title: Pluto

text: Pluto's diameter is and its mass is , 17.7% that of the Moon (0.22% that of Earth). Its surface area is , or roughly the same surface area as Russia. Its surface gravity is 0.063 "g" (compared to 1 "g" for Earth and 0.17 "g" for the Moon).


title: Pluto

text: The discovery of Pluto's satellite Charon in 1978 enabled a determination of the mass of the Pluto–Charon system by application of Newton's formulation of Kepler's third law. Observations of Pluto in occultation with Charon allowed scientists to establish Pluto's diameter more accurately, whereas the invention of adaptive optics allowed them to determine its shape more accurately.


title: Pluto

text: With less than 0.2 lunar masses, Pluto is much less massive than the terrestrial planets, and also less massive than seven moons: Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton. The mass is much less than thought before Charon was discovered.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto is more than twice the diameter and a dozen times the mass of Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt. It is less massive than the dwarf planet Eris, a trans-Neptunian object discovered in 2005, though Pluto has a larger diameter of 2376.6 km compared to Eris's approximate diameter of 2326 km.


title: Pluto

text: Determinations of Pluto's size have been complicated by its atmosphere and hydrocarbon haze. In March 2014, Lellouch, de Bergh et al. published findings regarding methane mixing ratios in Pluto's atmosphere consistent with a Plutonian diameter greater than 2360 km, with a "best guess" of 2368 km. On July 13, 2015, images from NASA's "New Horizons" mission Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), along with data from the other instruments, determined Pluto's diameter to be , which was later revised to be on July 24, and later to . Using radio occultation data from the "New Horizons" Radio Science Experiment (REX), the diameter was found to be .


title: Pluto

text: Pluto has a tenuous atmosphere consisting of nitrogen (N), methane (CH), and carbon monoxide (CO), which are in equilibrium with their ices on Pluto's surface. According to the measurements by "New Horizons", the surface pressure is about 1 Pa (10 μbar), roughly one million to 100,000 times less than Earth's atmospheric pressure. It was initially thought that, as Pluto moves away from the Sun, its atmosphere should gradually freeze onto the surface; studies of "New Horizons" data and ground-based occultations show that Pluto's atmospheric density increases, and that it likely remains gaseous throughout Pluto's orbit. "New Horizons" observations showed that atmospheric escape of nitrogen to be 10,000 times less than expected. Alan Stern has contended that even a small increase in Pluto's surface temperature can lead to exponential increases in Pluto's atmospheric density; from 18 hPa to as much as 280 hPa (three times that of Mars to a quarter that of the Earth). At such densities, nitrogen could flow across the surface as liquid. Just like sweat cools the body as it evaporates from the skin, the sublimation of Pluto's atmosphere cools its surface. Pluto has no or almost no troposphere; observations by "New Horizons" suggest only a thin tropospheric boundary layer. Its thickness in the place of measurement was 4 km, and the temperature was 37±3 K. The layer is not continuous.


title: Pluto

text: In July 2019, an occultation by Pluto showed that its atmospheric pressure, against expectations, had fallen by 20% since 2016. In 2021, astronomers at the Southwest Research Institute confirmed the result using data from an occultation in 2018, which showed that light was appearing less gradually from behind Pluto's disc, indicating a thinning atmosphere.


title: Pluto

text: The presence of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, in Pluto's atmosphere creates a temperature inversion, with the average temperature of its atmosphere tens of degrees warmer than its surface, though observations by "New Horizons" have revealed Pluto's upper atmosphere to be far colder than expected (70 K, as opposed to about 100 K). Pluto's atmosphere is divided into roughly 20 regularly spaced haze layers up to 150 km high, thought to be the result of pressure waves created by airflow across Pluto's mountains.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto has five known natural satellites. The closest to Pluto is Charon. First identified in 1978 by astronomer James Christy, Charon is the only moon of Pluto that may be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Charon's mass is sufficient to cause the barycenter of the Pluto–Charon system to be outside Pluto. Beyond Charon there are four much smaller circumbinary moons. In order of distance from Pluto they are Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Nix and Hydra were both discovered in 2005, Kerberos was discovered in 2011, and Styx was discovered in 2012. The satellites' orbits are circular (eccentricity < 0.006) and coplanar with Pluto's equator (inclination < 1°), and therefore tilted approximately 120° relative to Pluto's orbit. The Plutonian system is highly compact: the five known satellites orbit within the inner 3% of the region where prograde orbits would be stable.


title: Pluto

text: The orbital periods of all Pluto's moons are linked in a system of orbital resonances and near resonances. When precession is accounted for, the orbital periods of Styx, Nix, and Hydra are in an exact 18:22:33 ratio. There is a sequence of approximate ratios, 3:4:5:6, between the periods of Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra with that of Charon; the ratios become closer to being exact the further out the moons are.


title: Pluto

text: The Pluto–Charon system is one of the few in the Solar System whose barycenter lies outside the primary body; the Patroclus–Menoetius system is a smaller example, and the Sun–Jupiter system is the only larger one. The similarity in size of Charon and Pluto has prompted some astronomers to call it a double dwarf planet. The system is also unusual among planetary systems in that each is tidally locked to the other, which means that Pluto and Charon always have the same hemisphere facing each other — a property shared by only one other known system, Eris and Dysnomia. From any position on either body, the other is always at the same position in the sky, or always obscured. This also means that the rotation period of each is equal to the time it takes the entire system to rotate around its barycenter.


title: Pluto

text: In 2007, observations by the Gemini Observatory of patches of ammonia hydrates and water crystals on the surface of Charon suggested the presence of active cryo-geysers.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's moons are hypothesized to have been formed by a collision between Pluto and a similar-sized body, early in the history of the Solar System. The collision released material that consolidated into the moons around Pluto.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's origin and identity had long puzzled astronomers. One early hypothesis was that Pluto was an escaped moon of Neptune knocked out of orbit by Neptune's largest current moon, Triton. This idea was eventually rejected after dynamical studies showed it to be impossible because Pluto never approaches Neptune in its orbit.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's true place in the Solar System began to reveal itself only in 1992, when astronomers began to find small icy objects beyond Neptune that were similar to Pluto not only in orbit but also in size and composition. This trans-Neptunian population is thought to be the source of many short-period comets. Pluto is now known to be the largest member of the Kuiper belt, a stable belt of objects located between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun. As of 2011, surveys of the Kuiper belt to magnitude 21 were nearly complete and any remaining Pluto-sized objects are expected to be beyond 100 AU from the Sun. Like other Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs), Pluto shares features with comets; for example, the solar wind is gradually blowing Pluto's surface into space. It has been claimed that if Pluto were placed as near to the Sun as Earth, it would develop a tail, as comets do. This claim has been disputed with the argument that Pluto's escape velocity is too high for this to happen. It has been proposed that Pluto may have formed as a result of the agglomeration of numerous comets and Kuiper-belt objects.


title: Pluto

text: Though Pluto is the largest Kuiper belt object discovered, Neptune's moon Triton, which is larger than Pluto, is similar to it both geologically and atmospherically, and is thought to be a captured Kuiper belt object. Eris (see above) is about the same size as Pluto (though more massive) but is not strictly considered a member of the Kuiper belt population. Rather, it is considered a member of a linked population called the scattered disc.


title: Pluto

text: Many Kuiper belt objects, like Pluto, are in a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune. KBOs with this orbital resonance are called "plutinos", after Pluto.


