To ruin the Jocks' reputation, Earnest has Jimmy take inappropriate pictures of the school's head cheerleader, Mandy Wiles (Elena Franklin), which are then spread across town. However, Jimmy later removes the pictures out of pity for Mandy, earning her affection. Eventually, the Jocks are humiliated after Jimmy sabotages their big football game, and subsequently defeats their leader Ted Thompson (Alexander Cendese) in a fight in front of the entire school.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Having united all the cliques under his rule and restored peace to Bullworth, Jimmy basks in his newfound glory and respect, unaware that Gary is plotting to overthrow him. Gary convinces the clique leaders to pressure Jimmy into vandalizing Bullworth's town hall, and recruits the "Townies", a group of former Bullworth students who seek revenge against the school, to play a series of dangerous pranks on the cliques, so that they would blame Jimmy's poor leadership and turn on him. After informing Crabblesnitch of Jimmy vandalizing the town hall, Gary earns his respect and is appointed head boy, while Jimmy is expelled.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Although Jimmy initially accepts his defeat, Petey encourages him to seek revenge on Gary. To convince the Townies to turn on him, Jimmy seeks the assistance of one of their members, Zoe Taylor (Molly Fox), who was expelled from Bullworth after accusing the school's predatory sports teacher Mr. Burton (Michael Boyle) of sexual harassment. After helping Zoe exact revenge on Burton, Jimmy storms the Townies' hangout with her and Russell's help, and confronts their leader, Edgar Munsen (Jan Milewicz). After defeating Edgar, Jimmy explains to him how Gary manipulated and used both of them to his own ends, earning the Townies' respect.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Meanwhile, Gary and his followers take Crabblesnitch hostage, sparking a full-blown war between the cliques. The Townies and Russell help Jimmy neutralize the clique leaders, allowing him to confront Gary in the main school building. Jimmy chases Gary to the rooftop where they have a fight, which ends with both of them falling off the roof and into Crabblesnitch's office. Once freed, Crabblesnitch expels Gary, fires Burton for his actions against Zoe, appoints Petey as head boy, and reconciles with Jimmy by allowing both him and Zoe to return to Bullworth. Outside, while his friends and allies cheer on, Jimmy shares a kiss with Zoe.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Rockstar announced "Bully" in May 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox with an original expected release date of October 2005. Early information released by Take-Two Interactive seemed to indicate that the player would be taking the role of a bully, and screenshots printed in "Electronic Gaming Monthly" showed the player-controlled antagonist administering a "swirlie" and throwing a punch at another student. However, the tone of the final game was different, with the player in the role of a problem student who stood up to and fought back against bullies, in effect, bullying on behalf of the victims, or in self-defense.


title: Bully (video game)

text: The PlayStation 2 version of the game uses an advanced "" engine through RenderWare. Rockstar Vancouver decided to make every student in the school have a unique appearance and personality.


title: Bully (video game)

text: When developing the characters, the team aimed at recreating the state of being a child, and making it enjoyable. Parallels were made between Jimmy and "Catcher in the Rye"s Holden Caulfield. Jimmy and Holden share a background of a difficult homelife and being thrown out of multiple private schools. Though the pompous school principal Dr. Crabblesnitch is originally introduced as the main antagonist, this role was later given to Gary Smith, a student who initially befriends Jimmy. Gary is described as a sociopath. He admits that he has attention-deficit disorder and is a narcissist, as he considers himself smarter and better than everyone, and wants to run the school.


title: Bully (video game)

text: On 19 July 2007, Rockstar announced that a remaster would be released for the Wii and Xbox 360, subtitled "Scholarship Edition". Rockstar New England, then called Mad Doc Software, led development with the Xbox 360 version while Rockstar Toronto ported it to the Wii. The Wii and Xbox 360 versions were released on 4 March 2008. A Windows port was later developed by Rockstar New England and released on 21 October 2008. The game features additional content which is not in the original version, including missions, characters, school classes, and unlockable items and clothing. Some small script changes have been made, and the highly compressed voice files of the original have been replaced with higher-quality versions. The random non-player characters also have more lines. In addition, single system two-player competitive multiplayer minigames have also been added, along with Achievements for the Xbox 360 version and Wii Remote and Nunchuk motion and pointer controls for the Wii version. All ports of the "Scholarship Edition" use the game engine Gamebryo, rather than RenderWare, which was used for the original version.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully" received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Hyper"s Daniel Wilks commends the game for its "clever script, some novel missions, and well constructed characters". However, he criticised it for "time dilation, dodgy camera, and generic mini-games". "Joystiq" Bonnie Ruberg appreciated the casual nature in which the game allows Jimmy to kiss other boys; in 2013, Larry Hester of "Complex" ranked Jimmy among the "coolest" LGBT video game characters.


title: Bully (video game)

text: As of 12 March 2008, the PlayStation 2 version of "Bully" had sold 1.5 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive.