title: Wayne Gretzky

text: On May 5, 2009, the Coyotes' holding company, Dewey Ranch Hockey LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. An ownership dispute involving Research in Motion's Jim Balsillie (with the intention of relocating the team to Hamilton, Ontario) and the NHL itself arose, which eventually ended up in court. Gretzky did not attend the Coyotes' training camp, leaving associate head coach Ulf Samuelsson in charge, due to an uncertain contractual status with the club, whose bankruptcy hearings were continuing. Bidders for the club had indicated that Gretzky would no longer be associated with the team after it emerged from bankruptcy, and on September 24, 2009, Gretzky stepped down as head coach and head of hockey operations of the Coyotes. Gretzky's final head coaching record was 143–161–24.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky was executive director of the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. On February 18, he lashed out at the media at a press conference, frustrated with media and fan comments regarding his team's uninspiring 1–1–1 start. His temper boiled over after Canada's 3–3 draw versus the Czech Republic, as he launched a tirade against the perceived negative reputation of Team Canada amongst other national squads, and called rumours of dissent in the dressing room the result of "American propaganda". "They're loving us not doing well", he said, referring to American hockey fans. American fans online began calling Gretzky a "crybaby"; defenders said he was merely borrowing a page from former coach Glen Sather to take the pressure off his players. Gretzky addressed those comments by saying he spoke out to protect the Canadian players, and the tirade was not "staged". The Canadian team won the gold medal, its first in 50 years.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky again acted as executive director of Canada's men's hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, though not with the success of 2002; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals and failed to win a medal. He was asked to manage Canada's team at the 2005 Ice Hockey World Championships, but declined due to his mother's poor health.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky served as an ambassador to Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and was named Special Advisor to Canada's men's hockey team at the Games. During the Games' opening ceremony, Gretzky, basketball player Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene, and speed skater Catriona Le May Doan jointly lit the Olympic cauldron inside the ceremony venue of BC Place. Due to BC Place being an indoor stadium, and Olympic protocols stating that the lighting of the cauldron should be visible to the public, Gretzky was then escorted out of the stadium to light a second, outdoor cauldron outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, making him the "de facto" final torchbearer.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Although Gretzky had previously stated he would not participate in any "old-timers exhibition games", on November 22, 2003, he took to the ice to help celebrate the Edmonton Oilers' 25th anniversary as an NHL team. The Heritage Classic, held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, was the first regular season NHL game to be played outdoors. It was preceded by the Mega Stars game, which featured Gretzky and many of his Oiler Dynasty teammates against a group of retired Montreal Canadiens players (whose likes included Claude Lemieux, Guy Lafleur and others). Despite frigid temperatures, the crowd numbered 57,167, with an additional several million watching the game on television.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: The Edmonton alumni won the Megastars game 2–0, while Montreal went on to win the regular season game held later that day, 4–3.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Thirteen years later, on December 31, 2016, Gretzky participated in the Winter Classic Alumni Game, which was held between teams of former Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues players two days before the 2017 Winter Classic. Gretzky represented the Blues in the game, which his team won 8–7.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: In October 2016, Gretzky returned to the Oilers as a partner and vice-chairman of the team's parent company, Oilers Entertainment Group, to work closely with owner Daryl Katz and Oilers Entertainment Group CEO Bob Nicholson on the business side of the Oilers' operation.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: On May 25, 2021, Gretzky announced that he would step down from his role with the Oilers, stating that "The Oilers, their fans, and the city of Edmonton have meant the world to me and my family for over four decades—and that will never end. Given the pandemic and other life changes, I realize I will not be able to dedicate the time nor effort needed to support this world-class organization." It was subsequently reported by various outlets that Gretzky had signed with new U.S. NHL rightsholder Turner Sports to become an analyst. He serves as a studio analyst for NHL broadcasts on TNT and TBS.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky has made several TV appearances, including as a "Dance Fever" celebrity judge, and acted in a dramatic role alongside Victor Newman in "The Young and the Restless" in 1981. In 1984, he travelled to the Soviet Union to film a television program on Russian goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. Gretzky was a guest host of the American late night variety show "Saturday Night Live" in 1989. A fictional crime-fighting version of him served as one of the main characters in the cartoon "ProStars" in 1991. In December 2016, Gretzky appeared briefly in a cameo on a Christmas episode of "The Simpsons" as a winter character.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky is a dual citizen of both Canada and the United States, having become a naturalized citizen of the latter.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: While serving as a judge on "Dance Fever", Gretzky met actress Janet Jones. According to Gretzky, Jones does not recall his being on the show. They met regularly after that, but did not become a couple until 1987 when they ran into each other at a Los Angeles Lakers game that Gretzky and Alan Thicke were attending. Gretzky proposed in January 1988, and they were married on July 16, 1988, in a lavish ceremony the Canadian press dubbed "The Royal Wedding". Broadcast live throughout Canada from Edmonton's St. Joseph's Basilica, members of the Fire Department acted as ceremonial guards. The event reportedly cost Gretzky over US$1 million.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: The couple have five children: Paulina, Ty, Trevor, Tristan, and Emma. Paulina and golfer Dustin Johnson announced their engagement on August 18, 2013. Ty played hockey at Shattuck-Saint Mary's, but quit the sport, and attended Arizona State University. Trevor is a former minor league baseball player.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Wayne Gretzky's uncle, Al Gretzky, ran as a Conservative candidate in London West in the 2006 federal election and for the libertarian Freedom Party of Ontario in the 2013 provincial by-election for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He was unsuccessful both times.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky owned or partnered in the ownership of two sports teams before becoming a partner in the Phoenix Coyotes. In 1985, Gretzky bought the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for C$175,000. During his ownership, the team's colours were changed to silver and black, presaging the change in team jersey colours when he played for the Los Angeles Kings. For the first season that Gretzky played in Los Angeles, the Kings had their training camp at the Olympiques' arena. Gretzky eventually sold the team in 1992 for C$550,000.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: In 1991, McNall purchased the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) with Gretzky and John Candy as minority owners. The club won the Grey Cup championship in the first year of the partnership, but struggled in the two following seasons, and the partnership sold the team before the 1994 season. Only McNall's name was engraved on the Grey Cup as team owner, but in November 2007, the CFL corrected the oversight, adding Gretzky's and Candy's names. In 1992, Gretzky and McNall partnered in an investment to buy a rare Honus Wagner T206 cigarette card for US$451,000, later selling the card. It most recently sold for US$2.8 million. The pair also owned Thoroughbred race horses; one of them, Saumarez, won France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1990. Gretzky was a board member and executive officer of the Hespeler Hockey Company.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky's appeal as a product endorser far surpassed that of other hockey players of his era. By 1995, he was among the five highest-paid athlete endorsers in North America, with deals from The Coca-Cola Company, Domino's Pizza, Sharp Corporation, and Upper Deck Company among others. "Forbes" estimates that Gretzky made US$93.8 million from 1990 to 1998. He has endorsed and launched a wide variety of products, from pillow cases to insurance. Gretzky is a partner in First Team Sports, a maker of sports equipment and Worldwide Roller Hockey, Inc., an operator of roller hockey rinks. The video game brand EA Sports included Gretzky in its 2010 title "NHL Slapshot", and he had previously been an endorser for the 989 Sports games "Gretzky NHL 2005" and "Gretzky NHL 2006". Gretzky also made an appearance on the music video for Nickelback's "Rockstar".


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: In 2017 as part-owner with Andrew Peller Ltd., Gretzky opened a winery and distillery bearing the name of "Wayne Gretzky Estates" in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and with products labelled by the trademark, "No. 99". From 1993 to 2020, Gretzky and a business partner operated the "Wayne Gretzky's" restaurant near the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. Gretzky has other restaurants opened in 2016 at the Edmonton International Airport and named "No. 99 Gretzky's Wine & Whisky", and in 2018 called "Studio 99" at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky has written several books, including "Gretzky: An Autobiography" (1990), with Rick Reilly, and "99: My Life in Pictures" (1999), with John Davidson and Dan Diamond. His most recent work, "99: Stories of the Game" (2016), with Kirstie McLellan Day, was an in-depth look at the history of hockey. It was the best-selling Canadian book of 2016.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: In 2003, while not criticizing Canada for declining to participate in the invasion of Iraq, Gretzky praised President of the United States, George W. Bush, and his handling of the conflict, saying: "the President of the United States is a great leader, I happen to think he's a wonderful man and if he believes what he's doing is right, I back him 100 per cent."


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: During the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign, Gretzky endorsed the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and was featured at a campaign rally praising Harper by calling him "wonderful to the country." As a non-resident, Gretzky came under some criticism for this endorsement. In 2014, Gretzky praised Harper at a United for Ukraine Gala event in Toronto calling him "one of the greatest prime ministers ever". Earlier in 2015, Gretzky endorsed Patrick Brown during his successful campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: Gretzky's career achievements include many awards and honours. He won a record nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player in the NHL. Between 1981 and 1994, he won the Art Ross Trophy, presented to the NHL's season points leader, 10 times. Gretzky was named the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1985 and 1988, receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy. In addition, he earned the Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award) on five occasions; the award is given to the NHL's "most outstanding player", as determined by National Hockey League Players' Association members. The Lady Byng Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship and performance, was presented to Gretzky five times between 1980 and 1999.


title: Wayne Gretzky

text: A number of awards and trophies have been created under his name. The Wayne Gretzky International Award is presented by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame to honour international individuals who have made major contributions to the growth and advancement of hockey in the United States. The Wayne Gretzky 99 Award is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. The Wayne Gretzky Trophy is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the OHL's Western Conference. The Edmonton Minor Hockey Association also has an award named for Gretzky.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Alice Suki Waterhouse (born 5 January 1992) is an English model, actress and singer. She began a career in modelling at the age of 16, and she would go on to model for several major fashion labels. Her first feature film as an actress was a minor role in "Pusher" in 2012, and she has since appeared in films such as "", "The Bad Batch", and "Assassination Nation". In 2016, she co-founded the accessories brand Pop & Suki with Poppy Jamie and Leo Seigal.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Waterhouse was born in Hammersmith, London, and was raised in Chiswick, London, the daughter of Elizabeth, a cancer care nurse, and Norman Waterhouse, a plastic surgeon. She has a brother named Charlie, and two younger sisters, Madeleine, a model, and Imogen, a model and actress.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Waterhouse began her modelling career after being discovered in "either a Topshop or H&M" in London when she was 16. When she was 19, she became a lingerie model for Marks and Spencer.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: She works for Burberry and Redken. Waterhouse has also modelled for Tommy Hilfiger Swatch, Lucy in Disguise, H&M, Alice + Olivia, Sass & bide and Pepe Jeans.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Waterhouse has appeared on the covers of British, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese and Turkish "Vogue", "Tatler", British and Korean "Elle", "Lucky", "L'Officiel", American "Marie Claire", French "Grazia" and "1883 Magazine". Waterhouse has also shot editorials for American, Chinese, Russian and Japanese "Vogue", "Love Magazine", American "Elle", "Velour", and "Stylist Magazine" among others. Waterhouse has also walked the runway for brands including Burberry, Alexander Wang and Balenciaga and is a regular on the front row at fashion week.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Waterhouse has shown her photography work at the Eb and Flow gallery in London along with Reggie Yates and Imogen Morris Clarke in an exhibition presented by Next Model Management called 'I'll Be Your Mirror'. In February 2014, she posed completely nude for Dominic Jones Jewellery's autumn/winter campaign at London Fashion Week.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: In 2014, Waterhouse played Bethany Williams in the romantic comedy "Love, Rosie". She also played Marlene in the Divergent sequel "" (2015), based on the book of the same name. Waterhouse played Arlen in Ana Lily Amirpour's romance thriller film "The Bad Batch" (2016). In June 2016, it was announced that Waterhouse would play Cecily of York in the Starz miniseries adaptation of the novel "The White Princess" by Philippa Gregory. In September 2016, it was announced that Waterhouse would star opposite Ansel Elgort in the film "Jonathan". She has also played "The Girl" in the 2017 drama film "The Girl Who Invented Kissing", written and directed by Tom Sierchio, and Quintana in "Billionaire Boys Club" (2018).


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: In September 2016, Waterhouse announced the launch of Pop & Suki, a direct-to-consumer Millennial-targeted accessories brand that she co-founded with her best friend Poppy Jamie and CEO Leo Seigal. The focus of the brand is on customization and versatility, and Pop & Suki has since been featured in "Vogue", "Harper's Bazaar", "W" and "Elle".


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Celebrities that have worn the brand include Jessica Alba, Lady Gaga, Cara Delevingne, Emily Ratajkowski, Lena Dunham and Taylor Hill. The brand's signature customizable Camera Bag was referred to by Who What Wear as "The Bag Every It Girl Owns". The brand designed suitcases for Away.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: For Pop & Suki's launch, the brand took over Mel's Drive-In in Hollywood and converted it into a pop-up pink-themed Pop & Suki Diner.


title: Suki Waterhouse

text: Waterhouse dated musician Miles Kane from 2011 until 2013, actor Bradley Cooper from 2013 until 2015, and actor Diego Luna from 2016 until 2017. She has been in a relationship with actor Robert Pattinson since mid-2018. They reside in London.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt (born December 13, 1989) is an American author. She has written three self-help books, on subjects like self-image, forgiveness and finding direction after college; she has also written a children’s book about adopting her dog. Schwarzenegger is the eldest child of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. She is married to actor Chris Pratt, with whom she has two daughters.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: Schwarzenegger is the eldest child of Austrian-born actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist and author Maria Shriver. She is of Irish and German descent through her maternal grandparents Eunice and Sargent Shriver. Her grandmother was a younger sister to President John F. Kennedy while her grandfather was a U.S. Ambassador to France and the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 1972 election.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: She has a younger sister and two younger brothers, including Patrick. She also has a half-brother through her father.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: In 2010, Schwarzenegger wrote a book entitled "Rock What You've Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who's Been There and Back". In it, Schwarzenegger describes her personal journey and encourages other young women to achieve confidence and a positive self-image. She had body image issues between fourth and seventh grade, but now controls her physical and mental health with walking exercises and yoga.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: After graduating from the University of Southern California in 2012 she was unsure of her next steps. Schwarzenegger sought career advice from a variety of people, including athletes, singers, entrepreneurs and actors. She compiled their wisdom into her second book— "I Just Graduated . . . Now What?—"which was released in 2014 as a "survival guide" for recent college grads.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: In 2017, Schwarzenegger authored a children's book, "Maverick and Me". The book tells the story of her rescue and subsequent adoption of her dog, Maverick. Using her own experience as a "foster fail" (when a foster home turns into a "furever" home), the book touts the benefits of pet adoption and rescue. In 2019, she partnered up with Pedigree to host a limited-series podcast discussing the importance of adopting dogs.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: "The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable" is Schwarzenegger's latest book, which is a compilation of stories of forgiveness. The book features the stories of 22 people including Elizabeth Smart and Tanya Brown (sister of Nicole Brown-Simpson).


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: Schwarzenegger is an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ambassador and supports the Best Friends Animal Society.


title: Katherine Schwarzenegger

text: Schwarzenegger started dating actor Chris Pratt in 2018. They announced their engagement in January and married in June 2019. They have two daughters, one born in August 2020 and the other in May 2022.


title: Pokémon

text: The franchise began as "Pocket Monsters: Red" and "Green" (later released outside of Japan as "Pokémon Red" and "Blue"), a pair of video games for the original Game Boy handheld system that were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. "Pokémon" soon became a media mix franchise adapted into various different media. "Pokémon" is one of the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. The "Pokémon" video game series is the third best-selling video game franchise of all time with more than copies sold and onebillion mobile downloads. The Pokémon video game series spawned an anime television series that has become the most successful video game adaptation of all time with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 192 countries. The Pokémon Trading Card Game is the highest-selling trading card game of all time with over 43.2billion cards sold. In addition, the "Pokémon" franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand, an anime film series, a live-action film ("Detective Pikachu"), books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a temporary theme park. The franchise is also represented in other Nintendo media, such as the "Super Smash Bros." series, where various "Pokémon" characters are playable.


title: Pokémon

text: In 1998, Nintendo spent $25 million promoting Pokémon in the United States in partnership with Hasbro, KFC, and others. Nintendo initially feared that Pokémon was too Japanese for Western tastes but Alfred Kahn, then CEO of 4Kids Entertainment convinced the company otherwise. The one who spotted Pokémon's potential in the United States was Kahn's colleague Thomas Kenney.


title: Pokémon

text: In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of "Pokémon", announced that it had agreed not to renew the "Pokémon" representation agreement. The Pokémon Company International oversees all "Pokémon" licensing outside Asia. In 2006, the franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary and release Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. In 2016, the Pokémon Company celebrated "Pokémon"s 20th anniversary by airing an ad during Super Bowl 50 in January and re-releasing the first "Pokémon" video games 1996 Game Boy games "Pokémon Red, Green" (only in Japan), and "Blue," and the 1998 Game Boy Color game "Pokémon Yellow" for the Nintendo 3DS on February 26, 2016. The mobile augmented reality game "Pokémon Go" was released in July 2016. Pokémon Sun and Moon also released in the same year. The first live-action film in the franchise, "Pokémon Detective Pikachu", based on the 2018 Nintendo 3DS spin-off game "Detective Pikachu", was released in 2019. The eighth generation of core series games began with "Pokémon Sword and Shield", released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.


title: Pokémon

text: To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the company released two additional titles for the Nintendo Switch: "Pokémon Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl", remakes of the Nintendo DS "Pokémon Diamond" and "Pearl" games, on November 19, 2021, and its "premake" "", which was subsequently released on January 28, 2022.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon Scarlet" and "Violet" began the ninth generation of the game series when they released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on November 18, 2022.


title: Pokémon

text: The name "Pokémon" is a syllabic abbreviation of the Japanese brand "Pocket Monsters". The term "Pokémon", in addition to referring to the "Pokémon" franchise itself, also collectively refers to the many fictional species that have made appearances in "Pokémon" media. "Pokémon" is identical in the singular and plural, as is each individual species name; it is and would be grammatically correct to say "one Pokémon" and "many Pokémon", as well as "one Pikachu" and "many Pikachu".