title: Pluto

text: Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is thought to be a residual planetesimal; a component of the original protoplanetary disc around the Sun that failed to fully coalesce into a full-fledged planet. Most astronomers agree that Pluto owes its current position to a sudden migration undergone by Neptune early in the Solar System's formation. As Neptune migrated outward, it approached the objects in the proto-Kuiper belt, setting one in orbit around itself (Triton), locking others into resonances, and knocking others into chaotic orbits. The objects in the scattered disc, a dynamically unstable region overlapping the Kuiper belt, are thought to have been placed in their current positions by interactions with Neptune's migrating resonances. A computer model created in 2004 by Alessandro Morbidelli of the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in Nice suggested that the migration of Neptune into the Kuiper belt may have been triggered by the formation of a 1:2 resonance between Jupiter and Saturn, which created a gravitational push that propelled both Uranus and Neptune into higher orbits and caused them to switch places, ultimately doubling Neptune's distance from the Sun. The resultant expulsion of objects from the proto-Kuiper belt could also explain the Late Heavy Bombardment 600 million years after the Solar System's formation and the origin of the Jupiter trojans. It is possible that Pluto had a near-circular orbit about 33 AU from the Sun before Neptune's migration perturbed it into a resonant capture. The Nice model requires that there were about a thousand Pluto-sized bodies in the original planetesimal disk, which included Triton and Eris.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's distance from Earth makes its in-depth study and exploration difficult. On July 14, 2015, NASA's "New Horizons" space probe flew through the Pluto system, providing much information about it.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's visual apparent magnitude averages 15.1, brightening to 13.65 at perihelion. To see it, a telescope is required; around 30 cm (12 in) aperture being desirable. It looks star-like and without a visible disk even in large telescopes, because its angular diameter is maximum 0.11".


title: Pluto

text: The earliest maps of Pluto, made in the late 1980s, were brightness maps created from close observations of eclipses by its largest moon, Charon. Observations were made of the change in the total average brightness of the Pluto–Charon system during the eclipses. For example, eclipsing a bright spot on Pluto makes a bigger total brightness change than eclipsing a dark spot. Computer processing of many such observations can be used to create a brightness map. This method can also track changes in brightness over time.


title: Pluto

text: Better maps were produced from images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which offered higher resolution, and showed considerably more detail, resolving variations several hundred kilometers across, including polar regions and large bright spots. These maps were produced by complex computer processing, which finds the best-fit projected maps for the few pixels of the Hubble images. These remained the most detailed maps of Pluto until the flyby of "New Horizons" in July 2015, because the two cameras on the HST used for these maps were no longer in service.


title: Pluto

text: The "New Horizons" spacecraft, which flew by Pluto in July 2015, is the first and so far only attempt to explore Pluto directly. Launched in 2006, it captured its first (distant) images of Pluto in late September 2006 during a test of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager. The images, taken from a distance of approximately 4.2 billion kilometers, confirmed the spacecraft's ability to track distant targets, critical for maneuvering toward Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects. In early 2007 the craft made use of a gravity assist from Jupiter.


title: Pluto

text: "New Horizons" made its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015, after a 3,462-day journey across the Solar System. Scientific observations of Pluto began five months before the closest approach and continued for at least a month after the encounter. Observations were conducted using a remote sensing package that included imaging instruments and a radio science investigation tool, as well as spectroscopic and other experiments. The scientific goals of "New Horizons" were to characterize the global geology and morphology of Pluto and its moon Charon, map their surface composition, and analyze Pluto's neutral atmosphere and its escape rate. On October 25, 2016, at 05:48 pm ET, the last bit of data (of a total of 50 billion bits of data; or 6.25 gigabytes) was received from "New Horizons" from its close encounter with Pluto.


title: Pluto

text: Since the "New Horizons" flyby, scientists have advocated for an orbiter mission that would return to Pluto to fulfill new science objectives. They include mapping the surface at per pixel, observations of Pluto's smaller satellites, observations of how Pluto changes as it rotates on its axis, investigations of a possible subsurface ocean, and topographic mapping of Pluto's regions that are covered in long-term darkness due to its axial tilt. The last objective could be accomplished using laser pulses to generate a complete topographic map of Pluto. "New Horizons" principal investigator Alan Stern has advocated for a "Cassini"-style orbiter that would launch around 2030 (the 100th anniversary of Pluto's discovery) and use Charon's gravity to adjust its orbit as needed to fulfill science objectives after arriving at the Pluto system. The orbiter could then use Charon's gravity to leave the Pluto system and study more KBOs after all Pluto science objectives are completed. A conceptual study funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program describes a fusion-enabled Pluto orbiter and lander based on the Princeton field-reversed configuration reactor.


