title: GOOD Music

text: In January 2013, Scottish record producer and DJ Hudson Mohawke, announced that he had signed to the production arm of G.O.O.D. Music - Very Good Beats. On April 2, 2013, Kid Cudi announced on Power 106 that he was no longer with the label, leaving on amicable terms. Cudi felt he was "underused" and would have preferred to record something particular for "Yeezus" (2013). On June 29, 2013, producer Hit-Boy of Very Good Beats announced that his contract expired and that he was no longer signed to GOOD Music. American Apparel model Kacy Hill was signed to the label December 2014, after appearing as a backup dancer on West's Yeezus Tour. In March 2015, GOOD Music signed HXLT.


title: GOOD Music

text: In November 2015, West appointed Pusha T the president of GOOD Music, while record executive Steven Victor was appointed COO.


title: GOOD Music

text: In January 2016, Mos Def retired from music announcing it in a freestyle released in conjunction with West's G.O.O.D. Fridays series. On June 3, 2016, Kanye West announced GOOD Music's upcoming album, "Cruel Winter", in an interview with Big Boy.


title: GOOD Music

text: On September 7, 2016, West announced that former Young Money/Cash Money Records artist Tyga, signed a record deal with GOOD Music. Later that day, Pusha T announced Atlanta-based rap trio Migos had signed a management deal with the label. However, in January 2017, Migos clarified that although there were discussions for a management deal, nothing had come to fruition. On September 9, 2016, the official GOOD Music Twitter account uploaded an image of an updated artist roster with the caption "THIS "IS" GOOD MUSIC". The image indicated that several artists had either left or been removed by the label, including D'banj, Malik Yusef, Ryan McDermott, and Mr Hudson. Later that month, in a radio interview with "The Breakfast Club", John Legend announced that his fifth studio album, "Darkness and Light", would be his last with GOOD Music.


title: GOOD Music

text: GOOD was advertised as one of the headlining acts of the ill-fated Fyre Festival in 2017; however, the exact member(s) of the label that were to perform were never established.


title: GOOD Music

text: In May 2017, Pusha T signed Francis and the Lights to GOOD Music. In February 2018, Pusha T followed up by signing Valee with GOOD Music as well.


title: GOOD Music

text: In 2018, West revealed he would produce upcoming albums by GOOD Music label-mates Pusha T and Teyana Taylor, as well as Nas. Pusha T's "Daytona", "the first project out of Wyoming", was released in May to critical acclaim, although the album's artwork—a photograph of deceased singer Whitney Houston's bathroom that West paid $85,000 to license—attracted some controversy. The following week, West released his eighth studio album, "Ye". West has suggested that he scrapped the original recordings of the album and re-recorded it within a month. The week after, West released a collaborative album with former GOOD Music artist Kid Cudi, titled "Kids See Ghosts", named after their group of the same name. West also completed production work on Nas' "Nasir" and Teyana Taylor's "K.T.S.E.", which were released in June 2018.


title: GOOD Music

text: On October 29, 2021, Big Sean announced on Twitter that after 14 years, he has stepped away from Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label, saying "That’s a forever brotherhood, but business wise, I had to start getting a bigger cut! I worked my way out that deal." Afterwards, West would appear on the program Drink Champs hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, where he would talk with them about different topics, one of them being John Legend and Big Sean leaving his label, where West would state "I already decided that when I die on my tombstone it’s going to say, ‘I deserve to be here because I signed Big Sean,’" as well as "The worst thing I’ve ever done was sign Big Sean." Before the episode, Big Sean said on Twitter "I just got asked to be on the next Drink Champs so I’m assuming Ye talkin’ crazy." And would also share a photo of him and West from after the interview and wrote "Was just [with] this man, he ain’t say none of that!"


title: GOOD Music

text: On October 24, 2022, it was revealed that Def Jam had officially dropped both West and GOOD off of their label. This comes as a response to West’s recent controversies involving actions deemed as antisemitic and racist, though it was revealed that West was already released from Def Jam following the release of "Donda" as the album completed his album contract with the label.


title: GOOD Music

text: G.O.O.D. Music also has a production wing known as Very Good Beats; this serves as a group of in-house producers.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: The division has earned numerous accolades including 2 Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, over 13 Saturn Awards nominations and 4 in-house honors via the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Since its launch, and over 40 feature films have been produced for broadcast on Nickelodeon's global channels and Paramount+.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: In 1993, Nickelodeon agreed to a two-year contract with 20th Century Fox to make feature films. The joint venture would mostly produce new material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based on "The Ren & Stimpy Show", "Rugrats" and "Doug". None of the movies were produced due to the 1994 acquisition of Paramount Pictures by Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, and they would distribute the movies instead. With the creative differences with John Kricfalusi, the creator of "Ren & Stimpy" and an inability to market that property in a family-friendly manner instead of a "cynical and gross humor" scuttled the film. However, Paramount and Viacom would go forward and start development on "The Rugrats Movie" a year after the acquisition.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: The Nickelodeon version of the "Doug" film was not made due to the acquisition of the show's production studio, Jumbo Pictures, by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. With this, the show moved to Disney's ABC network and new seasons aired as a part of its programming block "Disney's One Saturday Morning" as "Disney's Doug". In 1999, Walt Disney Pictures released a film finale to the series, "Doug's 1st Movie".


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies was then founded on February 25, 1995. On July 10, 1996, the studio released its first film, "Harriet the Spy", a spy-comedy film based on the 1964 novel of the same name.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On July 25, 1997, the studio then released its second film, "Good Burger", a comedy film, starring Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Abe Vigoda, Dan Schneider, Shar Jackson, Josh Server, Lori Beth Denberg, Jan Schweiterman, Linda Cardellini and Sinbad. It was based on the "Good Burger" sketch on Nickelodeon's popular sketch comedy series "All That".