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon" executive director Satoshi Tajiri first thought of "Pokémon", albeit with a different concept and name, around 1989, when the Game Boy was released. The concept of the Pokémon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional world of "Pokémon", stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Tajiri enjoyed as a child. Players are designated as Pokémon Trainers and have three general goals: to complete the regional Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where a game takes place, to complete the national Pokédex by transferring Pokémon from other regions, and to train a team of powerful Pokémon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers so they may eventually win the Pokémon League and become the regional Champion. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Pokémon franchise, including the video games, the anime and manga series, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game (also known as "TCG").


title: Pokémon

text: In most incarnations of the "Pokémon" universe, a Trainer who encounters a wild Pokémon has the ability to capture that Pokémon by throwing a specially designed, mass-producible spherical tool called a Poké Ball at it. If the Pokémon is unable to escape the confines of the Poké Ball, it is considered to be under the ownership of that Trainer. Afterwards, it will obey whatever commands it receives from its new Trainer, unless the Trainer demonstrates such a lack of experience that the Pokémon would rather act on its own accord. Trainers can send out any of their Pokémon to wage non-lethal battles against other Pokémon; if the opposing Pokémon is wild, the Trainer can capture that Pokémon with a Poké Ball, increasing their collection of creatures. In "Pokémon Go", and in , wild Pokémon encountered by players can be caught in Poké Balls, but most cannot be battled. Pokémon already owned by other Trainers cannot be captured, except under special circumstances in certain side games. If a Pokémon fully defeats an opponent in battle so that the opponent is knocked out ("faints"), the winning Pokémon gains experience points and may level up. Beginning with "Pokémon X" and "Y", experience points are also gained from catching Pokémon in Poké Balls. When leveling up, the Pokémon's battling aptitude statistics ("stats", such as "Attack" and "Speed") increase. At certain levels, the Pokémon may also learn new moves, which are techniques used in battle. In addition, many species of Pokémon can undergo a form of metamorphosis and transform into a similar but stronger species of Pokémon, a process called evolution; this process occurs spontaneously under differing circumstances, and is itself a central theme of the series. Some species of Pokémon may undergo a maximum of two evolutionary transformations, while others may undergo only one, and others may not evolve at all. For example, the Pokémon Pichu may evolve into Pikachu, which in turn may evolve into Raichu, following which no further evolutions may occur. "Pokémon X" and "Y" introduced the concept of "Mega Evolution," by which certain fully evolved Pokémon may temporarily undergo an additional evolution into a stronger form for the purpose of battling; this evolution is considered a special case, and unlike other evolutionary stages, is reversible.


title: Pokémon

text: In the main series, each game's single-player mode requires the Trainer to raise a team of Pokémon to defeat many non-player character (NPC) Trainers and their Pokémon. Each game lays out a somewhat linear path through a specific region of the "Pokémon" world for the Trainer to journey through, completing events and battling opponents along the way (including foiling the plans of an "evil" team of Pokémon Trainers who serve as antagonists to the player). Excluding "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon" and "Pokémon Ultra Sun" and "Ultra Moon", the games feature eight powerful Trainers, referred to as Gym Leaders, that the Trainer must defeat in order to progress. As a reward, the Trainer receives a Gym Badge, and once all eight badges are collected, the Trainer is eligible to challenge the region's Pokémon League, where four talented trainers (referred to collectively as the "Elite Four") challenge the Trainer to four Pokémon battles in succession. If the trainer can overcome this gauntlet, they must challenge the Regional Champion, the master Trainer who had previously defeated the Elite Four. Any Trainer who wins this last battle becomes the new champion.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon" is set in the fictional "Pokémon" universe. There are numerous regions that have appeared in the various media of the "Pokémon" franchise. There are 9 main series regions set in the main series games: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh/Hisui, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea. Each of the nine generations of the main series releases focuses on a new region. Every region consists of several cities and towns that the player must explore in order to overcome many waiting challenges, such as Gyms, Contests and villainous teams. At different locations within each region, the player can find different types of Pokémon, as well as helpful items and characters. Different regions are not accessible from one another at all within a single game, only with the exception of Kanto and Johto being linked together in "Pokémon Gold", "Silver", "Crystal", "HeartGold" and "SoulSilver" versions. There are also regions set in spinoff games and two islands in the "Pokémon" anime (Orange Islands and Decolore Islands), all still set within the same fictional universe.


title: Pokémon

text: Each main series region in the "Pokémon" universe is based on a real world location. The first four regions introduced are based off of locations in Japan, being Kantō, Kansai, Kyushu, and Hokkaidō, with later regions being based on parts on New York City, France, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, and the Iberian Peninsula.


title: Pokémon

text: All of the licensed "Pokémon" properties overseen by the Pokémon Company International are divided roughly by generation. These generations are roughly chronological divisions by release; every several years, when a sequel to the 1996 role-playing video games "Pokémon Red" and "Green" is released that features new Pokémon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel is considered the start of a new generation of the franchise. The main "Pokémon" video games and their spin-offs, the anime, manga, and trading card game are all updated with the new Pokémon properties each time a new generation begins. Some Pokémon from the newer games appear in anime episodes or films months, or even years, before the game they were programmed for came out. The first generation began in Japan with "Pokémon Red" and "Green" on the Game Boy. As of 2022, there are nine generations of main series video games. The most recent games in the main series, "Pokémon Scarlet" and "Violet" began the ninth and latest generation when they released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on November 18, 2022.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon", also known as "Pokémon the Series" to Western audiences since the year 2013, is an anime television series based on the "Pokémon" video game series. It was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1997. More than 1,000 episodes of the anime has been produced and aired, divided into 7 series in Japan and 22 seasons internationally. It is one of the longest currently running anime series.


title: Pokémon

text: The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in Japan), a Pokémon Master in training, as he and a small group of friends travel around the world of Pokémon along with their Pokémon partners.


title: Pokémon

text: An eight part anime series called "" aired on YouTube in 2020. The series was animated by Studio Colorido.


title: Pokémon

text: In July 2021, it was announced that a live action Pokémon series is in early development at Netflix with Joe Henderson attached to write and executive produce.


title: Pokémon

text: An eight part anime series in celebration of the Pokémon 25th anniversary called "Pokémon Evolutions" aired on YouTube in 2021.


title: Pokémon

text: There have been 23 animated theatrical "Pokémon" films (latest film to be released on December 25, 2020), which have been directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Tetsuo Yajima, and distributed in Japan by Toho since 1998. The pair of films, are considered together as one film. Collectibles, such as promotional trading cards, have been available with some of the films. Since the , the films have been set in an alternate continuity separate from the anime series.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon" CDs have been released in North America, some of them in conjunction with the theatrical releases of the first three and the 20th "Pokémon" films. These releases were commonplace until late 2001. On March 27, 2007, a tenth anniversary CD was released containing 18 tracks from the English dub; this was the first English-language release in over five years. Soundtracks of the "Pokémon" feature films have been released in Japan each year in conjunction with the theatrical releases. In 2017, a soundtrack album featuring music from the North American versions of the 17th through 20th movies was released.


title: Pokémon

text: The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) is a collectible card game with a goal similar to a Pokémon battle in the video game series. Players use Pokémon cards, with individual strengths and weaknesses, in an attempt to defeat their opponent by "knocking out" their Pokémon cards. The game was published in North America by Wizards of the Coast in 1999. With the release of the Game Boy Advance video games "Pokémon Ruby" and "Sapphire", the Pokémon Company took back the card game from Wizards of the Coast and started publishing the cards themselves. The Expedition expansion introduced the "Pokémon-e Trading Card Game", where the cards (for the most part) were compatible with the Nintendo e-Reader. Nintendo discontinued its production of e-Reader compatible cards with the release of "FireRed" and "LeafGreen". In 1998, Nintendo released a Game Boy Color version of the trading card game in Japan; "Pokémon Trading Card Game" was subsequently released to the US and Europe in 2000. The game included digital versions of cards from the original set of cards and the first two expansions (Jungle and Fossil), as well as several cards exclusive to the game. A sequel was released in Japan in 2001.


title: Pokémon

text: There are various Pokémon manga series, four of which were released in English by Viz Media, and seven of them released in English by Chuang Yi. The manga series vary from game-based series to being based on the anime and the Trading Card Game. Original stories have also been published. As there are several series created by different authors, most "Pokémon" manga series differ greatly from each other and other media, such as the anime. "Pokémon Pocket Monsters" and "Pokémon Adventures" are the two manga in production since the first generation.


title: Pokémon

text: In July 2021, it was announced that a live-action "Pokémon" series is reportedly in development at Netflix. Joe Henderson, showrunner of "Lucifer", is signed on as writer and executive producer.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon" has been criticized by some fundamentalist Christians over perceived occult and violent themes and the concept of "Pokémon evolution", which they feel goes against the Biblical creation account in Genesis. Sat2000, a satellite television station based in Vatican City, has countered that the Pokémon Trading Card Game and video games are "full of inventive imagination" and have no "harmful moral side effects". In the United Kingdom, the "Christian Power Cards" game was introduced in 1999 by David Tate who stated, "Some people aren't happy with Pokémon and want an alternative, others just want Christian games." The game was similar to the Pokémon Trading Card Game but used Biblical figures.