title: Pluto

text: The equatorial region of the sub-Charon hemisphere of Pluto has only been imaged at low resolution, as "New Horizons" made its closest approach to the anti-Charon hemisphere.


title: Pluto

text: "New Horizons" imaged all of Pluto's northern hemisphere, and the equatorial regions down to about 30° South. Higher southern latitudes have only been observed, at very low resolution, from Earth. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996 cover 85% of Pluto and show large albedo features down to about 75° South. This is enough to show the extent of the temperate-zone maculae. Later images had slightly better resolution, due to minor improvements in Hubble instrumentation.


title: Pluto

text: Some albedo variations in the higher southern latitudes could be detected by "New Horizons" using Charon-shine (light reflected off Charon). The south polar region seems to be darker than the north polar region, but there is a high-albedo region in the southern hemisphere that may be a regional nitrogen or methane ice deposit.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series "Firefly" and its follow-up film "Serenity", Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise "Deadpool", Jessica Brody in the Showtime series "Homeland", Dr. Leslie "Lee" Thompkins in the Fox series "Gotham", and Elena Federova in the NBC series "The Endgame". For "Homeland", she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the daughter of actress Vera Setta and Fernando Baccarin, a journalist. She is of Italian, Portuguese and Lebanese descent. Morena's debut as an actress was at the age of six for a TV special directed by her grand-uncle, who is a theatre director in Brazil. When she was seven, she moved with her family to Greenwich Village, New York, as her father was transferred to work as an editor at Globo TV's headquarters.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: Baccarin attended Public School 41 and New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, where she and her future "Homeland" co-star Claire Danes were classmates. She later attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts before she entered the theater program at the Juilliard School, where she was in the Drama Division's "Group 29" (1996~2000).


title: Morena Baccarin

text: Baccarin landed her first film role in the improvised fashion-world comedy "Perfume" (2001). This was followed by a lead role in "Way Off Broadway" (2001).


title: Morena Baccarin

text: She served as Natalie Portman's understudy in the Central Park production of "The Seagull". The science-fiction drama "Firefly" (2002) as Inara Serra was Baccarin's first television series, and she reprised her role in the 2005 film "Serenity".In February 2005, Baccarin provided the voice for Black Canary in multiple episodes of the animated series "Justice League Unlimited". She guest-starred in Season 2 Episode 7 of "How I Met Your Mother" as Chloe, which aired on Nov. 6, 2006. She also guest-starred in three episodes of the television series "The O.C." in 2006. Baccarin also appeared in the unaired pilot episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", playing a transgender woman Carmen. It was announced in April 2006 that Baccarin would be playing the adult version of recurring villain Adria in the tenth season of "Stargate SG-1". She first appeared in season 10 episode "Counterstrike" as adult Adria (the younger versions of Adria were previously played by other actresses). Baccarin reprised her role in the movie "".


title: Morena Baccarin

text: In May 2009, Baccarin made her Off-Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck's television satire "Our House" at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. She landed the lead role of Anna, the leader of the alien Visitors, in ABC's 2009–2011 series "V", a remake of the 1984 series. In May 2011, shortly following the airing of the show's second-season finale, it was announced that the show would not return for a third season. That same month, Baccarin joined the cast of the Showtime television drama "Homeland", for which she received praise for her role as the conflicted wife of a former prisoner of war. On July 18, 2013, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 2013 Primetime Emmy awards for her performance.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: Baccarin appeared alongside Melissa McCarthy in the 2015 action-comedy "Spy" as agent Karen Walker. In 2016, Baccarin appeared alongside Ryan Reynolds in the hit movie "Deadpool" as Vanessa Carlysle. She reprised her role in the 2018 sequel "Deadpool 2". In 2015, Baccarin began a leading role as Dr. Leslie Thompkins in the Fox show "Gotham". She portrayed the character in all five seasons of the show. In 2019, she played a psychologist on the Brazilian TV series "Sessão de Terapia (Therapy Session)", her first production role in her native country. In 2020, Baccarin co-starred alongside Gerard Butler in the apocalyptic thriller "Greenland".