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On November 20, 1998, the studio released "The Rugrats Movie", which is Nickelodeon Movies' first animated film and the first Nicktoon to be shown in theaters. It received mixed critical reception, but despite this, the movie became a box office success, earning $100,494,675 in the domestic box office and $140,894,675 worldwide. It also became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million domestically. The success of the film led to two sequels.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On February 11, 2000, the studio released "Snow Day", a comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Chris Elliott, Zena Grey, Josh Peck, Mark Webber, Schuyler Fisk, Jade Yorker and Emmanuelle Chriqui. This film met negative reviews, yet it grossed $62,464,731 worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nine months later, the studio released "" on November 17, 2000. It is the first sequel to "The Rugrats Movie", and grossed $76,507,756 at the domestic box-office and $103,291,131 worldwide. The film received favorable reviews, becoming the most critically acclaimed "Rugrats" film to date.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On December 21, 2001, the studio released its first CGI animated film, "". It is based on a series of shorts that aired on Nickelodeon in 1998. It became a critical and box-office success, earning $80,936,232 in the United States and $102,992,536 worldwide. It stars voice actors Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, Carolyn Lawrence, Jeffrey Garcia, and Candi Milo, and co-starred Martin Short and Patrick Stewart. On March 24, 2002, this movie was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to "Shrek". It is the first Nickelodeon film to be nominated for an Academy Award. The success of the film spawned this film into a TV series, "", which aired on Nickelodeon from 2002 to 2006.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On March 29, 2002, the studio released "Clockstoppers", a sci-fi action film, starring Jesse Bradford, Paula Garcés, and French Stewart. This film received negative reviews and was a box office disappointment, only earning $36,989,956 in the United States and $38,793,283 worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On June 28, 2002, Nickelodeon Movies released "", starring the series' original cast members and guest starring Paul Sorvino as Scheck, the CEO of a real estate company called Future Tech Industries (FTI). The film received negative reviews and grossed $15.2 million. It was originally going to be a TV film entitled "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood", but executives of Paramount Pictures decided to release this film theatrically. It was the first animated film from Nickelodeon to get a PG rating.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: In 2002 and 2003, the studio, along with Klasky Csupo, released two films based on popular TV shows, "The Wild Thornberrys Movie" and "Rugrats Go Wild", respectively. "The Wild Thornberrys Movie" was released on December 20, 2002, starring the show's original cast members, Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Jodi Carlisle, Danielle Harris, Michael "Flea" Balzary, and Tom Kane. This film received positive reviews and was a box office success. It only grossed $40.1 million domestically and $60.7 million worldwide. On March 23, 2003, this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: "Rugrats Go Wild", a crossover of "Rugrats" and "The Wild Thornberrys", was released on June 13, 2003. This film met with mixed critical reception and was a minor box office success, unlike previous "Rugrats" movies, only earning $39.4 million in the United States and $55.4 million worldwide. This film is also the only "Rugrats" film to receive a PG rating.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On November 19, 2004, Nickelodeon released "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", based on the popular Nickelodeon television series, "SpongeBob SquarePants". This film received positive reviews and grossed $85.4 million in the United States and $140.2 million worldwide. The success of this film led to a sequel, and it was adapted into various media, including its own video game, soundtrack, books, and toy line.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: With the release of "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie", Nickelodeon Movies returned to making box-office hits. The studio purchased the film rights of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" book series in May 2000. Paramount Pictures, owner of Nickelodeon Movies, agreed to co-finance, along with Scott Rudin. Various directors, including Terry Gilliam and Roman Polanski, were interested in making the film. One of author Daniel Handler's, Lemony Snicket's real name, favorite candidates was Guy Maddin. In June 2002, Barry Sonnenfeld was hired to direct. He was chosen because he had previously collaborated with Rudin and because of his black comedy directing style as seen in his films "The Addams Family", "Addams Family Values" and "Get Shorty". Sonnenfeld referred to the "Unfortunate Events" books as his favorite children's stories. The director hired Handler to write the script with the intention of making "Lemony Snicket" as a musical, and cast Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in September 2002. Sonnenfeld eventually left over budget concerns in January 2003 and director Brad Silberling took over. This film was released on December 17, 2004, a month after "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" was released. It received positive reviews and became a huge box office success, earning $118,634,549 at the United States box office and $209,073,645 worldwide. This film won an Academy Award for Best Makeup in 2005.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: In 2005, the studio and Paramount Classics purchased a documentary film, "Mad Hot Ballroom", at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It became the studios' first (and, so far, only) documentary film and their only film to have a limited theatrical release. It grossed $8,117,961 in the United States and $9,079,042 worldwide. It also was a huge critical success.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Several months later, the studio and Paramount Pictures released their first co-production with both Columbia Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer and released a family comedy film, "Yours, Mine and Ours", a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. This film stars Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo. This film was critically panned, but was a modest box office success, earning $53,412,862 in the United States and $72,028,752 worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On June 16, 2006, Nickelodeon released the wrestling comedy film "Nacho Libre". It is very loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta. This film stars Jack Black, Héctor Jiménez, and Ana de la Reguera. This film met with mixed critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $80,197,993 in the domestic box office and grossed $99,255,460 worldwide. A sequel to this film is being considered.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Two months later, the studio released another CGI film, "Barnyard", starring the voices of Kevin James, as Otis, a carefree cow who loves throwing parties, Courteney Cox as Daisy, a kind-hearted cow, David Koechner as Dag, an evil coyote, Sam Elliott as Ben, Otis's father and the leader of the barnyard, Danny Glover as Miles, an old mule, and voice actors Cam Clarke, Jeff Garcia, S. Scott Bullock, Tino Insana, Maurice LaMarche, John DiMaggio, Fred Tatasciore, and Rob Paulsen. This film met with negative critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $72,637,803 at the United States box office and grossed $116,476,887 worldwide. Like "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", the film's success has spawned into a TV show, "Back at the Barnyard", which ran from 2007 to 2011 on Nickelodeon, longer than "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius". Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James as the role for Otis.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On December 15, 2006, the studio released "Charlotte's Web", a family drama film based on E. B. White's book of the same name, starring Dakota Fanning, Kevin Anderson, Beau Bridges, and the voices of Dominic Scott Kay, Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, Reba McEntire, Kathy Bates, with Thomas Haden Church and Cedric the Entertainer. This film became a critical and box office success, earning $82,985,708 in the United States and $144,877,632 worldwide. This is Nickelodeon's first G-rated film in five years and first live-action film rated G as well as being the studio's highest-grossing film with that rating. Dakota Fanning won a Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Two years later on February 14, 2008, the studio released "The Spiderwick Chronicles", a fantasy drama film based on the bestselling book of the same name, starring Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen. This film was released in both regular and IMAX theaters and received favorable reviews and was a box office success, earning $71,195,053 in the United States and $162,839,667 outside of the United States.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On July 28, 2008, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released a coming-of-age comedy film, "Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging", based on two bestselling British novels by Louise Rennison, "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" and "It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers". The film met with positive reviews and was a box office success. It was released in theaters in the United Kingdom, earning £8,647,770 and grossed £13,835,569 worldwide. To date, it has a direct-to-DVD release in the United States and has made its U.S. premiere on Nick at Nite on March 12, 2009. It is also the first film from Nickelodeon Movies to receive a PG-13 rating.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On January 16, 2009, "Hotel for Dogs" was released, starring Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Johnny Simmons, Kyla Pratt, Troy Gentile, with Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle. It is based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. This film received mixed reviews from film critics, but was a box office success, earning $73,034,460 in the United States box office and grossed $117,000,198 worldwide. It is distributed by DreamWorks. This marks the first film from Nickelodeon to be distributed outside of Paramount Pictures. However, it is still distributed under Paramount.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Five months later on June 12, 2009, Paramount Pictures released Nickelodeon Movies' "Imagine That", a comedy-drama film starring Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Nicole Ari Parker, Martin Sheen, Marin Hinkle, and Yara Shahidi. The film received negative reviews, mainly criticizing Murphy's performance. It was also a box office failure, only earning $16,123,323 at the domestic box office and grossed only $22,985,194 worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the "" series, the first of which would encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One. The film was later released in theaters in 3D on July 1, 2010, and was universally panned by critics, fans, and even from audiences who weren't familiar with the TV series and is nowadays often considered one of the worst movies ever made. A year later, it won five Razzies, including worst screenplay, worst director and worst picture of the year. This was the studio's first feature film released in 3-D. On its opening day in the United States, "The Last Airbender" made $16 million, ranking fifth overall for Thursday openings. Despite negative critical reception, the film was a box office success, and grossed $131,601,062 in the United States box office, also grossed $187,340,196 in other countries, making for a total of $318,941,258 worldwide. That planned trilogy was finally scrapped in 2018, to make way for a new, unrelated, live-action series produced by Netflix.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On March 4, 2011, Nickelodeon Movies released "Rango", a CGI-animated western comedy film, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone, Timothy Olyphant and Ned Beatty. The film was produced by Gore Verbinski's production company Blind Wink, and Graham King's GK Films. The CGI animation was created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), marking its first full-length animated feature. ILM usually does visual effects for live-action films. It is also the first animated film for Verbinski. During voice recording, the actors received costumes and sets to "give them the feel of the Wild West"; star Johnny Depp had 20 days in which to voice Rango and the filmmakers scheduled the supporting actors to interact with him. Verbinski said his attempt with "Rango" was to do a "small" film after the large-scale "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy, but that he underestimated how painstaking and time-consuming animated filmmaking is. This film has met universal acclaim from critics and general audiences alike and was the first Nickelodeon film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, ten years on since the category was introduced when "Jimmy Neutron" was nominated. The success of "Rango" led Paramount to create its own animation studio, Paramount Animation.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nine months later, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies partnered with Columbia Pictures once again and released "The Adventures of Tintin", a performance-captured animated 3D film, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, with the voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and based on three from the comic book series of the same name by Hergé, "The Crab with the Golden Claws" (1941), "The Secret of the Unicorn" (1943), and "Red Rackham's Treasure" (1944). This film was released in 3D and IMAX 3D theaters, as well normal "2D" theaters, and earned $77,591,831 in North America and $296,402,120 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $373,993,951. It also was studio's first animated film to be shown in 3D. John Williams, the composer for the film, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. This film became the first non-Pixar film to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and is the first Nickelodeon film to do so.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On February 28, 2012, a sequel to "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" titled "" was announced to be in production, and was scheduled to be released in 2015.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: "We will be releasing a "SpongeBob" movie at the end of 2014, which will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort."