title: Pokémon

text: In 1999, Nintendo stopped manufacturing the Japanese version of the "Koga's Ninja Trick" trading card because it depicted a manji, a traditionally Buddhist symbol with no negative connotations. The Jewish civil rights group Anti-Defamation League complained because the symbol is the reverse of a swastika, a Nazi symbol. The cards were intended for sale in Japan only, but the popularity of "Pokémon" led to import into the United States with approval from Nintendo. The Anti-Defamation League understood that the portrayed symbol was not intended to offend and acknowledged the sensitivity that Nintendo showed by removing the product.


title: Pokémon

text: In 1999, two nine-year-old boys from Merrick, New York, sued Nintendo because they claimed the Pokémon Trading Card Game caused their problematic gambling.


title: Pokémon

text: In 2001, Saudi Arabia banned "Pokémon" games and the trading cards, alleging that the franchise promoted Zionism by displaying the Star of David in the trading cards (the Colorless energy from the "Pokémon Trading Card Game" resembles a six-pointed star) as well as other religious symbols such as crosses they associated with Christianity and triangles they associated with Freemasonry; the games also involved gambling, which is in violation of Muslim doctrine.


title: Pokémon

text: In 2012, PETA criticized the concept of "Pokémon" as supporting cruelty to animals. PETA compared the game's concept, of capturing animals and forcing them to fight, to cockfights, dog fighting rings and circuses, events frequently criticized for cruelty to animals. PETA released a game spoofing "Pokémon" where the Pokémon battle their trainers to win their freedom. PETA reaffirmed their objections in 2016 with the release of "Pokémon Go", promoting the hashtag #GottaFreeThemAll.


title: Pokémon

text: On December 16, 1997, more than 635 Japanese children were admitted to hospitals with epileptic seizures. It was determined the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon "Dennō Senshi Porygon", (most commonly translated "Electric Soldier Porygon", season 1, episode 38); as a result, this episode has not been aired since. In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if the person had no previous history of epilepsy. This incident is a common focus of Pokémon-related parodies in other media, and was lampooned by "The Simpsons" episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" in a short cameo and the "South Park" episode "Chinpokomon", among others.


title: Pokémon

text: In March 2000, Morrison Entertainment Group, a toy developer based at Manhattan Beach, California, sued Nintendo over claims that "Pokémon" infringed on its own "Monster in My Pocket" characters. A judge ruled there was no infringement and Morrison appealed the ruling. On February 4, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision by the District Court to dismiss the suit.


title: Pokémon

text: Within its first two days of release, "Pokémon Go" raised safety concerns among players. Multiple people also suffered minor injuries from falling while playing the game due to being distracted.


title: Pokémon

text: Multiple police departments in various countries have issued warnings, some tongue-in-cheek, regarding inattentive driving, trespassing, and being targeted by criminals due to being unaware of one's surroundings. People have suffered various injuries from accidents related to the game, and Bosnian players have been warned to stay out of minefields left over from the 1990s Bosnian War. On July 20, 2016, it was reported that an 18-year-old boy in Chiquimula, Guatemala, was shot and killed while playing the game in the late evening hours. This was the first reported death in connection with the app. The boy's 17-year-old cousin, who was accompanying the victim, was shot in the foot. Police speculated that the shooters used the game's GPS capability to find the two.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon", being a globally popular franchise, has left a significant mark on today's popular culture. The various species of "Pokémon" have become pop culture icons; examples include two different Pikachu balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, "Pokémon"-themed airplanes operated by All Nippon Airways, merchandise items, and a traveling theme park that was in Nagoya, Japan in 2005 and in Taipei in 2006. "Pokémon" also appeared on the cover of the U.S. magazine "Time" in 1999. The Comedy Central show "Drawn Together" has a character named Ling-Ling who is a parody of Pikachu. Several other shows such as "The Simpsons", "South Park" and "Robot Chicken" have made references and spoofs of "Pokémon", among other series. "Pokémon" was featured on VH1's "". A live action show based on the anime called "Pokémon Live!" toured the United States in late 2000. Jim Butcher cites "Pokémon" as one of the inspirations for the "Codex Alera" series of novels.


title: Pokémon

text: Pokémon has even made its mark in the realm of science. This includes animals named after Pokémon, such as "Stentorceps weedlei" (named after the Pokémon Weedle for its resemblance) and "Chilicola charizard" (named after the Pokémon Charizard) as well as "Binburrum articuno, Binburrum zapdos, and Binburrum moltres" (named after the Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, respectively). There is also a protein named after Pikachu, called Pikachurin.


title: Pokémon

text: In November 2001, Nintendo opened a store called the Pokémon Center in New York, in Rockefeller Center, modeled after the two other Pokémon Center stores in Tokyo and Osaka and named after a staple of the video game series. Pokémon Centers are fictional buildings where Trainers take their injured Pokémon to be healed after combat. The store sold Pokémon merchandise on a total of two floors, with items ranging from collectible shirts to stuffed Pokémon plushies. The store also featured a Pokémon Distributing Machine in which players would place their game to receive an egg of a Pokémon that was being given out at that time. The store also had tables that were open for players of the Pokémon Trading Card Game to duel each other or an employee. The store was closed and replaced by the Nintendo World Store on May 14, 2005. Four Pokémon Center kiosks were put in malls in the Seattle area. The Pokémon Center online store was relaunched on August 6, 2014.


title: Pokémon

text: Professor of education Joseph Tobin theorizes that the success of the franchise was due to the long list of names that could be learned by children and repeated in their peer groups. Its rich fictional universe provides opportunities for discussion and demonstration of knowledge in front of their peers. The names of the creatures were linked to its characteristics, which converged with the children's belief that names have symbolic power. Children can pick their favourite Pokémon and affirm their individuality while at the same time affirming their conformance to the values of the group, and they can distinguish themselves from others by asserting what they liked and what they did not like from every chapter. "Pokémon" gained popularity because it provides a sense of identity to a wide variety of children, and lost it quickly when many of those children found that the identity groups were too big and searched for identities that would distinguish them into smaller groups.


title: Pokémon

text: "Pokémon"s history has been marked at times by rivalry with the "Digimon" media franchise that debuted at a similar time. Described as "the other 'mon by IGN's Juan Castro, "Digimon" has not enjoyed "Pokémon"s level of international popularity or success, but has maintained a dedicated fanbase. IGN's Lucas M. Thomas stated that "Pokémon" is "Digimon"s "constant competition and comparison", attributing the former's relative success to the simplicity of its evolution mechanic as opposed to Digivolution. The two have been noted for conceptual and stylistic similarities by sources such as GameZone. A debate among fans exists over which of the two franchises came first. In actuality, the first "Pokémon" media, "Pokémon Red" and "Green", were released initially on February 27, 1996; whereas the "Digimon" virtual pet was released on June 26, 1997.


title: Pokémon

text: While "Pokémon"s target demographic is children, early purchasers of "Pokémon Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire" were in their 20s. Many fans are adults who originally played the games as children and had later returned to the series.


title: Pokémon

text: Numerous fan sites exist for the Pokémon franchise, including , a site hosting the wiki-based encyclopedia Bulbapedia, and Serebii, a news and reference website. Large fan communities exist on other platforms, such as the subreddit "r/pokemon", which has over 4 million subscribers.


title: Pokémon

text: A significant community around the "Pokémon" video games' metagame has existed for a long time, analyzing the best ways to use each Pokémon to their full potential in competitive battles. The most prolific competitive community is Smogon University, which has created a widely accepted tier-based battle system.


title: Pokémon

text: Smogon is affiliated with an online "Pokémon" game called "Pokémon Showdown", in which players create a team and battle against other players around the world using the competitive tiers created by Smogon.


title: Pokémon

text: In early 2014, an anonymous video streamer on Twitch launched Twitch Plays "Pokémon", a small experiment trying to crowdsource playing subsequent "Pokémon" games, that started with the game "Pokémon Red" and has since included subsequent games in the series.


title: Pokémon

text: A study at Stanford Neurosciences published in "Nature" performed magnetic resonance imaging scans of 11 Pokémon experts and 11 controls, finding that seeing Pokémon stimulated activity in the visual cortex, in a different place than is triggered by recognizing faces, places, or words, demonstrating the brain's ability to create such specialized areas.