title: Morena Baccarin

text: In November 2011, Baccarin married American film producer and director Austin Chick. In October 2013, Baccarin's and Chick's son was born. In July 2015, Chick filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In September 2015, Baccarin said that after her divorce was finalized, she planned to marry her "Gotham" co-star Ben McKenzie, adding that she was pregnant with their child. In March 2016, Baccarin's and McKenzie's daughter was born. On March 18, 2016, Baccarin's and Chick's divorce became official. In November 2016, Baccarin and McKenzie announced their engagement. They were married in Brooklyn, New York, on June 2, 2017, Baccarin's 38th birthday. In March 2021, Baccarin and McKenzie announced the birth of their son.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: working with the International Rescue Committee on behalf of refugees. She was interviewing refugees from Venezuela during a trip to Colombia. She warned of an evolving situation, which could lead to an increase of refugees asking for asylum in the United States. Baccarin became an advocate for women and girls, inspired by her mother's work for women’s rights in Brazil.


title: Morena Baccarin

text: In 2019, she, together with other artists, lawyers, advocates and refugees, took part in the Flores Exhibits project. She read the sworn testimony of a migrant child held in detention at the U.S.-Mexico Border.


title: John Wick (film)

text: John Wick is a 2014 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Derek Kolstad. It stars Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe. It is the first installment in the "John Wick" film series. The story follows former hitman John Wick and his attempt to hunt down the men who broke into his home, stole his vintage car, and killed his puppy, which was a last gift to him from his recently deceased wife.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Stahelski and David Leitch directed the film together, though only Stahelski was credited. Kolstad had completed the screenplay in 2012 and further developed it for Thunder Road Pictures. Stahelski and Leitch previously worked with Reeves as stunt doubles on "The Matrix" trilogy. Stahelski and Leitch's approach to fight scenes drew upon their admiration for anime and martial arts films. The film used fight choreographers and gun fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema. The film also pays homage to works such as John Woo's "The Killer", Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge" and "Le Samouraï", John Boorman's "Point Blank", and Spaghetti Western films.


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick" premiered at the Fantastic Fest on September 19, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 24, by Summit Entertainment. The film grossed $86 million worldwide against its budget of and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praises for its action sequences, visual style, and Reeves's performances (which many viewed as his comeback role). It went on to be regarded as one of the best action films of all time.


title: John Wick (film)