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Dauman also once again said that the Paramount animation productions will be a new opportunity for his company as they will each cost less than $100 million, and the animation unit will only have 30 to 40 people, allowing for good financial returns and profits. Thanks to modern technology, the films still look "great" despite the lower cost, he said. He also lauded his studio team for winning an animation Oscar for "Rango", the studio's first fully owned CGI effort. "We're very proud of that," he said.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: The sequel was directed by Paul Tibbitt, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, produced by Mary Parent, and executive-produced by the series' creator, Stephen Hillenburg. The series' cast members reprised their roles from the first film. The sequel was animated using the same animation style (traditional animation) as the TV show.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: In 2012, following the news of the Viacom buyout of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise, it was announced that Nickelodeon would produce a new film through Paramount Pictures with an expected release date sometime in 2012. In late May 2011, it was announced that Paramount and Nickelodeon had brought Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form on to produce the next film that would reboot the film series. Bay, Fuller, and Form would produce alongside Walker and Mednick. For the script, the studio originally hired Art Marcum and Matt Holloway to write the film for close to a million dollars. A year later the studio turned to writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec to rewrite the script. In February 2012, Jonathan Liebesman was brought into negotiations to direct the film. It was released on August 8, 2014.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On October 26, 2012, the studio released a Halloween comedy film, "Fun Size", starring Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville, and Thomas Mann. This film met with negative reviews, and was a box office failure. It grossed $11.4 million, and is the lowest wide-grossed film ever produced by Nickelodeon Movies.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: A reboot of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" opened on August 8, 2014. It was the biggest opening weekend for any movie produced by Nickelodeon Movies, grossing over $65 million in its first three days of release in the United States. It has since become Nickelodeon Movies's highest-grossing movie domestically (in North America) and worldwide, with over $191 million domestically and a total of $493.3 million worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On February 6, 2015, "", the second film based on "SpongeBob SquarePants", was released. The film grossed almost $163 million in the United States and $323.4 million worldwide, making it the third-most successful film produced by the studio.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On June 3, 2016, the studio released "". The film was met with mixed reviews and grossed $240.6 million worldwide.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies was also involved in the film "Monster Trucks", though merely as a label partner as Paramount vacillated several times about including the Nickelodeon Movies vanity card within the film. It was released on January 13, 2017, as a critical and box-office flop.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: An original animated feature produced by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies in association with Ilion Animation Studios, titled "Wonder Park", released on March 15, 2019, with reviews being mixed, praising the animation and voice acting while criticizing the story and tone, and performed poorly at the box office, grossing $119 million against a budget of $80–100 million. A television series based on it, which is titled "Adventures in Wonder Park", is scheduled to air on Nickelodeon in the near future making it the third animated film from Nickelodeon Movies, after Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Barnyard, to serve as the basis for an animated series on the network.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On August 9, 2019, the studio released the first film based on the Nick Jr. animated series "Dora the Explorer", titled "Dora and the Lost City of Gold". Produced by Paramount Players, it is directed by James Bobin. It received positive reviews and was a box office success.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies distributed an original feature called "Playing with Fire", starring John Cena, and directed by Andy Fickman. The film was released on November 8, 2019. It received negative reviews, but was a modest box office success.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: A third "SpongeBob" film, "", was released in Canadian theaters on August 14, 2020, and digitally on Netflix in other territories on November 5, 2020, followed by a release via PVOD and on Paramount+, in the United States, on March 4, 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is directed and co-written by former writer Tim Hill. It is the last "SpongeBob" film to involve series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died on November 26, 2018, from ALS.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On May 19, 2019, a based on "PAW Patrol"—a Canadian series aired by Nick Jr. in the United States—was announced. The film was produced in Canada by Spin Master Entertainment, with Nickelodeon Movies signing on to present the film internationally. Unlike previous films from Nickelodeon Movies, the copyright to "PAW Patrol: The Movie" is not owned by Paramount, with Spin Master owning the copyright and Paramount/Nickelodeon only serving as distributors. The film was directed and co-written by Cal Brunker, and it was released in both Canada and the United States on August 20, 2021, and simultaneously streaming on Paramount+. The film received positive reviews and was a box office success.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Additionally, the studio also released two direct to streaming movies: "The Loud House Movie", a film adaptation based on Nickelodeon's popular Nicktoon of the same name for Netflix that is produced by British Film Institute, which was released on August 20, 2021, the same day as the "PAW Patrol" movie. The film received praise for animation, acting and songs though some criticized the plot. The other film, "The J Team", a musical comedy starring JoJo Siwa was released on Paramount+ on September 3, 2021, as an original film.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: "", directed by Rob Minkoff and Mark Koetsier and starring Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Kylie Kuioka, and Samuel L. Jackson was released theatrically on July 15, 2022 in the United States and other territories.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On July 12, 2021, it was revealed that, "Blue's Big City Adventure," a live-action/animated hybrid movie based on "Blue's Clues & You!", would be made to mark the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Directed by Matt Stawski and written by Angela Santomero and Liz Maccie, the film began production in summer 2021. The film was released on Paramount+ on November 18, 2022.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies is teaming up with Point Grey Pictures to make a CG-animated film reboot of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film series titled "", which is currently in development with Jeff Rowe directing. The film is currently scheduled for release on August 4, 2023.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: The sequel to "", titled "", is currently in development with Cal Brunker returning as director and Jennifer Dodge, Laura Clunie and Toni Stevens as producers. The film is scheduled for release on October 13, 2023.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: Nickelodeon Movies is working with Avatar Studios to make a theatrical CG-animated film, alongside 2 other animated films that will be released by Paramount Pictures, with production set to begin later in 2021. It will serve as the first project from Avatar Studios and is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2025.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On March 2, 2021, "Yokai Samba", a film previously in development at DreamWorks Animation, had been picked up by the studio.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: On August 2, 2021, Paramount Pictures announced that a new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" live-action film was in the works with Colin Jost and Casey Jost penning the script and Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Scott Mednick and Galen Walker signing on as producers.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: An animated musical Smurfs film was announced in February 2022 and is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2025.


title: Nickelodeon Movies

text: A fourth theatrical "SpongeBob SquarePants" film and three spinoff films set for release on Paramount+ were announced in February 2022, with the first of the spinoffs scheduled for release in 2023 and the fourth theatrical film scheduled for release on May 23, 2025.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an upcoming American computer-animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a sequel to "" (2018) and is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson (in their feature directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham. Shameik Moore voices , starring alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Schwartzman, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Oscar Isaac. In the film, Miles goes on an adventure across the multiverse with a new team of Spider-People, known as the Spider-Force.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Sony began developing a sequel to "Into the Spider-Verse" before that film's release in 2018, with the writing and directing team attached. It was set to focus on the relationship between Moore's Miles and Steinfeld's The film was officially announced in November 2019 and animation work began in June 2020, with a different visual style for each of the six universes visited by the characters.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 2, 2023, delayed from an initial April 2022 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A third film, "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse", is set to be released on March 29, 2024. A female-focused spin-off film is also in development.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: and journey through the Multiverse, where they meet more Spider-People who are charged with protecting it. However, when a new threat emerges, Miles finds himself going up against the other Spider-People in how to handle it.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Also slated to appear in the film are Takuya Yamashiro, the "Japanese Spider-Man" from the 1978 "Spider-Man" series, Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the "Spider-Man" video game series by Insomniac Games, Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India, Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider, Otto Octavius / Superior Spider-Man, the Doppelganger, an evil, monsterous version of Spider-Man, Spider-Monkey, Maybelle Reilly / Lady-Spider, Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the Marvel Mangaverse, Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the 2008-2009 television series "The Spectacular Spider-Man", and Peter Parker / Spider-Man from the 1999 television series "Spider-Man Unlimited". Peter and Mary Jane's infant daughter May "Mayday" Parker will also appear alongside the alternate Spinneret and her daughter Anna May-Parker / Spiderling from the 2015 limited series "".


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: By the end of November 2018, ahead of the release of "" the following month, Sony Pictures Animation had begun development on a sequel to the film, due to the "incredible buzz" surrounding the project. The sequel was set to continue the story of Shameik Moore's Miles Morales / Spider-Man, working from "seeds [that were] planted" throughout the first film. Joaquim Dos Santos and David Callaham were set to direct and write the film, respectively, with Amy Pascal returning from the first film as producer. The other producers of the first film—Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Avi Arad, and Christina Steinberg—were all also expected to return for the sequel in some capacity. The next month, Pascal revealed that the film would focus on Miles and Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, exploring a romance between the two characters that had been cut from the first film. She added that the sequel would serve as a "launching pad" for a previously announced female-focused spin-off film starring Steinfeld. Sony officially confirmed the sequel in November 2019, setting a release date of April 8, 2022. Lord and Miller were confirmed to be returning as producers. When making changes to its film schedule in April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony shifted the film's release to October 7, 2022.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: In February 2021, Miller revealed that he and Lord were working on the film's screenplay with Callaham and said Peter Ramsey would serve as an executive producer on the sequel after co-directing the first film. That April, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson were announced as co-directors of the sequel alongside Dos Santos, with all three having been working on the project since it started development. Thompson had previously served as production designer on the first film. Additionally, Arad and Steinberg were both confirmed to be returning as producers alongside Lord, Miller, and Pascal, with Alonzo Ruvalcaba co-producing and Aditya Sood, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman, Rebecca Karch and Brian Bendis joining Ramsey as executive producers. In December, Lord and Miller revealed that the film was being split into two parts, titled "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)" and "(Part Two)", because they had written down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel and realized that it was too much for a single film. Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously. The two sequels were renamed in April 2022, becoming "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" and "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse". Their release dates were shifted then, with "Across the Spider-Verse" pushed back to June 2, 2023. Lord and Miller revealed that they told Sony the sequel would be the same size as "Into the Spider-Verse", but it ended up having the largest crew of any animated film ever, with around 1,000 people working on it. They added that the film has 240 characters and takes place in six universes.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: By December 2018, Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld were set to reprise their respective roles as Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy from the first film. Lord indicated in November 2019 that the film would include Takuya Yamashiro, the "Japanese Spider-Man" from the 1978 "Spider-Man" series. In August 2020, Jake Johnson expressed hope that he could reprise his role as Peter B. Parker from the first film in the sequel. Issa Rae was cast as Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman in June 2021, Johnson confirmed that he would be returning for the sequel a month later, and Oscar Isaac was confirmed in December to be reprising his role of Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 from the post-credits scene of "Into the Spider-Verse". Also in December, Tom Holland—who plays Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—revealed that Pascal had approached him about appearing in the "Spider-Verse" films during the filming of "" (2021). Holland and his co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon all expressed interest in appearing in the upcoming films.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: In April 2022, Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez were confirmed to be reprising their roles as Miles's parents from the first film while Rachel Dratch was revealed to be voicing the counselor at Miles's school. Lord, Miller, and the directors announced in June that the Spot would be the film's main antagonist, with Jason Schwartzman providing the Spot's voice. Powers noted that the Spot was one of "the deepest cuts in Spider-Man's rogue gallery" but the creative team was excited about his abilities, which allow the character to travel between universes. Shea Whigham and Jorma Taccone were also revealed to be voicing George Stacy and the Vulture, respectively. In November 2022, Daniel Kaluuya was confirmed to voicing Hobart "Hobie" Brown / Spider-Punk in the film.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Lord revealed that design work for new characters in the film had begun by November 2019, with comic book artist Kris Anka later revealing that he was serving as a character designer on the film. On June 9, 2020, the film's lead animator Nick Kondo announced that production had started. The different universes visited in the film were designed to look like they were each drawn by a different artist. Having learned new animation tools after working on "The Mitchells vs. the Machines" (2021) following the first "Spider-Verse" film, Lord and Miller ambitiously employed them to generate six different animation styles. The intent was to amaze the audience whenever the characters cross into a new environment so the film can accurately reflect its plot and the styles can generate various emotional backdrops. Earth-65, the home of Gwen Stacy, was designed to look like "impressionistic" watercolor paintings. The animation team created a simulator to generate this style and used a visual palette that reflects Gwen's emotions like a "three dimensional mood ring". This style was also intended by Miller to remind the audience about the covers of the "Spider-Gwen" comic books. One of the two alternate Earths seen in the trailer was Earth-50101, which the crew nicknamed "Mumbattan" after Mumbai and Manhattan, due to that world being based on the one from Gotham Entertainment Group's "" comic book series. The other one was Nueva York, the futuristic New York City from the Marvel 2099 world.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Miles's design was updated for the sequel to show him having gone through a growth spurt, while Gwen was given a new haircut and an updated costume. Rick Leonardi, the co-creator of Spider-Man 2099, was brought on to adapt his own designs for the film, while comic book artist Brian Stelfreeze was chosen to shape the visual development of Jessica Drew. The Spot's design evolves throughout the film as he gains more control of his abilities, beginning with a style that looks like an "unfinished sketch [with] blue construction lines that evoke a comic book artist's rough drawing before the work goes to an inker". The Spot's portals were intended to look like "living ink that had spilled or splattered on the comic artist's drawing", which created new challenges for the animation team. The Vulture was given a Renaissance-era design inspired by the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci's workbooks.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Daniel Pemberton confirmed in December 2020 that he would return from the previous film to compose the sequel's score.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller confirmed on December 13, 2022 that Metro Boomin would make music for the sequel.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: In May 2020, Sony entered into a promotional partnership with Hyundai Motor Company to showcase their new models and technologies in the film. A prologue for the film was released at Comic Con Experience in December 2021, revealing the title and the fact that the film is a two-part sequel. Following the announcement of the new title and release date in April 2022, Lord and Miller showed 15 minutes of the film (with unfinished animation) at Sony's CinemaCon panel. Lord, Miller, and the directors showed the same footage at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, with updated animation and effects.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 2, 2023, in premium large formats and IMAX. It was originally set for release on April 8, 2022, but was shifted to October 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then moved to the June 2023 date.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included the sequels to "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"; this deal built on an existing output deal that Netflix had signed with Sony Pictures Animation in 2014. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: A third film was confirmed when Lord and Miller revealed in December 2021 that the "Into the Spider-Verse" sequel was being split into two films. "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part Two)" was expected at that point to be released in 2023. In April 2022, it was renamed "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" and given a release date of March 29, 2024.