title: Pokémon

text: A challenge called the Nuzlocke Challenge allows players to only capture the first Pokémon encountered in each area. Using rules from a webcomic originally named "Pokémon Hard-Mode", if they do not succeed in capturing that Pokémon, there are no second chances. When a Pokémon faints, it is considered "dead" and must be released or stored in the PC permanently. If the player faints, the game is considered over, and the player must restart. The original idea consisted of 2 to 3 rules that the community has built upon. There are many fan made "Pokémon" games that contain a game mode similar to the Nuzlocke Challenge, such as "Pokémon Uranium".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. The film is based on E. L. James' 2011 novel of the same name and stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: "Fifty Shades of Grey" premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015, and was released on February 13, 2015, in IMAX formats, by Universal Pictures and Focus Features. Despite receiving generally negative reviews, it was an immediate box office success, breaking numerous box office records and earning over US$570 million worldwide, while its soundtrack album was also successful.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The film was the most awarded at the 36th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five of six nominations, including Worst Picture (tied with "Fantastic Four") and both leading roles. Ellie Goulding's single "Love Me Like You Do" was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, while The Weeknd's single "Earned It" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: It is the first installment in the "Fifty Shades" film series and was followed by two sequels, "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed", released in 2017 and 2018, respectively, both of which were received negatively but were commercially successful.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: 21-year-old Anastasia "Ana" Steele is an English literature major at Washington State University's satellite campus near Vancouver, Washington. When her roommate, Kate Kavanagh, becomes ill and is unable to interview Christian Grey, a 27-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, for the college newspaper, Ana agrees to take her place. At Christian's Seattle headquarters she stumbles her way through the meeting. Christian, who is that year's WSU commencement speaker, takes an interest in her; soon after, he visits the hardware store where Ana works, and offers to do a photo shoot to accompany the article she had interviewed him for.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Christian invites Ana for coffee, but leaves abruptly after she confesses to being a romantic, saying he is not the man for her. He later sends her first edition copies of two Thomas Hardy novels, including "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", as a gift, with a quote from the latter book about the dangers of relationships, on an accompanying card.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Ana and her friends celebrate graduation at a local bar. After drinking too much, she spontaneously calls Christian, saying she is returning the books, and berating his behavior towards her. He goes to the bar to find her, arriving just as her photographer friend, José Rodriquez, attempts to kiss her against her will. Ana is suddenly sick. The next morning, she wakes up in Christian's hotel room, relieved that they were not intimate.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Ana and Christian begin seeing each other, though he insists that she sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from revealing details about their dalliance. He explains that he engages in sexual bondage relationships, but only as clearly defined in a contract between the participants. Ana reveals that she is a virgin. While considering the agreement and negotiating her own terms, and after visiting his "playroom", a room stocked with a variety of BDSM toys, furniture and gear, she and Christian have conventional sex (Ana loses her virginity). The next morning, before being taken home, she meets Christian's adoptive mother, Grace, who unexpectedly arrives.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Christian bestows a series of gifts and favors upon Ana, including a new car and a laptop. After she and Kate move to Seattle, she continues seeing him. During dinner at his parents' home, Ana suddenly mentions she is leaving the next day to visit her mother in Georgia. Later, Christian becomes frustrated when she says she wants more than the one-sided relationship he proposes. She is shocked when Christian shows up in Georgia; he takes her air gliding, then returns to Seattle to tend to a business emergency.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: After returning home, Ana continues seeing Christian, who wants further sexual experimentation. She initially consents, but he remains emotionally distant, upsetting her. While still considering the contract, and in an effort to understand Christian's psychology, Ana asks him to demonstrate how he would "punish" her for rule-breaking. He whips her buttocks with a belt, making her count each strike out loud. Upset and disgusted, Ana leaves Christian, concluding he is wrong for her and his practices are deviant and excessive.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: By early 2012, several Hollywood studios were keen to obtain film rights to "The New York Times" bestselling "Fifty Shades" trilogy of novels. Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Universal, and Mark Wahlberg's production company submitted bids for the film rights. Universal Pictures and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy in March 2012. Author James sought to retain some control during the movie's creative process. James chose "The Social Network" producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti to produce the film.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Although "American Psycho" writer Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for "Fifty Shades of Grey", Kelly Marcel, screenwriter of "Saving Mr. Banks", was hired for the job. Patrick Marber was brought in by Taylor-Wood to polish the screenplay, specifically to do some "character work". Universal hired Mark Bomback for script doctoring. Mark Bridges served as the costume designer. "Entertainment Weekly" estimated the film's budget as "$40 million-or-so".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: By May 9, 2013, the studio was considering Joe Wright to direct, but this proved unworkable due to Wright's schedule. Other directors who had been under consideration included Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller, and Steven Soderbergh. In June 2013, E. L. James announced Sam Taylor-Johnson would direct the film adaptation. Johnson was paid over US$2 million for directing the film.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: "9½ Weeks", "Last Tango in Paris", and "Blue Is the Warmest Colour" were all cited by Taylor-Johnson as inspirations for the film.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In an interview in June 2017, Taylor-Johnson cited difficulties working with author E. L. James, causing her to leave the series. She said: "I can never say I regret it because that would just finish me off. With the benefit of hindsight would I go through it again? Of course I wouldn't. I'd be mad."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Bret Easton Ellis stated that Robert Pattinson had been James' first choice for the role of Christian Grey, but James felt that casting Pattinson and his "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart in the film would be "weird". Ian Somerhalder and Chace Crawford both expressed interest in the role of Christian. Somerhalder later admitted if he had been considered, the filming process would ultimately have conflicted with his shooting schedule for The CW's series "The Vampire Diaries". On September 2, 2013, James revealed that Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson had been cast as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively. The short list of other actresses considered for the role of Anastasia included Alicia Vikander, Imogen Poots, Elizabeth Olsen, Shailene Woodley, and Felicity Jones. Keeley Hazell auditioned for an unspecified role. Lucy Hale also auditioned for the film. Emilia Clarke was also offered the role of Anastasia but turned down the part because of the nudity required. Taylor-Johnson would give every actress who auditioned for the role of Anastasia four pages to read of a monologue from Ingmar Bergman's "Persona".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The studio originally wanted Ryan Gosling for Christian, but he was not interested in the role. Garrett Hedlund was also considered, but he could not connect with the character. Stephen Amell said he would not have wanted to play the role of Grey because "I actually didn't find him to be that interesting ... nothing about Christian Grey really spoke to me." Hunnam initially turned down the role of Christian but later reconsidered it, following a meeting with studio heads. Hunnam said of the audition process: "I felt really intrigued and excited about it so I went and read the first book to get a clearer idea of who this character was, and I felt even more excited at the prospect of bringing him to life. We [Taylor-Johnson and I] kind of both suggested I do a reading with Dakota, who was her favorite, and as soon as we got in the room and I started reading with Dakota I knew that I definitely wanted to do it. There's just like a tangible chemistry between us. It felt exciting and fun and weird and compelling." In response to the negative reaction that the casting drew from fans, producer Dana Brunetti said: "There is a lot that goes into casting that isn't just looks. Talent, availability, their desire to do it, chemistry with other actor, etc. So if your favorite wasn't cast, then it is most likely due to something on that list. Keep that in mind while hating and keep perspective."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: During October 2013, actress Jennifer Ehle was in talks for the role of Anastasia's mother Carla. On October 12, 2013, Universal Pictures announced that Hunnam had exited the film due to conflicts with the schedule of his FX series "Sons of Anarchy". Alexander Skarsgård, Jamie Dornan, Christian Cooke, Theo James, François Arnaud, Scott Eastwood, Luke Bracey, and Billy Magnussen were at the top of the list to replace Hunnam as Christian Grey. Finally, on October 23, 2013, Dornan was cast as Christian Grey. On October 31, 2013, Victor Rasuk was cast as José Rodriguez, Jr. On November 22, 2013, Eloise Mumford was cast as Kate Kavanagh. On December 2, 2013, singer Rita Ora was cast as Christian's younger sister Mia. Ora originally wanted to work on the soundtrack. On December 3, 2013, Marcia Gay Harden was cast as Christian's mother, Grace.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In September, filming was scheduled to start on November 5, 2013, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The following month, producer Michael De Luca announced filming would begin on November 13, 2013. Principal photography was again delayed and eventually started on December 1, 2013. Scenes were filmed in the Gastown district of Vancouver. Bentall 5 was used as the Grey Enterprises building.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The University of British Columbia serves as Washington State University Vancouver, from which Ana graduates. The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was used as the Heathman Hotel. The film was also shot at the North Shore Studios. The production officially ended on February 21, 2014. Reshoots involving scenes between Dornan and Johnson took place in Vancouver during the week of October 13, 2014. The film was shot under the working title ""The Adventures of Max and Banks"." Uncredited screenwriter Mark Bomback said he "had never been on a project with that much secrecy around it...The set was on lockdown".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The film was the last project worked on by prolific Academy Award-winning editor Anne V. Coates before her death in 2018.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In an alternative ending, both Ana and Christian experience flashbacks. Christian jogs in the rain, while Ana sobs in her apartment. Christian encounters a gift Ana gave him with the note: "This reminded me of a happy time. —Ana".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: James said that the film's soundtrack would be released on February 10, 2015. The first single, "Earned It", by The Weeknd, was released on December 24, 2014. On January 7, 2015, the second single, "Love Me like You Do" by Ellie Goulding was released, later reaching the top three on the Billboard Hot 100, and becoming a hit for the soundtrack. A promotional single, "Salted Wound" by Australian recording artist Sia, was released on January 27, 2015. To date, the soundtrack has sold 516,000 copies in the United States.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In February 2013, Universal chairman Adam Fogelson said the film "could be ready to release ... as early as next summer." The studio initially announced an August 1, 2014, release. However, in November 2013, it was pushed back to February 13, 2015, in time for Valentine's Day. "Fifty Shades of Grey" was first screened at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015. The film was released in 75 IMAX screens across the US on February 13, 2015.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: On January 25, 2014, more than a year prior to release, Universal displayed posters with the phrase, "Mr. Grey will see you now", in five locations across the United States.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: On July 9, 2014, the book's author, E. L. James, said on Twitter that the film's trailer would be released on July 24, 2014. Beyoncé debuted a teaser for the trailer on her Instagram account five days before the trailer's release. On July 24, Dornan and Johnson were on "The Today Show" to present part of the trailer appropriate for morning television; the full trailer, which contained more racy scenes, was released later the same day on the internet (200 days before its initial theatrical release). The trailer featured a new version of "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, which was scored and arranged by her frequent collaborator Boots. The trailer was viewed 36.4 million times in the week after its July 24 release. This made it the most viewed trailer on YouTube in 2014, until it was surpassed in October by the trailer for "". However, in mid-December the trailer reached 93 million views and was again the most viewed of 2014. The trailer accumulated over 100 million views in its first week of release through different channels and websites, becoming the biggest trailer ever released in history. By February 2015, the trailer had been viewed more than 193 million times on YouTube alone. And by late February, "Fifty Shades of Grey" related material garnered over 329 million views including 113 million views for its official trailer. A second trailer was released on November 13, 2014. A third trailer aired during Super Bowl XLIX, on February 1, 2015.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The film was promoted through an ad campaign that asked people whether they were "curious". Nick Carpou, Universal's president of domestic distribution, said: "Our campaign gave people permission to see the film." "Valentines is a big deal for couples and a great relationship event, and the date with the long Presidents Day weekend created a perfect storm for us. This date positioned us to take full advantage of the romance angle, which is how we sold the film in our marketing campaign," he said.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: There was initial speculation that the film could receive an NC-17 rating in the United States. Studios typically steer away from the adults-only rating due to the impact the classification has on a film's commercial viability, with some theater chains refusing to exhibit NC-17-rated films. While screenwriter Marcel said she expected the film to be NC-17-rated, producer De Luca anticipated the less restrictive R rating. On January 5, 2015, the MPAA did give the film an R rating, basing its decision on "strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and language."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: On January 30, in Australia, the film was rated MA15+ by the ACB for "strong sex scenes, sexual themes and nudity". On February 2, 2015, the British BBFC classified the film an 18 certificate, mentioning "strong sex". In Canada, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia, the film was rated at 18A by the OFRB, MFCB, AFR, and BCFCO, respectively, due to its "occasional upsetting or disturbing scenes, and partial or full nudity in a brief sexual situation." In Quebec, the Régie du cinéma rated the movie under the 16+ category for its eroticism. In France, the film earned a 12 rating. In Lebanon, the film earned an NC-21 rating. In Argentina, the Advisory Commission of Cinematographic Exhibition (the rating arm of the INCAA) rated the film SAM16/R. In Mexico, the film earned a C rating, which is equivalent to that no person under the age of 18 could enter to see the feature film for any reason.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Anti-pornography watchdog group Morality in Media argued that the film's R rating "severely undermines the violent themes in the film and does not adequately inform parents and patrons of the film's content", and that the MPAA was encouraging sexual violence by letting the film by without an NC-17 rating.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The film was scheduled for a February 12, 2015, release in Malaysia, but it was denied a certificate by the Malaysian Film Censorship Board (LPF) for its "unnatural" and "sadistic" content. The LPF chairman, Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid, said Fifty Shades was "more pornography than a movie." The film was also banned in Indonesia, Kenya, Russia's North Caucasus, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, and India. The film was released in Nigeria for a week, before being removed from cinemas by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). Studios will not pursue a theatrical release in China.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The sex scenes were censored after protests from various religious groups in the Philippines, and as a result it is in limited release in that country with an R-18 rating from the MTRCB. A similarly cut version was released in Zimbabwe.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Roughly 20 minutes were cut from the film for screening in Vietnam, leaving no sex scenes. The scene in which Ana is beaten with a belt is skipped entirely.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: On February 2, in Michigan, a man petitioned to halt the film's release at a local Celebration! Cinema. Despite the man's efforts, the president of the cinemas declined to cancel the release of the film. He said, "We've been in business for 70 years and people often times object to content, and it's not our job to censor the content of a widespread movie. It's not in our best interest. It's not in the community's best interest." The film sold 3,000 tickets before the release and was expected to sell a total of 10,000 tickets.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Thomas Williams of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture commented on the release of the film in the United States on Valentine's Day, stating "The irony of Universal Pictures' decision to release its bondage-erotica film Fifty Shades of Grey on the day dedicated to honoring a Christian martyr has not gone unnoticed to many observers, who seem to find the choice unclassy at best."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: "Fifty Shades of Grey" was released via DVD and Blu-ray on May 8, 2015. The Blu-ray edition features an unrated cut of the film; the version includes an additional three minutes of footage, the bulk of which are in the form of an alternative ending.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Upon its release on home media in the U.S., the film topped both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks combined Blu-ray Disc and DVD sales, as well as the Blu-ray Disc sales chart for two consecutive weeks up to the week ending May 17, 2015.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: "Fifty Shades of Grey" grossed US$166.2 million in the US and Canada and US$403.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of US$569.7 million against a budget of US$40 million. It is currently the fourth-highest-grossing film directed by a woman (behind "Mamma Mia!", "Kung Fu Panda 2", and "Wonder Woman"), and at the time of the end of its theatrical run, it was the fourth-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (behind "The Hangover Part II", "The Passion of the Christ", and "The Matrix Reloaded"). "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the net profit of the film to be US$256.55 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Tickets went on sale in the United States from January 11, 2015. According to ticket-selling site Fandango, "Fifty Shades of Grey" is the fastest-selling R-rated title in the site's 15-year history, surpassing "Sex and the City 2". It also had the biggest first week of ticket sales on Fandango for a non-sequel film, surpassing 2012's "The Hunger Games". It is fourth overall on Fandango's list of top advance ticket sales behind "", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2", and "The Hunger Games". The demand prompted US theater owners to add new showtimes. Weeks before the film's release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a US$60 million domestic four-day opening while Box Office Mojo reported that a US$100 million opening could be possible.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Outside the United States, "Fifty Shades of Grey" pre-sold 4.5 million tickets in 39 markets. In the UK, it sold £1.3 million (US$1.9 million) worth of tickets a week before release. On release, it set several records at the box office, including:


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In the US and Canada, it is the highest-grossing sex film, the seventeenth highest-grossing film of 2015, and the fourth-highest-grossing romantic film of all time. It opened in the US and Canada simultaneously with "" on Thursday, February 12, 2015, across 2,830 theaters and was widened to 3,646 theaters the next day making it the widest R-rated opening (surpassed by ""), and the fourth-widest R-rated release of all time. It earned US$8.6 million from Thursday night previews which is the second-highest late-night gross for a film released in February (behind "Deadpool") and the third-highest for an R-rated film (behind "Deadpool" and "The Hangover Part II"). The film topped the box office on its opening day grossing US$30.2 million (including Thursday previews) from 3,646 theaters setting a record for highest February opening day (previously held by "The Passion of the Christ") and fourth-highest overall among R-rated films. During its traditional three-day opening the film opened at No. 1 at the box office earning US$85.1 million, setting records for the biggest opening weekend for a film released in February (a record previously held by "The Passion of the Christ"). Women comprised 82% of the total audiences during its opening day, and 68% on Valentine's Day.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Revenue from the second weekend dropped massively by 73.9% to US$22.25 million, which is the second-biggest drop for a 3,000-plus-screen release (only behind "Friday the 13th"s 80.4% drop) and the biggest for a 3,500-plus-screen release. It is just the eighth film to open on more than 3,000 screens to drop by 70% or more. The film topped the box office for two consecutive weekends before falling to No. 4 in its third weekend while "Focus" took the top spot.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Outside the US and Canada, box office analysts were predicting as much as US$158 million opening. It opened Wednesday, February 11, 2015, in 4 countries, earning US$3.7 million. It opened in 34 more countries on February 12, earning US$28.6 million in two days. The film set opening-day records for Universal Pictures in 25 markets and opening day records for an R-rated film in 34 territories. Through Sunday, February 15, it earned an opening-weekend total of US$156 million from 58 countries from 10,979 screens (US$173.6 million through Monday) where it opened at No. 1 in 54 of the 58 countries, marking the biggest overseas opening for an R-rated film, the fourth-biggest of 2015, and Universal's third-biggest overseas opening weekend ever. The film set an all-time opening record in 13 markets, Universal's biggest opening weekend ever in 30 markets and biggest opening for any R-rated film in 31 markets.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The biggest opener outside of the United States was witnessed in the UK, Ireland and Malta, where it earned £13.55 million (US$20.8 million) in its opening weekend, which is the biggest debut ever for an 18-rated film and the second-biggest for a non-sequel film (behind "I Am Legend"). In just 10 days of release it became the highest-grossing 18-rated film of all time. It topped the UK box office for two consecutive weekends. Other high openings include Germany (US$14.1 million), France (US$12.3 million), Russia (US$11 million), Italy (US$10.1 million), Spain (US$8.7 million), Brazil (US$8.3 million), Mexico (US$8.1 million), Australia (US$8 million). In Japan, the film was unsuccessful opening at No. 5 with $682,000 but falling out of the top 10 the following week. "The Hollywood Reporter" cited out possible reasons for the film's failure, attributing it to the "delayed release of the new Japanese-language editions of the books, poor timing for the film release and an R-15, re-edit blurring out parts of the sex scenes."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: It topped the box office outside of the US for three consecutive weekends until it was overtaken by Warner Bros.' "Jupiter Ascending" in its fourth weekend. It became Universal Pictures' highest-grossing R-rated film of all time overseas (breaking "Ted"s record), Universal Pictures' highest-grossing film in 14 countries, and Universal Pictures' eighth-highest-grossing film overseas. In total earnings, its largest markets overseas are the UK, Ireland and Malta (US$52.5 million), Germany (US$43.7 million), Brazil (US$31.3 million), France (US$29.5 million), and Spain (US$22.6 million).