text: After losing his wife, Helen, to a terminal illness, John Wick receives a beagle puppy named Daisy that Helen had arranged to send before she died, to help him cope with his grief. Despite John's stoic demeanor, he bonds with the puppy and they spend the day driving around in his vintage 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. At a gas station, he encounters a trio of Russian gangsters whose leader Iosef insists on buying his car. John refuses to sell or be cowed by Iosef's attempts at intimidation. That evening, the gangsters break into John's home, knock him unconscious, kill Daisy, and steal his car. Iosef takes the Mustang to a chop shop to have the VIN changed. Aurelio, the shop's owner, recognizing the car and knowing who it was stolen from, punches Iosef and ejects him from the facility. John visits Aurelio, who identifies Iosef as the son of Viggo Tarasov, the head of the Russian mafia in New York City.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Aurelio relays Iosef's activities to Viggo, who attacks and berates Iosef before explaining to him that John Wick was formerly in Viggo's employ as an enforcer nicknamed "Baba Yaga." When John wanted to retire and marry Helen, Viggo gave him an "impossible task," implied to involve multiple high-level assassinations in a short period of time. To Viggo's surprise, John succeeded, and his efforts were key in establishing the Tarasov syndicate. After warning Iosef of his impending doom, Viggo tries to talk John out of seeking retribution, but John refuses to talk. Viggo sends a team of hitmen to John's house, but John kills all of them and enlists an underworld cleaning service to dispose of the bodies and evidence. Unsurprised, Viggo places a $2 million bounty on John's head and personally offers the contract to John's mentor, Marcus, who accepts. John seeks assistance from the New York Continental Hotel, which caters exclusively to the criminal underworld and permits no assassinations (termed "business" in their language) on its premises. Viggo doubles the bounty for those willing to break this rule to kill John.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Winston, the Continental's manager, informs John that Viggo has Iosef under guard at his Red Circle nightclub. John enters the Red Circle and kills a horde of Viggo's men to reach Iosef, who narrowly escapes after Viggo's lieutenant Kirill thwarts his attempt and incapacitates John. John retreats to the Continental to have his injuries treated. Ms. Perkins, an assassin and acquaintance, sneaks into John's room to kill him. Marcus alerts John with a warning shot, allowing him to subdue Perkins, who reveals the location of Viggo's front. He knocks her unconscious and leaves her with Harry, a fellow assassin, to await punishment, but she later frees herself and kills Harry. John travels to a church in Little Russia, which serves as Viggo's front and destroys his cache of money and blackmail material. When Viggo and his henchmen arrive, John ambushes them, but is subdued and captured.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Ignoring John’s demands to surrender Iosef, Viggo taunts John for thinking that he would be able to leave his old life behind. Before John can be killed, Marcus intervenes again, allowing John to free himself, strangle Kirill to death, and accost Viggo, who reveals Iosef's location. John then travels to Iosef's Brooklyn safe house and kills him and his bodyguards. Perkins learns that John and Marcus have been in contact and informs Viggo, who has Marcus beaten and tortured briefly before killing him in his home. Viggo calls John to report this, planning to have Perkins ambush him. While waiting for John, Perkins is summoned to a meeting with Winston, who has her executed for breaking the Continental's rules. Winston calls John to inform him that Viggo is planning to escape by helicopter. John races to New York Harbor, where he kills Viggo's remaining henchmen before battling Viggo on the dock. Viggo brandishes a knife, and John allows himself to be stabbed before disarming and wounding Viggo, leaving him to die. John breaks into an animal clinic to treat his wounds and releases a pit bull puppy scheduled to be euthanized. John and the dog walk home along the boardwalk where he had his final date with Helen.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Other cast members include David Patrick Kelly as Charlie, the "cleaner"; Randall Duk Kim as a doctor with a select clientele; Lance Reddick as Charon, a concierge at The Continental Hotel who always seems to know what the client needs (and like the Greek character of the same name collects coins from his guests); Munro M. Bonnell as a Russian Orthodox priest who protects the vault where Viggo stores his valuables; Omer Barnea playing Gregori and Toby Leonard Moore playing Victor, Iosef's friends and bodyguards; Matt McColm as a club goon; Daniel Bernhardt as Kirill, Viggo's henchman; Bridget Regan as Addy; Keith Jardine as Kuzma; Tait Fletcher as Nicholai; Thomas Sadoski as Jimmy; Clarke Peters as Harry; Kevin Nash as Francis, a bouncer at the Red Circle night club; Gameela Wright as a delivery woman; Vladislav Koulikov as Pavel; Pat Squire as an elderly woman; and Scott Tixier as a violinist.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The premise for "John Wick" was conceived by screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who began work on a treatment about a retired contract killer coming out to seek vengeance, entitled "Scorn". One month after starting, he had completed the first draft of the screenplay and once he had addressed several issues, he had pitched the script to various clients, with at least three offers being made. When he first started thinking about writing the script, Kolstad was influenced by film-noir classics and the themes of revenge and the antihero and the occurrences of what may play out if "The worst man in existence found salvation [...] When the source of his salvation is ripped from him [...] Do the gates of Hades open?" For Kolstad, both Alistair MacLean and Stephen King were influences in the creating of the story of "John Wick" in terms of characterization and world-building, stating, "[...] MacLean could build a world, and King could surprise you by what the main character truly was capable of."


title: John Wick (film)

text: On December 3, 2012, it was announced that Thunder Road Pictures had bought the script with discretionary funds, with Kolstad agreeing due to Thunder Road's plan to make the film straight away. When Basil Iwanyk, head of Thunder Road Pictures, had first read Kolstad's original screenplay, he was immediately drawn to the main character of Wick, stating, "The tone of the script was subversive and really fun." He also remarked on the emotional weight and action theme of the piece, which he admired. After Thunder Road had optioned the script, Kolstad spent additional months rewriting the script with them. In the original script, the character of John Wick was written with "a man in his mid-sixties" to play the role, given the title character's fabled reputation as a revered and respected assassin, thus the filmmakers had initially imagined an older actor. However, Iwanyk was of the belief that this was irrelevant and bent the original vision ever so slightly, stating, "Instead, we decided to look for someone who is not literally older, but who has a seasoned history in the film world."