title: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

text: Sony began developing a "Spider-Women" film in November 2018 that would focus on three generations of female, Spider-related characters. Bek Smith was writing the spin-off, and Lauren Montgomery was in talks to direct. Pascal said the film would focus on the characters Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen, Cindy Moon / Silk, and Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman, and said "Across the Spider-Verse" would serve as a "launching pad" for it.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Ender's Game is a 2013 American military science-fiction action film based on Orson Scott Card's 1985 novel of the same name. Written and directed by Gavin Hood, the film stars Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, an unusually gifted child who is sent to an advanced military academy in space to prepare for a future alien invasion. The supporting cast includes Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, and Viola Davis, with Abigail Breslin and Ben Kingsley.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: The film was released in Germany on October 24, 2013, followed by a release in the UK one day later. It was released in the United States, Canada, and several other countries on November 1, 2013, and was released in other territories by January 2014. "Ender's Game" received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing only $125.5 million on a $110–115 million budget.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: In the future, humanity is preparing to launch an attack on the homeworld of an alien race, called the Formics, that had attacked Earth and killed millions. The Formic invasion was stopped by Mazer Rackham, who crashed his fighter plane into the Formic queenship at the apparent cost of his life. Over the course of 50 years, gifted children are trained by the International Fleet to become commanders of a new fleet for this counterattack.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Cadet Andrew "Ender" Wiggin draws the attention of Colonel Hyrum Graff and Major Gwen Anderson because of his aptitude in simulated space combat and is recruited into Battle School.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Graff brings Ender to Battle School and places Ender with other cadets his age, but treats him as extraordinary, thereby subjecting him to being ostracized by the others. The cadets are placed in squads and perform training games in a zero-gravity "Battle Room". Ender quickly adapts to the games, devising new strategies older students have not yet seen.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Graff reassigns Ender to Salamander Army, led by Commander Bonzo Madrid. Bonzo, believing that Ender is inept and a liability, prevents him from training with the rest of the squad. Another cadet, Petra Arkanian, takes Ender under her wing and trains him privately. In the next match, Bonzo benches Ender while the rest of the Salamander Army fights another team. However, seeing the team losing and Petra in trouble, Ender comes to her aid and helps Salamander Army win.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Meanwhile, Ender plays a computerized "mind game" set in a fantasy world, which presents difficult choices to the player. In one situation, Ender creates an outside the box solution to overcome a seemingly unsolvable problem. Later, he encounters a Formic in the game, and then simulated images involving his siblings. These are noted as unusual additions to the game, which is seemingly altered by Ender's interaction with the computer.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Graff promotes Ender to lead his own squad, which is made up of students who have gained Ender's trust. They are put in increasingly difficult battles. In a surprise match against two other teams, including Bonzo's Salamander Army, Ender devises a novel strategy of sacrificing part of his team to achieve a goal, impressing Graff.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Bonzo attacks Ender in the bathroom after the match, but Ender fights back. Bonzo falls during the struggle and suffers a head injury. Distraught, Ender quits Battle School, but Graff has Ender's sister Valentine convince him to continue.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Graff takes Ender to humanity's forward base on a former Formic planet near their homeworld to meet with an elder Rackham. Rackham explains that the Formics share a hive-mind mentality and how he exploited it to win the battle. Ender finds that his former squad members are also there to help him train in computerized simulations of large fleet combat; Rackham puts special emphasis on the fleet's Molecular Detachment (MD) Device that is capable of disintegrating matter. Ender's training is rigorous, and Anderson expresses concern over this, but Graff notes they have run out of time to replace Ender.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Ender's final test is monitored by several fleet commanders. As the simulation starts, Ender finds his fleet over the Formic homeworld, vastly outnumbered. He orders most of his fleet to sacrifice themselves to protect the MD long enough to fire on the homeworld. The resulting chain reaction burns over the surface of the planet, killing the entire population. The simulation ends, and Ender believes the test is over. The commanders restart the video screens, showing that Ender's fleet actually participated in live missions and destroyed the Formic homeworld. Realizing he became a murderer for destroying the planet as well as feeling guilt for the Formics, Ender storms off only to be tranquilized by staff.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: While asleep, Ender is awoken by the Formic Queen and is directed to a Formic structure nearby as being similar to the ruined castle from the game. The Queen acknowledges Ender's role in the genocide and moves to kill him, but when Ender shows remorse, she spares his life. It is determined that the Formic were only seeking a source of water and did not want conflict. The Queen gives Ender a Queen egg that she has been protecting.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: With the war ended, Ender is promoted to admiral, given a small ship, and left to his own devices. In a letter to Valentine, he confides that he is going into deep space, determined to start a new Formic colony with the Queen egg.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Since "Ender's Game" was published in 1985, author Orson Scott Card had been reluctant to license film rights and artistic control for the novel. Card explained that he had many opportunities through the 1980s and 1990s to sell the rights of "Ender's Game" to Hollywood studios, but refused when creative differences became an issue. With the formation of Fresco Pictures in 1996 (which Card co-founded), the author decided to write the screenplay himself. In a 1998 interview, Card discussed the process of adapting the novel into a screenplay.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: In 2003, Card submitted a screenplay to Warner Bros., at which time David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were hired to collaborate on a new script in consultation with the then-designated director Wolfgang Petersen. Four years later, Card wrote a new script not based on any previous ones, including his own. In an interview with "Wired", Card admitted two obstacles in writing his scripts were being able to "externalize" Ender's thoughts and making it work, "for people who had never read the book."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Card announced in February 2009 that he had completed a script for Odd Lot Entertainment, and that they had begun assembling a production team. In September 2010, it was announced that Gavin Hood was attached to the project, serving as both screenwriter and director. Card said he had written "about six" different scripts before Hood took over. In November 2010, Card stated that the film's storyline would be a fusion of "Ender's Game" and its parallel novel, "Ender's Shadow", focusing on the important elements of both. In October 2013, he explained that this "buddy-movie approach" between Ender and Bean was a proof of concept and once Hood took over he decided to use Petra as more of a major character. On January 28, 2011, it was reported that Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci would be producing the work and would begin presenting the script to prospective investors.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: On April 28, 2011, it was announced that Summit Entertainment had picked up the film's distribution and Digital Domain joined Odd Lot Entertainment in a co-production role. Gavin Hood was aboard as director and screenwriter, and Donald McAlpine joined as cinematographer. The producers were Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough of Odd Lot Entertainment, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci of K/O Paper Products, Robert Chartoff and Lynn Hendee of Chartoff Productions, who had worked with Card on the development of the film for over 15 years, Card himself, and Ed Ulbrich. Executive producers included Bill Lischak, David Coatsworth, Ivy Zhong and Deborah Del Prete. In an interview with Brigham Young University newspaper "The Universe", Card said that his role as producer was in the early stages and that the screenplay is 100% Hood's. Special effects workshop Amalgamated Dynamics provided the special character effects for the film, with founder Tom Woodruff Jr. providing character suit performances.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: In a 1999 interview, Orson Scott Card confirmed that Jake Lloyd was under consideration for the role of Ender Wiggin, asking fans not to judge Lloyd based on his performance in "", saying that a better script and direction would result in a better performance. In July 2008, Card stated that he would like to see Nathan Gamble play Ender, and expressed regret that he was "probably too old" for the part. Early in the film's development, in an interview in 1998, Card considered changing Hyrum Graff to a female character, recommending a "dry comic" such as Janeane Garofalo or Rosie O'Donnell for the role. In the same interview, Card suggested Andre Braugher or Will Smith for the role of Mazer Rackham. Brendan Meyer was originally cast in the role of Stilson, but had to leave the production due to a scheduling conflict.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Production began in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 27, 2012. The film was released on November 1, 2013, in the United States.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: The original soundtrack for "Ender's Game" was released on October 22, 2013. The film's score was composed by Steve Jablonsky. Originally, James Horner was announced to compose the film's score, but it turned out that Jablonsky would be doing the score.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: The credits roll song was recorded by The Flaming Lips featuring Tobacco, titled "Peace Sword", which was sold separately as an EP.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Ender's Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure is a reference book published by Insight Editions. With a foreword by "Ender's Game" film director Gavin Hood, the book is broken into four parts: Ender's World, Battle School, Inside Zero-G, and Parallel Worlds. The book is filled with behind-the-scenes images of the making of "Ender's Game" as well as interviews with the producers, artists, directors, and cast. Included with the book are nine Battle School army logo stickers, an ID Badge for Ender, and two removable International Fleet posters.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Ender's Game Battle School is the official board game based on the film "Ender's Game". Published on November 13, 2013, by Cryptozoic Entertainment, the game is designed by Matt Hyra. Played inside the Battle Room, the player takes control of an Army led by either Commander Ender Wiggin or Commander Bonzo Madrid. With different abilities granted to each Commander, the Armies try to either capture each of its opponent's Gates or freeze the opposing Commander while avoiding other frozen players and Stars.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Along with various T-shirts, a 2014 wall calendar, and film inspired covers for both the novel and the Ender's Game Ultimate Collection collection, Funko released two Pop! Vinyl figurines of Ender Wiggin and Petra Arkanian. "Ender's Game" is also the first film to offer 3D printed replicas of in-film 3D assets. Summit Entertainment collaborated with Sandboxr, a 3D printing service, to open a new merchandising platform offering fans the unique ability to customize and build 3D prints from assets used in production.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: "Ender's Game" partnered with Audi to bring the Audi fleet shuttle quattro to the motion picture. The partnership with ICEE included releasing two limited time flavors: Battle School Blastberry and Orbital Orange, along with a "Train Like an Astronaut" sweepstakes. Growing Basics offered a chance to win a trip to the Los Angeles premiere of "Ender's Game". The Langers Juice Company gave away an "Ender's Game" T-shirt with three proof-of-purchase. Barnes & Noble also offered various promotions including novels collected in boxed sets inspired by the film. Pik-Nik offered a chance to win a trip for a family of four to the Kennedy Space Center. Popcorn, Indiana held a sweepstakes to win a private screening for the winner and up to 250 friends. Star Studio also offered photobooth backgrounds from "Ender's Game".