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: "Fifty Shades of Grey" received generally negative reviews, with criticism of its acting, screenplay, and pacing; however, some critics noted it as an improvement over the book, and others praised the cinematography and set design as well as soundtrack. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 25% approval rating with an average rating of 4.20/10 based on 281 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "While creatively better endowed than its print counterpart, "Fifty Shades of Grey" is a less than satisfying experience on the screen." Metacritic gave the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on reviews from 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Claudia Puig of "USA Today" wrote that "the dialogue is laughable, the pacing is sluggish and the performances are one-note." Moira Macdonald of "The Seattle Times" wrote: ""Fifty Shades of Grey" the movie, for the record, is not quite as bad as "Fifty Shades of Grey" the book. But that's not saying much". "We Got This Covered" critic Isaac Feldberg gave the film one and a half stars out of five and wrote that it "feels like two, distinct films grappling for dominance over the screen: one a sensual and stylish romance, and the other a numbingly explicit Harlequin bodice-ripper brought to life. Regrettably, the latter and lesser of the two ends up on top". "The Guardian" lead film critic Peter Bradshaw gave the film one star out of five, calling it "the most purely tasteful and softcore depiction of sadomasochism in cinema history" with "strictly daytime soap" performances. A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" called the film "terrible", but wrote that "it might nonetheless be a movie that feels good to see, whether you squirm or giggle or roll your eyes or just sit still and take your punishment."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In a positive review for "The Daily Telegraph", Robbie Collin called the film "sexy, funny and self-aware in every way the original book isn't." Elizabeth Weitzman of New York's "Daily News" praised the directing, screenplay, and Johnson's performance, but called Dornan's performance, the leads' chemistry, and the supporting cast "underused". She praised the film for honoring the essence of its source and the director's way of balancing "atmosphere with action". In "The Guardian", Jordan Hoffmann awarded the film three out of five stars, writing, "this big screen adaptation still manages to be about people, and even a little bit sweet", and that the sex scenes "are there to advance the plot, and only the most buttoned-up prude will be scandalised." Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B−, writing: "This perfectly normal way of consuming erotica suggests that the movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" will work better as home entertainment, when each viewer can race past the blah-blah about how well Christian plays the piano and pause on the fleeting image of the man minus his pants." In "The Sydney Morning Herald", Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean argue that "the film provides a language for decision-making around violence more developed than most Hollywood fodder", and that "film fleshes out an otherwise legalistic concept like 'consent' into a living, breathing, and at times, uncomfortable interpersonal experience. It dramatises the dangers of unequal negotiation and the practical complexity of identifying one's limits and having them respected."


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: Various critics noted similarities between "Fifty Shades of Grey" and Adrian Lyne's "9½ Weeks" (1986). Both films are literary adaptations, centering on a sadomasochistic affair.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In June 2012, the film company Smash Pictures announced its intent to film a pornographic version of the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, entitled "Fifty Shades of Grey: An XXX Adaptation". A release date of January 10, 2013 was announced. In November 2012, Universal, which had secured the "Fifty Shades" film rights, filed a lawsuit against Smash Pictures, stating that the film violated its copyright in that it was not filmed as a parody adaptation but "copies without reservation from the unique expressive elements of the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, progressing through the events of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and into the second book, "Fifty Shades Darker"".


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: The lawsuit asked for an injunction, for the profits from all sales of the film, as well as damages, saying that "a quickly and cheaply produced pornographic work [...] is likely to cause Plaintiffs irreparable harm by poisoning public perception of the Fifty Shades Trilogy and the forthcoming Universal films." Smash Pictures responded to the lawsuit by issuing a counterclaim and requesting a continuance, stating that "much or all" of the "Fifty Shades" material was part of the public domain because it was originally published in various venues as a fan fiction based on the "Twilight" series. A lawyer for Smash Pictures further commented that the federal copyright registrations for the books were "invalid and unenforceable" and that the film "did not violate copyright or trademark laws". The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum and Smash Pictures agreed to stop any further production or promotion of the film.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: In April 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that E. L. James' husband, Niall Leonard, was enlisted to write the script for the film's sequel. In the same month, at the 2015 Universal CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Universal announced the release dates of the sequels, with "Fifty Shades Darker" being released on February 10, 2017, and "Fifty Shades Freed" was released on February 9, 2018. However, the sequels did not see Sam Taylor-Johnson returning as director. On August 20, 2015, the U.S. "House of Cards" director James Foley was a frontrunner to direct the sequel. In November 2015, Universal Studios announced that both films will be shot back-to-back.


title: Fifty Shades of Grey (film)

text: A spoof version of the film, "Fifty Shades of Black", was released on January 29, 2016, in North America. Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez wrote the script, in which Wayans stars as Christian Black. The film was distributed by SquareOne Entertainment in Germany and Open Road Films in the United States; IM Global produce and finance it, as well as handling international releases. Kali Hawk parodied the role of Anastasia Steele, with supporting cast including Affion Crockett, Mike Epps, Jane Seymour, Andrew Bachelor and Fred Willard. It was released theatrically on January 29, 2016 and described as less funny "than the unintentionally-funny film it's trying to lampoon."


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their single "It's Time", followed by their award-winning debut studio album "Night Visions" (2012), which resulted in the chart-topping singles "Radioactive" and "Demons". "Rolling Stone" named "Radioactive", which held the record for most weeks charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100, the "biggest rock hit of the year". MTV called them "the year's biggest breakout band", and "Billboard" named them their "Breakthrough Band of 2013" and "Biggest Band of 2017", and placed them at the top of their "Year in Rock" rankings for 2013, 2017, and 2018. Imagine Dragons topped the "Billboard" Year-End "Top Artists – Duo/Group" category in 2018.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The band's second studio album "Smoke + Mirrors" (2015) reached number one in the US, Canada and the UK. This was followed by their third studio album "Evolve" (2017), which resulted in three chart-topping singles, "Believer", "Thunder", and "Whatever It Takes", also making them the artist with the most weeks at number one on the "Billboard" Hot Rock Songs chart. The album reached the top five in many countries. The band's fourth studio album "Origins" (2018) featured the single "Natural", which became their fifth song to top the Hot Rock Songs chart. Although all four albums were commercially successful, critical reception was mixed. The band released their fifth studio album "Mercury – Act 1" on September 3, 2021 and its follow-up "Mercury – Act 2" on July 1, 2022.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons has won three American Music Awards, nine "Billboard" Music Awards, one Grammy Award, one MTV Video Music Award, and one World Music Award. In May 2014, the band was nominated for 14 "Billboard" Music Awards, including Top Artist of the Year and a Milestone Award, which recognizes innovation and creativity of artists across different genres. In April 2018, the band was nominated 11 more times for "Billboard" Music Awards.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They were the most streamed group of 2018 on Spotify and are the first rock act to have four songs, "Radioactive", "Demons", "Believer", and "Thunder", to surpass one billion streams each. According to "Billboard", "Believer", "Thunder", and "Radioactive" were the three best performing rock songs of the 2010s.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students. Reynolds and Tolman recruited Andrew Beck, Dave Lemke, and Aurora Florence to play guitar, bass, and piano respectively for their band. Their name is an anagram for a phrase only known to members of the group, which Reynolds stated each member approved of. The five-piece released an extended play titled "Speak to Me" that year, but Beck and Florence left the band later that year. In 2009, Tolman recruited long-time high school friend Wayne Sermon, who had graduated from Berklee College of Music, to play guitar. Tolman later recruited his wife, Brittany Tolman, to sing back-up and play keys, and the band began to play shows together again. Lemke left the band later on, leading Sermon to recruit another Berklee music student, Ben McKee, to join the band as their bassist and complete the line-up. The band garnered a large following in their hometown of Provo, Utah, before the members moved to Las Vegas, the hometown of Dan Reynolds, where the band recorded and released their first three EPs.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The band released a self-titled EP "Imagine Dragons" on September 1, 2009, and "Hell and Silence" on March 10, 2010, both recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas. Six months after releasing their third EP, "It's Time" on March 12, 2011, they signed a record deal with Interscope Records on November 18, 2011.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: They got their first big break when Train's frontman Pat Monahan fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2009. Imagine Dragons were called to fill in and performed to a crowd of more than 26,000 people. Local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" ("Vegas SEVEN"), "Best Local Indie Band 2010" ("Las Vegas Weekly"), "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" ("Las Vegas CityLife"), Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010, and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011, they signed with Interscope Records and began working with English Grammy Award-winning producer Alex da Kid. Eventually, the Tolmans left the group. Daniel Platzman and keyboardist Theresa Flaminio were recruited by Ben McKee in August 2011, prior to the band's label deal in November 2011.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Theresa Flaminio departed from Imagine Dragons in early 2012, leaving them as a four-piece. The band worked closely with Alex da Kid, with whom they recorded their first major-label release at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. An EP entitled "Continued Silence" was released on Valentine's Day (February 14, 2012) digitally and peaked at number 40 on the "Billboard" 200. The band also released an EP titled "Hear Me" in 2012.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Shortly after, "It's Time" was released as a single and peaked at number 15 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The music video debuted on April 17, 2012, on all MTV affiliates and was subsequently nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the "Best Rock Video" category. "It's Time" was certified a 6× platinum single by the RIAA.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The band finished recording their debut album "Night Visions" in the summer of 2012 at Studio X inside Palms Casino Resort and released the album in the United States on September 4, 2012. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales in excess of 83,000 copies, the highest charting for a debut rock album since 2006. The album also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Album charts as well as the top ten on the Australian, Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Irish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and United Kingdom Albums charts. It won a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Album and was nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year. "Night Visions" is certified platinum in the US by the RIAA as well as in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The album produced three tracks that reached the "Billboard" Top 40, four tracks in the ARIA Top 40, and five tracks charting in the UK Top 40.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The album's second single "Radioactive" reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Alternative Songs, "Billboard" Rock Songs, and Swedish singles chart and has sold more than 14 million singles in the United States, entering the top 3 of the most selling songs digitally ever. It also smashed the record of the longest running song on the "Billboard" Hot 100 by spending 87 weeks before being broken by The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" in 2021. "Radioactive" stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre's biggest hit of 2013. It peaked at No. 3, becoming their first top ten single in the United States and broke the record for the longest run into the top five. It is the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history. By the end of 2013, "Radioactive" had already sold over 3 million copies. "Rolling Stone" called it "the biggest rock hit of the year". It was also the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the United States. It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter of the two. The band performed a medley of "Radioactive" and "M.A.A.D City" alongside rapper Kendrick Lamar at the ceremony. A remixed version of "Radioactive", featuring a newly added verse from Lamar, was released the next day and performed on the February 1, 2014 episode of "Saturday Night Live".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Third single "Demons" reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Pop Songs, peaked at No. 6 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and spent 61 weeks on it. In 2021, RIAA declared that the song has become the band's third diamond selling song in the US.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Fourth single "On Top Of The World" reached a peak of No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also spent 20 weeks on the chart.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In the US, the non-singles off the album, "Bleeding Out" and "Amsterdam" were certified platinum while "Hear Me" and "Tiptoe" were certified gold.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: "Billboard" listed them as one of "2012's Brightest New Stars" and later "The Breakout Band of 2013". Imagine Dragons won the 2014 Billboard Music Awards for Top Duo/Group, Top Hot 100 Artist, and Top Rock Artist. Amazon.com called the band their "Favorite Rock Artist of 2012".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In 2013, Imagine Dragons returned to Europe and North America with the Night Visions Tour. The band announced 13 additional US summer tour dates which also sold out. The band then announced a North America Amphitheatre tour. Pollstar listed the band in their Top 20 Concert Tours list by average box office gross despite their average ticket price being the third lowest on the list.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The idea behind the second studio album, dubbed as their "New Year's resolution", was to create music and finish it when the band feels that their work is done. Since the beginning of the Night Visions Tour, the band had been writing new material for an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio. By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Prior to the album's release, Imagine Dragons released a number of singles for other projects including a song for the film "", called "Battle Cry" (June 2014) and song "Warriors" for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship (September 2014).