title: John Wick (film)

text: On May 7, 2013, it was announced that Keanu Reeves began negotiations to star in the piece in April, and was later confirmed as the film's male lead, after Iwanyk and Peter Lawson of Thunder Road showed him the script, which he thought to be full of potential and further stated, "I love the role, but you want the whole story, the whole ensemble to come to life." Reeves and Kolstad had worked closely together on further developing the screenplay and the story, with the screenwriter stating, "We spent as much time developing the other characters as we did his. [Keanu] recognizes that the strength of the storyline lies in even the smallest details." The title of the film was later changed from "Scorn" to "John Wick", as according to Kolstad, "Keanu liked the name so much, that Reeves kept telling everyone that he was making a film called "'John Wick"'", and the producers agreed, changing the title.


title: John Wick (film)

text: During story discussions for "John Wick", Reeves contacted Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who he originally met on the set of "The Matrix", regarding the possibility as to whether they were interested in choreographing or directing the action of the piece.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Stahelski acknowledged the challenges in balancing the action with that of both the pace and tone, to which he had stated, "We're good at doing that for a particular scene when doing action, but here, we had to take a through-line for the entire film." He also acknowledged that action itself should be a collaborative entity with the story, as opposed to being a thing of its own, "If you're clever with the story and clever with the action, they can fuse together. We don't see any real separation that the story stops, and then we just wow you with action. If it all fits and weaves together and helps you love the character, that's what we want to do. Demand more out of your action, as an audience." It was remarked by Kolstad that once Reeves, Stahelski and Leitch were officially on board, during the period of January 2013 and September 2013, he was still working on the final drafts of the screenplay and the modifying of it, to which he described in the general sense a rather "relentless process," further stating, "[...] it needs to be in order to get everyone's vision in check."


title: John Wick (film)

text: On September 12, 2013, Willem Dafoe was confirmed to have been cast in the role of Marcus "[...] a close friend of Wick. He was the one who encouraged Wick to leave the life after his wife dies." On September 19, 2013, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki and Dean Winters were confirmed to be a part of the film's supporting cast. On October 14, 2013, Bridget Moynahan had joined the cast of Stahelski and Leitch's film in the role of John Wick's wife who, "the beagle puppy, Daisy, was a posthumous gift to John from." On October 15, 2013, Jason Isaacs had joined the cast, portraying David. On November 27, 2013, Daniel Bernhardt was confirmed to have joined the cast, playing Kirill, "a formal Russian military commander who is Viggo's henchman."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Stahelski and Leitch are hoping for more opportunities behind the camera, with Stahelski himself stating, "Our focus has always been to be filmmakers first and department heads second," as well as adding, "Now we're following our passion and our dream."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Principal photography was confirmed to have begun in New York City, with an expected late 2014 release, with an original shooting schedule meant to have occurred from 25 September to 5 December. On 14 October 2013, shooting began in Mill Neck, New York, with the filming process scheduled to continue in and around New York City and the greater New York area.


title: John Wick (film)

text: On August 26, 2013, Lionsgate announced that they were looking for "a high-end glass house with a water view" that was located in Nassau County, additionally with a scene or two being shot in Long Island. On October 6, 2013, filming occurred next door to the Flatiron School, on 11 Broadway. Filming moved to Brooklyn on October 24, with filming occurring on 6th Avenue between Union and Carroll Street, President Street between 6th and 7th Avenues and Carroll Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. Additionally, filming later occurred at the St. Francis Xavier Church on 6th Avenue. On October 28, 2013, a scene was shot at CITGO gas station, 501 N. Highland Ave in Upper Nyack, whilst also shooting footage at Route 9W and Christian Herald Road.