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: On May 6, 2013, the official movie site for "Ender's Game", I.F. Sentinel, launched (I.F. stands for International Fleet, the entity responsible for training the children cadets). Though the site is now filled with short, movie promotional posts, the original site contained new canonical information and characters from the film universe, including archivist Stephen Trawcki, I.F. Major Gerald Stacks, I.F. Academic Secretary Gwen Burton, I.F. Rationing Spokesman Reed Unger, and former Hegemon James van Laake.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: On July 17, a recruitment video was released telling users to go to the I.F. Battle School website. Once there, users would be prompted to log onto their Facebook accounts and take a short aptitude test, which when finished would place the user into either Asp, Dragon, Rat, or Salamander Army. Armies would go on to compete against one another in different missions. The first missions involved the users sharing their army assignments on Facebook and Twitter. Doing so unlocked a preview of the film. The second mission had the users compete by once again posting to Facebook and Twitter to try to get their names on a mosaic IMAX poster. The Dragon Army won both missions. The final mission had the users enter sweepstakes from Xbox, IMDb, Yahoo!, and Fandango. There was no winner for the final mission. On September 3, the Battle Room Training game was released on the website. In this game, the user would shoot at different colored stars.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: A website called Battle School Command Core opened on September 19, 2013. The website was for those residing in the United Kingdom. The site had six games with a prize for each, including a grand prize trip for two people to NASA.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: In July 2013, the group Geeks OUT boycotted the film in protest at Orson Scott Card's views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The calls for a boycott were picked up by a number of other groups and individuals in the media.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Producer Roberto Orci responded in "Entertainment Weekly" in March that he was not aware of Card's views when he took on development of the film adaptation. He said that "the movie should be judged on its message, not the personal beliefs of the original author", who had minimal involvement in the film. Orci also stated that "if it's on the screen, then I think it's fair game." Lionsgate released a statement stating that "we obviously do not agree with the personal views of Orson Scott Card", while highlighting the company's longtime support of the LGBT community.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: This was the last film to be distributed theatrically by Buena Vista International in Japan before the Japanese theatrical brand was renamed Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International starting with "Need for Speed" in March 2014.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: "Ender's Game" was the number one film in North America during its opening weekend, earning $27 million from 3,407 theaters with an average of $7,930 per theater. The film ultimately grossed $61.7 million domestically and $63.8 million internationally, for a worldwide gross of $127.9 million. The film lost a projected $68 million for the studio, with "Variety" including it in its list of the "Hollywood's Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2013".


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 62% based on 225 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The critical consensus states: "If it isn't quite as thought-provoking as the book, "Ender's Game" still manages to offer a commendable number of well-acted, solidly written sci-fi thrills." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on reviews from 39 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Peter Debruge of Variety magazine called it "An impressive, thought-provoking astro-adventure that benefits from the biggest screen available."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" praised "the stunning and gorgeous visuals covering every inch of the screen" and describes the film as a "challenging adventure that should satisfy most young fans of the book while keeping the adults engrossed as well."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Marc Bernardin of The Hollywood Reporter is critical of the lack of empathy and shallowness of the story, and wrote: "If only adapter-director Gavin Hood's movie had been tempered with craft and care and wasn't such a blunt instrument, one that seems designed as a delivery system for CGI derring-do instead of the heartbreaker it should be." Bernardin notes the zero-gravity battle scenes might have seemed to be unfilmable, and he commends the special effects, but says the film was unlucky to have come out so soon after Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity", which did it far better.


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" called the film "pacy and visually pleasing despite an overload of ideas". Bradshaw concludes: "The movie's apocalyptic finale indicates that it's bitten off considerably more than it can chew in terms of ideas, but it looks good, and the story rattles along."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com says, "The movie... is way too kind, and the drama suffers greatly for it...The film's biggest problem is a matter of tone and characterization: the characters constantly talk about how mean they can be, but their actions suggest otherwise."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Joe Neumaier of the "New York Daily News" gave the film zero stars, and called it "one of the dullest, dumbest, most tedious movies this year. It makes "Battlefield: Earth" and "John Carter" look like "The Godfather" parts 1 and 2. "Dune" is "Lawrence of Arabia" next to this thing."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" wrote: "Not only does "Ender's Game" have many scenes in zero gravity, but this zero-sum fiasco has zero drama, zero suspense, zero humor, zero charm and zero appeal."