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On October 24, they revealed the lead single to the upcoming album, "I Bet My Life" via several visual snippets on Facebook and Instagram. It was released on October 27. It was sent to US Alternative radio for ads on November 3. On December 16, the band announced their second album "Smoke + Mirrors", along with the release of its second single "Gold". "Shots" was released as the album's third single on January 26, 2015.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons played at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on February 5, 2015. The half-hour set included the live debut of unreleased songs "Summer" and "I'm So Sorry". On February 8, the band partnered with Target for a performance of "Shots" as part of a live commercial aired during the Grammy Awards. "Smoke + Mirrors" was released on February 17. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it the band's first number one album. The band began a world tour in support of the album on June 3 in Portland, Oregon.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: During the band's tour, Imagine Dragons released two non-album singles. "Roots" was released on August 26, 2015, and "I Was Me" on October 12, 2015, via iTunes. The band also released a cover of "I Love You All the Time" by Eagles of Death Metal on December 18, 2015, in support of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The Smoke + Mirrors Tour ended on February 5, 2016, in Amsterdam. The band released a one night only concert film, "Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors", in select theaters on March 2, 2016, which was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Following the tour, the band planned to take a hiatus. They released the soundtracks songs "Not Today" from "Me Before You" and "Sucker for Pain" from "Suicide Squad" with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Logic, Ty Dolla Sign, and X Ambassadors in April and June, respectively.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons began recording their third studio album in September 2016. The band teased the upcoming album by posting cryptic messages on their Twitter account for the next four months. They released the song "Levitate", recorded for the film "Passengers", on December 2, 2016. On January 28, 2017, the band started posting a series of videos teasing the album's first single. The time-lapse videos featured lead singer Dan Reynolds drawing surreal images on a drawing pad. Morse code was hidden in the videos and translated to "objects of same color".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons released "Believer" as the lead single for their next album. "Believer" was used as part of a Super Bowl ad for the Nintendo Switch. On April 27, 2017, the band released "Thunder" as the second single from their third album. On May 8, 2017, Imagine Dragons announced their third studio album "Evolve", as well as a new track "Whatever It Takes", which was released on the same day. A tour in support for the album was also announced within the same day. The tour was held across 33 countries from September 2017 through September 2018.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: "Evolve" was released on June 23, 2017, worldwide. The album reached the top five in most countries but was met with mixed critical reception. The album and the single "Thunder" received nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, respectively, at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. "Whatever It Takes" was released as an official single off the album a few months later on October 6, 2017. The song won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video in 2018. On February 14, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled "Next to Me" on Twitter. The song was released as part of a re-issue of "Evolve" on February 21, 2018.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On June 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single in collaboration with Kygo titled "Born to Be Yours" on Twitter. The song was released on June 15, 2018. In 2018, Imagine Dragons also became co-owners of esports team Rogue.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On July 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled "Natural" on Twitter. The song was released on July 17, 2018. The song was used as the anthem for the 2018 "ESPN College Football" season. The band concluded the Evolve tour in Tampa, Florida on August 10. On September 18, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled "Zero", which was released the following day. It was used in the end credits of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film "Ralph Breaks the Internet".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On October 3, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced their fourth studio album, "Origins", which was released on November 9, 2018. "Natural" and "Zero" serve as the lead singles off the album, while "Born to Be Yours" is featured on the international deluxe edition of the album. The band has described this album as a sister album to their previous work "Evolve". On October 31, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the third single off the album, "Machine". Lastly, on November 6, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the album's fourth single, "Bad Liar". "Origins" debuted at number two in the US, making it their fourth top five album. It reached the top ten in multiple countries, but received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On January 7, 2019, Imagine Dragons performed the halftime show for the 2019 College Football Championship game. The band performed "Natural", "Bad Liar", "Thunder", and a special version of "Believer" with rapper Lil Wayne. The new version of the song was released on streaming platforms the following day.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In June 2019, Beat Games released a paid downloadable content (DLC) music pack for virtual reality rhythm game "Beat Saber", called "Imagine Dragons Music Pack", that includes ten songs by Imagine Dragons.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On June 20, 2019, Imagine Dragons released a new version "Birds", featuring Italian singer Elisa, as the fifth and final single from "Origins". On July 23, 2019, an animated video for the original version of the song was released.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In December 2019, Reynolds announced that he was taking a break from producing and writing music to focus on fatherhood.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On January 20, 2020, the band released a music video for "Nothing Left to Say", a song from their debut album "Night Visions".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced the release of two singles, "Follow You" and "Cutthroat", which were released on March 12. The band began teasing their upcoming album which was executively produced by Rick Rubin. On June 29, 2021, the band announced the single "Wrecked", along with the pre-order for their fifth studio album "Mercury – Act 1" a day later. The song was released on July 2, 2021. "Mercury – Act 1" was released on September 3, along with the single "Monday". Similar to their previous work, the album was met with mixed critical reception. It debuted at number nine in the US. The album's release coincided with the announcement of a tour in support of the album.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: In October, the band re-released their first three extended plays onto streaming services and digital retailers. Each EP features a previously unreleased bonus track. The band also released the single "Enemy" featuring rapper JID, as part of the soundtrack to the Netflix series "Arcane", on October 28. It is the second collaboration between Imagine Dragons and "League of Legends", following "Warriors".


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Soon after the release of "Mercury – Act 1", the band began teasing towards a follow-up album that would also be executively produced by Rubin. In January 2022, Reynolds stated that the album was "almost done" and would be released following the first leg of the Mercury Tour. The tour began on February 6 in Miami and concluded on September 15 in Los Angeles. On March 11, 2022, the band released a single titled "Bones", which serves as the lead single to their sixth studio album "Mercury – Act 2". On April 6, the band announced that "Mercury – Act 2" would be released on July 1, 2022. The 18-track album was released as part of a compilation album containing both "Mercury" albums.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: The band released a ten year anniversary expanded edition of "Night Visions" on September 9, 2022 featuring two previously unreleased demos, "Love of Mine" and "Bubble". "Love of Mine" was released on September 2.


title: Imagine Dragons

text: Imagine Dragons' musical style has mainly been described as pop rock, electropop, pop, indie pop, indie rock, arena rock, and alternative rock. Their music also contains influences from synth-pop, dance-pop, trip hop, folk, drum and bass, dubstep, industrial, EDM, R&B, and hip hop.