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: On February 11, 2014, "Ender's Game" was released on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and PPV, with an early Digital HD window beginning January 28. The DVD includes deleted / extended scenes with optional audio commentary with Director Gavin Hood and audio commentary for the film with Producers Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci. The Blu-ray also includes an 8-part featurette called "Ender's World: The Making of "Ender's Game"" and a featurette called "Inside the Mind Game".


title: Ender's Game (film)

text: In November 2013, cast member Aramis Knight, who played Bean, said a script for "Ender's Shadow" existed, which Hood wanted to film concurrently with "Ender's Game", but there was not enough money. Hood discussed a potential sequel as well, noting the "Children of the Fleet" novel may be more desirable as a follow-up than the next novel in the series, "Speaker for the Dead". Given the first film's unspectacular box office compared to its budget a sequel is considered unlikely, and there is no news of a sequel being in the works.


title: Techno

text: Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.


title: Techno

text: Much of the instrumentation in techno emphasizes the role of rhythm over other musical parameters. Techno tracks mainly progress over manipulation of timbral characteristics of synthesizer presets and, unlike forms of EDM that tend to be produced with synthesizer keyboards, techno does not always strictly adhere to the harmonic practice of Western music and such structures are often ignored in favor of timbral manipulation alone. Another distinguishing feature of techno music and techno aesthetic is the general embracement of creative use of music production technology.


title: Techno

text: Use of the term "techno" to refer to a type of electronic music originated in Germany in the early 1980s. In 1988, following the UK release of the compilation "Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit", the term came to be associated with a form of EDM produced in Detroit. Detroit techno resulted from the melding of synth-pop by artists such as Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Yellow Magic Orchestra with African American styles such as house, electro, and funk. Added to this is the influence of futuristic and science-fiction themes relevant to life in American late capitalist society, with Alvin Toffler's book "The Third Wave" a notable point of reference. The music produced in the mid-to-late 1980s by Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson (collectively known as The Belleville Three), along with Eddie Fowlkes, Blake Baxter, James Pennington and others is viewed as the "first wave" of techno from Detroit.


title: Techno

text: After the success of house music in a number of European countries, techno grew in popularity in the UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In Europe regional variants quickly evolved and by the early 1990s techno subgenres such as acid, hardcore, bleep, ambient, and dub techno had developed. Music journalists and fans of techno are generally selective in their use of the term, so a clear distinction can be made between sometimes related but often qualitatively different styles, such as tech house and trance.


title: Techno

text: In exploring Detroit techno's origins writer Kodwo Eshun maintains that "Kraftwerk are to techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones: the authentic, the origin, the real." Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an early enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, particularly Moroder's work with Donna Summer and the producer's own album "E=MC." Atkins also mentions that "around 1980 I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan, and I'd ride around in my car playing it." Regarding his initial impression of Kraftwerk, Atkins notes that they were "clean and precise" relative to the "weird UFO sounds" featured in his seemingly "psychedelic" music.


title: Techno

text: Derrick May identified the influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that "it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty... everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. It, like, ignited our imagination!". May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition. He also identified Japanese synthpop act Yellow Magic Orchestra, particularly member Ryuichi Sakamoto, and British band Ultravox, as influences, along with Kraftwerk. YMO's song "Technopolis" (1979), a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development of Detroit techno, foreshadowing concepts that Atkins and Davis would later explore with Cybotron.


title: Techno

text: Kevin Saunderson has also acknowledged the influence of Europe but he claims to have been more inspired by the idea of making music with electronic equipment: "I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself."


title: Techno

text: These early Detroit techno artists additionally employed science fiction imagery to articulate their visions of a transformed society.


title: Techno

text: Prior to achieving notoriety, Atkins, Saunderson, May, and Fowlkes shared common interests as budding musicians, "mix" tape traders, and aspiring DJs. They also found musical inspiration via the "Midnight Funk Association," an eclectic five-hour late-night radio program hosted on various Detroit radio stations, including WCHB, WGPR, and WJLB-FM from 1977 through the mid-1980s by DJ Charles "The Electrifying Mojo" Johnson. Mojo's show featured electronic music by artists such as Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Tangerine Dream, alongside the funk sounds of acts such as Parliament Funkadelic and dance oriented new wave music by bands like Devo and the B-52's. Atkins has noted:


title: Techno

text: Despite the short-lived disco boom in Detroit, it had the effect of inspiring many individuals to take up mixing, Juan Atkins among them. Subsequently, Atkins taught May how to mix records, and in 1981, "Magic Juan", Derrick "Mayday", in conjunction with three other DJ's, one of whom was Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes, launched themselves as a party crew called Deep Space Soundworks (also referred to as Deep Space). In 1980 or 1981 they met with Mojo and proposed that they provide mixes for his show, which they did end up doing the following year.


title: Techno

text: During the late 1970s-early 1980s high school clubs such as Brats, Charivari, Ciabattino, Comrades, Gables, Hardwear, Rafael, Rumours, Snobs, and Weekends allowed the young promoters to develop and nurture a local dance music scene. As the local scene grew in popularity, DJs began to band together to market their mixing skills and sound systems to clubs that were hoping to attract larger audiences. Local church activity centers, vacant warehouses, offices, and YMCA auditoriums were the early locations where the musical form was nurtured.


title: Techno

text: Of the four individuals responsible for establishing techno as a genre in its own right, Juan Atkins is widely cited as "The Originator". In 1995, the American music technology publication "Keyboard Magazine" honored him as one of "12 Who Count" in the history of keyboard music.


title: Techno

text: In the early 1980s, Atkins began recording with musical partner Richard Davis (and later with a third member, Jon-5) as Cybotron. This trio released a number of rock and electro-inspired tunes, the most successful of which were "Clear" (1983) and its moodier followup, "Techno City" (1984).


title: Techno

text: Atkins used the term "techno" to describe Cybotron's music, taking inspiration from Futurist author Alvin Toffler, the original source for words such as "cybotron" and "metroplex". Atkins has described earlier synthesizer based acts like Kraftwerk as techno, although many would consider both Kraftwerk's and Juan's Cybotron outputs as electro. Atkins viewed Cybotron's "Cosmic Cars" (1982) as unique, Germanic, synthesized funk, but he later heard Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) and considered it to be a superior example of the music he envisioned. Inspired, he resolved to continue experimenting, and he encouraged Saunderson and May to do likewise.


title: Techno

text: Eventually, Atkins started producing his own music under the pseudonym Model 500, and in 1985 he established the record label Metroplex. The same year saw an important turning point for the Detroit scene with the release of Model 500's "No UFO's," a seminal work that is generally considered the first techno production. Of this time, Atkins has said:


title: Techno

text: The music's producers, especially May and Saunderson, admit to having been fascinated by the Chicago club scene and influenced by house in particular. May's 1987 hit "Strings of Life" (released under the alias Rhythim Is Rhythim) is considered a classic in both the house and techno genres.


title: Techno

text: Juan Atkins also believes that the first acid house producers, seeking to distance house music from disco, emulated the techno sound. Atkins also suggests that the Chicago house sound developed as a result of Frankie Knuckles' using a drum machine he bought from Derrick May. He claims:


title: Techno

text: In the UK, a club following for house music grew steadily from 1985, with interest sustained by scenes in London, Manchester, Nottingham, and later Sheffield and Leeds. The DJs thought to be responsible for house's early UK success include Mike Pickering, Mark Moore, Colin Faver, and Graeme Park.


title: Techno

text: The early producers, enabled by the increasing affordability of sequencers and synthesizers, merged a European synthpop aesthetic with aspects of soul, funk, disco, and electro, pushing EDM into uncharted terrain. They deliberately rejected the Motown legacy and traditional formulas of R&B and soul, and instead embraced technological experimentation.


title: Techno

text: The resulting Detroit sound was interpreted by Derrick May and one journalist in 1988 as a "post-soul" sound with no debt to Motown, but by another journalist a decade later as "soulful grooves" melding the beat-centric styles of Motown with the music technology of the time. May described the sound of techno as something that is "...like Detroit...a complete mistake. It's like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company." Juan Atkins has stated that it is "music that sounds like technology, and not technology that sounds like music, meaning that most of the music you listen to is made with technology, whether you know it or not. But with techno music, you know it."


title: Techno

text: One of the first Detroit productions to receive wider attention was Derrick May's "Strings of Life" (1987), which, together with May's previous release, "Nude Photo" (1987), helped raise techno's profile in Europe, especially the UK and Germany, during the 1987–1988 house music boom (see Second Summer of Love). It became May's best known track, which, according to Frankie Knuckles, "just exploded. It was like something you can't imagine, the kind of power and energy people got off that record when it was first heard. Mike Dunn says he has no idea how people can accept a record that doesn't have a bassline."


title: Techno

text: By 1988, house music had exploded in the UK, and acid house was increasingly popular. There was also a long-established warehouse party subculture based around the sound system scene. In 1988, the music played at warehouse parties was predominantly house. That same year, the Balearic party vibe associated with Ibiza-based DJ Alfredo Fiorito was transported to London, when Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold opened the clubs Shoom and Spectrum, respectively. Both night spots quickly became synonymous with acid house, and it was during this period that the use of MDMA, as a party drug, started to gain prominence. Other important UK clubs at this time included Back to Basics in Leeds, Sheffield's Leadmill and Music Factory, and in Manchester The Haçienda, where Mike Pickering and Graeme Park's Friday night spot, Nude, was an important proving ground for American underground dance music. Acid house party fever escalated in London and Manchester, and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. MDMA-fueled club goers, faced with 2 A.M. closing hours, sought refuge in the warehouse party scene that ran all night. To escape the attention of the press and the authorities, this after-hours activity quickly went underground. Within a year, however, up to 10,000 people at a time were attending the first commercially organized mass parties, called "raves", and a media storm ensued.


title: Techno

text: The success of house and acid house paved the way for wider acceptance of the Detroit sound, and vice versa: techno was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with London clubs catching up later; but in 1987, it was "Strings of Life" which eased London club-goers into acceptance of house, according to DJ Mark Moore.


title: Techno

text: The mid-1988 UK release of "Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit", an album compiled by ex-Northern Soul DJ and Kool Kat Records boss Neil Rushton (at the time an A&R scout for Virgin's "10 Records" imprint) and Derrick May, introduced of the word "techno" to UK audiences. Although the compilation put "techno" into the lexicon of music journalism in the UK, the music was initially viewed as Detroit's interpretation of Chicago house rather than as a separate genre. The compilation's working title had been "The House Sound of Detroit" until the addition of Atkins' song "Techno Music" prompted reconsideration. Rushton was later quoted as saying he, Atkins, May, and Saunderson came up with the compilation's final name together, and that the Belleville Three voted down calling the music some kind of regional brand of house; they instead favored a term they were already using, "techno".


title: Techno

text: Commercially, the release did not fare as well and failed to recoup, but Inner City's production "Big Fun" (1988), a track that was almost not included on the compilation, became a crossover hit in fall 1988. The record was also responsible for bringing industry attention to May, Atkins and Saunderson, which led to discussions with ZTT records about forming a techno supergroup called "Intellex." But, when the group were on the verge of finalising their contract, May allegedly refused to agree to Top of the Pops appearances and negotiations collapsed. According to May, ZTT label boss Trevor Horn had envisaged that the trio would be marketed as a "black Petshop Boys."


title: Techno

text: Despite Virgin Records' disappointment with the poor sales of Rushton's compilation, the record was successful in establishing an identity for techno and was instrumental in creating a platform in Europe for both the music and its producers. Ultimately, the release served to distinguish the Detroit sound from Chicago house and other forms of underground dance music that were emerging during the rave era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period during which techno became more adventurous and distinct.


title: Techno

text: In mid-1988, developments in the Detroit scene led to the opening of a nightclub called the Music Institute (MI), located at 1315 Broadway in downtown Detroit. The venue was secured by George Baker and Alton Miller with Darryl Wynn and Derrick May participating as Friday night DJs, and Baker and Chez Damier playing to a mostly gay crowd on Saturday nights.


title: Techno

text: The club closed on 24 November 1989, with Derrick May playing "Strings of Life" along with a recording of clock tower bells. May explains:


title: Techno

text: Though short-lived, MI was known internationally for its all-night sets, its sparse white rooms, and its juice bar stocked with "smart drinks" (the Institute never served liquor). The MI, notes Dan Sicko, along with Detroit's early techno pioneers, "helped give life to one of the city's important musical subcultures – one that was slowly growing into an international scene."


title: Techno

text: In 1982, while working at Frankfurt's City Music record store, DJ started to use the term "techno" to categorize artists such as New Order, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Heaven 17 and Front 242, with the word used as shorthand for technologically created dance music. Talla's categorization became a point of reference for other DJs, including Sven Väth. Talla further popularized the term in Germany when he founded at Frankfurt's No Name Club in 1984, which later moved to the Dorian Gray club in 1987. Talla's club spot served as the hub for the regional EBM and electronic music scene, and according to , of magazine, it had historical merit in being the first club in Germany to play almost exclusively EDM.


title: Techno

text: Inspired by Talla's music selection, in the early 80s several young artists from Frankfurt started to experiment on cassette tapes with electronic music coming from the City Music record store, mixing the latest catalogue with additional electronic sounds and pitched BPM. This became known as the Frankfurt tape scene.


title: Techno

text: The Frankfurt tape scene evolved around the early and experimental work done by the likes of Tobias Freund, Uwe Schmidt, Lars Müller and Martin Schopf. Some of the work done by Andreas Tomalla, Markus Nikolai and Thomas Franzmann evolved in collaborative work under the Bigod 20 collective. While this early work was strongly characterized as experimental electronic music fused with strong EBM, krautrock, synthpop and technopop influences, the later work during the mid and late 80's clearly transitioned to a clear techno sound.


title: Techno

text: By 1987 a German party scene based around the Chicago sound was well established. In the late 1980s, acid house also established itself in Germany as a new trend in clubs and discotheques. In 1988, the "Ufo" opened in Berlin, an illegal venue for acid house parties, which existed until 1990. In Munich at this time, the "Negerhalle" (1983–1989) and the "ETA-Halle" established themselves as the first acid house clubs in temporarily used, dilapidated industrial halls, marking the beginning of the so-called "hall culture" in Germany.


title: Techno

text: In 1989 Dr. Motte and Danielle de Picciotto organized the first Love Parade. Following German reunification and the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, free underground techno parties mushroomed in East Berlin. East German DJ Paul van Dyk has remarked that techno was a major force in reestablishing social connections between East and West Germany during the unification period.


title: Techno

text: In 1991, a number of party venues in Berlin closed, and the city's techno scene centered itself around three locations close to the foundations of the Berlin Wall: "Planet" (1991–1993), "E-Werk" (1993–1997), "Bunker" (1992–1996), and "Tresor" (est. 1991). It was in Tresor at this time that a trend in paramilitary clothing was established (amongst the techno fraternity) by DJ Tanith; possibly as an expression of a commitment to the underground aesthetic of the music, or perhaps influenced by UR's paramilitary posturing. In the same period, German DJs began intensifying the speed and abrasiveness of the sound, as an acid infused techno began transmuting into hardcore. DJ Tanith commented at the time that "Berlin was always hardcore, hardcore hippie, hardcore punk, and now we have a very hardcore house sound." This emerging sound is thought to have been influenced by Dutch gabber and Belgian hardcore; styles that were in their own perverse way paying homage to Underground Resistance and Richie Hawtin's Plus 8 Records. Other influences on the development of this style were European electronic body music (EBM) groups of the mid-1980s such as DAF, Front 242, and Nitzer Ebb.


title: Techno

text: Changes were also taking place in Frankfurt during the same period but it did not share the egalitarian approach found in the Berlin party scene. It was instead very much centered around discothèques and existing arrangements with various club owners. In 1988, after the "" opened, the Frankfurt dance music scene was allegedly dominated by the club's management and they made it difficult for other promoters to get a start. By the early 1990s Sven Väth had become perhaps the first DJ in Germany to be worshipped like a rock star. He performed center stage with his fans facing him, and as co-owner of Omen, he is believed to have been the first techno DJ to run his own club. One of the few real alternatives then was The Bruckenkopf in Mainz, underneath a Rhine bridge, a venue that offered a non-commercial alternative to Frankfurt's discothèque-based clubs. Other notable underground parties were those run by and & from Playhouse records (). By 1992 & were running a Sunday morning session at Dorian Gray, a plush discothèque near the Frankfurt airport. They initially played a mix of different styles including Belgian new beat, Deep House, Chicago House, and synthpop such as Kraftwerk and Yello and it was out of this blend of styles that the Frankfurt trance scene is believed to have emerged.


title: Techno

text: In 1990, the "Babalu Club", the first afterhours techno club in Germany, opened in Munich and was a place for the formation of the southern German techno scene, where protagonists such as DJ Hell, Monika Kruse, Tom Novy or came together.


title: Techno

text: In 1993-94 rave became a mainstream music phenomenon in Germany, seeing with it a return to "melody, New Age elements, insistently kitsch harmonies and timbres". This undermining of the German underground sound lead to the consolidation of a German "rave establishment," spearheaded by the party organisation "Mayday", with its record label Low Spirit, WestBam, Marusha, and a music channel called VIVA. At this time the German popular music charts were riddled with Low Spirit "pop-Tekno" German folk music reinterpretations of tunes such as "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and "Tears Don't Lie", many of which became hits. At the same time, in Frankfurt, a supposed alternative was a music characterized by Simon Reynolds as "moribund, middlebrow Electro-Trance music, as represented by Frankfurt's own Sven Väth and his Harthouse label." Illegal raves, however, regained importance in the German techno scene as a countermovement to the commercial mass raves in the mid-1990s.


title: Techno

text: In Germany, fans started to refer to the harder techno sound emerging in the early 1990s as "" (or "Brett"). This alternative spelling, with varying numbers of "k"s, began as a tongue-in-cheek attempt to emphasize the music's hardness, but by the mid-1990s it came to be associated with a controversial point of view that the music was and perhaps always had been wholly separate from Detroit's "techno", deriving instead from a 1980s EBM-oriented club scene cultivated in part by DJ/musician Talla 2XLC in Frankfurt.


title: Techno

text: At some point tension over "who defines techno" arose between scenes in Frankfurt and Berlin. DJ Tanith has expressed that Techno as a term already existed in Germany but was to a large extent undefined. has stated that the Frankfurt definition of techno associated with Talla's Technoclub differed from that used in Berlin. Frankfurt's Armin Johnert viewed techno as having its roots in acts such DAF, Cabaret Voltaire, and Suicide, but a younger generation of club goers had a perception of the older EBM and Industrial as handed down and outdated. The Berlin scene offered an alternative and many began embracing an imported sound that was being referred to as "Techno-House." The move away from EBM had started in Berlin when acid house became popular, thanks to Monika Dietl's radio show on . Tanith distinguished acid-based dance music from the earlier approaches, whether it be DAF or Nitzer Ebb, because the latter was aggressive, he felt that it epitomized "being against something," but of acid house he said, "it's electronic, it's fun it's nice." By Spring 1990, Tanith, along with , an East-Berlin party organizer responsible for the X-tasy Dance Project, were organizing the first large scale rave events in Germany. This development would lead to a permanent move away from the sound associated with Techno-House and toward a hard edged mix of music that came to define Tanith and Wolle's parties. According to Wolle it was an "out and out rejection of disco values," instead they created a "sound storm" and encouraged a form of "dance floor socialism," where the DJ was not placed in the middle and you "lose yourself in light and sound."


title: Techno

text: As the techno sound evolved in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it also diverged to such an extent that a wide spectrum of stylistically distinct music was being referred to as techno. This ranged from relatively pop oriented acts such as Moby to the distinctly anti-commercial sentiments of Underground Resistance. Derrick May's experimentation on works such as "Beyond the Dance" (1989) and "The Beginning" (1990) were credited with taking techno "in dozens of new directions at once and having the kind of expansive impact John Coltrane had on Jazz". The Birmingham-based label Network Records label was instrumental in introducing Detroit techno to British audiences. By the early 1990s, the original techno sound had garnered a large underground following in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The growth of techno's popularity in Europe between 1988 and 1992 was largely due to the emergence of the rave scene and a thriving club culture.


title: Techno

text: In the United States during the early 90s, apart from regional scenes in Detroit, New York City, Chicago and Orlando, interest in techno was limited. Many Detroit based producers, frustrated by the lack of opportunity in the US, looked to Europe for a future livelihood. This first wave of Detroit expatriates was soon joined by a so-called "second wave" that included Carl Craig, Octave One, Jay Denham, Kenny Larkin, Stacey Pullen, and UR's Jeff Mills, Mike Banks, and Robert Hood. In the same period, close to Detroit (Windsor, Ontario), Richie Hawtin, with business partner John Acquaviva, launched the techno imprint Plus 8 Records. A number of New York producers also made an impression in Europe at this time, most notably Frankie Bones, Lenny Dee, and Joey Beltram .


title: Techno

text: These developments in American-produced techno between 1990 and 1992 fueled the expansion and eventual divergence of techno in Europe, particularly in Germany. In Berlin, the club Tresor which had opened in 1991 for a time was the standard bearer for techno and played host to many of the leading Detroit producers, some of whom had relocated to Berlin. The club brought new life to the careers of Detroit artists such as Santonio Echols, Eddie Fowlkes and Blake Baxter, who played there alongside established Berlin DJs such as Dr. Motte and Tanith. According to Dan Sicko, "Germany's growing scene in the early 1990s was the beginning of techno's decentralization", and "techno began to create its second logical center in Berlin". The city also regained its place as the musical capital of Germany.


title: Techno

text: Although eclipsed by Germany, Belgium was another focus of second-wave techno in this time period. The Ghent-based label R&S Records embraced harder-edged techno by "teenage prodigies" like Beltram and C.J. Bolland, releasing "tough, metallic tracks...with harsh, discordant synth lines that sounded like distressed Hoovers," according to one music journalist.


title: Techno

text: In the United Kingdom, Sub Club which opened in Glasgow in 1987, and Trade which opened its doors to Londoners in 1990, were venues which helped bring techno into the country. Trade has been referred to as the 'original all night bender'.


title: Techno

text: In 1993, the German techno label Tresor Records released the compilation album "Tresor II: Berlin & Detroit – A Techno Alliance", a testament to the influence of the Detroit sound upon the German techno scene and a celebration of a "mutual admiration pact" between the two cities. As the mid-1990s approached, Berlin was becoming a haven for Detroit producers; Jeff Mills and Blake Baxter even resided there for a time. In the same period, with the assistance of Tresor, Underground Resistance released their X-101/X-102/X103 album series, Juan Atkins collaborated with 3MB's Thomas Fehlmann and Moritz Von Oswald and Tresor-affiliated label Basic Channel had its releases mastered by Detroit's National Sound Corporation, the main mastering house for the entire Detroit dance music scene. In a sense, popular electronic music had come full circle, returning to Germany, home of a primary influence on the EDM of the 1980s: Düsseldorf's Kraftwerk. The dance sounds of Chicago and Detroit also had another German connection, as it was in Munich that Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte first produced the synthesizer-generated Eurodisco sound, including the seminal four-on-the-floor track "I Feel Love".


title: Techno

text: As techno continued to transmute a number of Detroit producers began to question the trajectory the music was taking. One response came in the form of so-called minimal techno (a term producer Daniel Bell found difficult to accept, finding the term "minimalism", in the artistic sense of the word, too "arty"). It is thought that Robert Hood, a Detroit-based producer and one time member of UR, is largely responsible for ushering in the minimal strain of techno. Hood describes the situation in the early 1990s as one where techno had become too "ravey", with increasing tempos, the emergence of gabber, and related trends straying far from the social commentary and soul-infused sound of original Detroit techno. In response, Hood and others sought to emphasize a single element of the Detroit aesthetic, interpreting techno with "a basic stripped down, raw sound. Just drums, basslines and funky grooves and only what's essential. Only what is essential to make people move". Hood explains:


title: Techno

text: Some techno has also been influenced by or directly infused with elements of jazz. This led to increased sophistication in the use of both rhythm and harmony in a number of techno productions. Manchester (UK)-based techno act 808 State helped fuel this development with tracks such as "Pacific State" and "Cobra Bora" in 1989. Detroit producer Mike Banks was heavily influenced by jazz, as demonstrated on the influential Underground Resistance release "Nation 2 Nation" (1991). By 1993, Detroit acts such as Model 500 and UR had made explicit references to the genre, with the tracks "Jazz Is The Teacher" (1993) and "Hi-Tech Jazz" (1993), the latter being part of a larger body of work and group called Galaxy 2 Galaxy, a self-described jazz project based on Kraftwerk's "man machine" doctrine. This lead was followed by a number of techno producers in the UK who were influenced by both jazz and UR, Dave Angel's "Seas of Tranquility" EP (1994) being a case in point, Other notable artists who set about expanding upon the structure of "classic techno" include Dan Curtin, Morgan Geist, Titonton Duvante and Ian O'Brien.


title: Techno

text: In 1991 UK music journalist Matthew Collin wrote that "Europe may have the scene and the energy, but it's America which supplies the ideological direction...if Belgian techno gives us riffs, German techno the noise, British techno the breakbeats, then Detroit supplies the sheer cerebral depth." By 1992 a number of European producers and labels began to associate rave culture with the corruption and commercialization of the original techno ideal. Following this the notion of an "intelligent" or Detroit inspired "pure techno" aesthetic began to take hold. Detroit techno had maintained its integrity throughout the rave era and was pushing a new generation of so-called "intelligent techno" producers forward. Simon Reynolds suggests that this progression "involved a full-scale retreat from the most radically posthuman and hedonistically functional aspects of rave music toward more traditional ideas about creativity, namely the auteur theory of the solitary genius who humanizes technology."


title: Techno

text: The term "intelligent techno" was used to differentiate more sophisticated versions of underground techno from rave-oriented styles such as breakbeat hardcore, Schranz, Dutch Gabber. Warp Records was among the first to capitalize upon this development with the release of the compilation album "Artificial Intelligence" Of this time, Warp founder and managing director Steve Beckett said


title: Techno

text: Warp had originally marketed "Artificial Intelligence" using the description "electronic listening music" but this was quickly replaced by "intelligent techno". In the same period (1992–93) other names were also bandied about such as armchair techno, ambient techno, and electronica, but all referred to an emerging form of "post-rave" dance music for the "sedentary and stay at home". Following the commercial success of the compilation in the United States, "Intelligent Dance Music" eventually became the name most commonly used for much of the experimental dance music emerging during the mid-to-late 1990s.


title: Techno

text: Although it is primarily Warp that has been credited with ushering the commercial growth of IDM and electronica, in the early 1990s there were many notable labels associated with the initial "intelligence" trend that received little, if any, wider attention. Amongst others they include: Black Dog Productions (1989), Carl Craig's Planet E (1991), Kirk Degiorgio's Applied Rhythmic Technology (1991), Eevo Lute Muzique (1991), General Production Recordings (1991), In 1993, a number of new "intelligent techno"/"electronica" record labels emerged, including New Electronica, Mille Plateaux, 100% Pure (1993) and Ferox Records (1993).


title: Techno

text: In the early 1990s a post-rave, DIY, free party scene had established itself in the UK. It was largely based around an alliance between warehouse party goers from various urban squat scenes and politically inspired new age travellers. The new agers offered a readymade network of countryside festivals that were hastily adopted by squatters and ravers alike. Prominent among the sound systems operating at this time were Exodus in Luton, Tonka in Brighton, Smokescreen in Sheffield, DiY in Nottingham, Bedlam, Circus Warp, LSDiesel and London's Spiral Tribe. The high point of this free party period came in May 1992 when with less than 24 hours notice and little publicity more than 35,000 gathered at the Castlemorton Common Festival for 5 days of partying.


title: Techno

text: This one event was largely responsible for the introduction in 1994 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act; effectively leaving the British free party scene for dead. Following this many of the traveller artists moved away from Britain to Europe, the US, Goa in India, Koh Phangan in Thailand and Australia's East Coast. In the rest of Europe, due in some part to the inspiration of traveling sound systems from the UK, rave enjoyed a prolonged existence as it continued to expand across the continent.