title: John Wick (film)

text: On November 1, 2013, filming took place in lower Manhattan where Delmonico's, at 2 South William Street, was used for the exterior of The Continental hotel. On November 12, 2013, some scenes were shot on 25 Broadway, and in the Financial District on Beaver Street by Broad Street. Filming also took place at W 43rd Street and 8th Avenue, on November 13, in Manhattan, and club scenes for "John Wick" have been filmed on W 27 Street, with November 15 being the last night schedule at the location. On November 21, 2013, it was announced that a bath house scene was scheduled to be filmed on November 24, December 4 and December 5. Other shooting locations included Tribeca, on November 20, which a chase scene was filmed on Church Street. It was also reported on November 27 that filming had been set up on E 83rd and 3rd Street on the Upper East Side.


title: John Wick (film)

text: On December 2, 2013, a three-week Upper East Side shoot was scheduled until December 22, with Keanu Reeves and William Dafoe filming several scenes. Filming continued to shoot in Tribeca from December 3 to December 5, with the notification placed on Church and Franklin. After the Tribeca shoot, the crew moved to Long Island on December 6 to film an exterior funeral scene. Additional filming was reported on December 13 for Chambers Street, Worth Street, and Lafayette Street. On December 19, Reeves was filming in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Principal photography was confirmed to have ended on December 20, 2013, with post-production beginning on January 10, 2014.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The film was shot on an Arri Alexa XT digital camera, with a distributed aspect ratio of . Sela described the contrast between John Wick's normal life and the assassin underworld as, "We wanted the first look to be soft and clean, and the second to be grittier, darker, and sharper. For cost reasons we were shooting with just the one camera format, so I used different lenses and contrasting camerawork to create these two distinct looks." He describes the first section of the film as being "far more static and then when John Wick goes back to being a hit-man, the camera never stops moving. For "John Wick," he had decided on using both anamorphic and spherical lenses, to which he combined a set of Hawk V-Lite Vintage´74 anamorphics with that of Cooke S4 sphericals. The initial plan was to use the anamorphic and spherical lenses in the first and second parts, respectively, to create the visual contrast; however, he decided against such a course of action, as he stated, "once we were shooting, we felt that the camerawork was enough to separate those two worlds and we ended up using the anamorphics mainly for day work and the sphericals for night work."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Costume designer Luca Mosca explained that Wick had to possess a piece of attire that had to be worn throughout almost the entire production of the film, to which he added, "Then we had to tailor it perfectly and make it sleek and timeless enough to fit into this perfect world." Due to the nature of the world Stahelski and Leitch created, Luca had to create a statement for every character based on their costume. Initially the idea was to place the villains of the piece in combat gear, but later they decided against that due to the principle that they have to be placed in suits, with Leitch quoting Luca, "It is about men in suits."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Production designer Dan Leigh said, "I approached the story as more of a fable, which ties into the graphic novel idea. The visual manifestation of that is something that transcends reality. The light is a little bit different. There's texture in the air. There are unexpected objects everywhere."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Sound engineers Jim Bolt and Martyn Zub mixed the sound for "John Wick", supervised by sound editor Mark Stoeckinger. Production sound mixer Danny Michael had used Sound Devices' 788T-SSD Digital Recorder and CL-WiFi as sound devices, additionally with a Lectrosonics VRT-Venue System, Lectrosonics radio mics, Schoeps CMC-6U and CMIT-5U microphones, a Cooper Sound 208 mixer, Blackmagic dual seven-inch monitors and a Denecke Dcode GR-1 as the main time clock for "John Wick". Due to "John Wick" being an action-oriented piece, it required a lot of sound effects, as well as "file-based workflow". For Michael, the 788T-SSD's ability to swap out removable storage was an advantage, due to himself simply supplying his CompactFlash to the post-production company Light Iron, in order for them to process the raw unedited footage on the set. Michael stated, "I was basically handing over my sound every time a camera roll changed, to a person who was literally five feet away from me," adding that, "They then took my material and synched it with what was coming off the cameras, on the spot. We would rotate CF cards throughout the course of the day."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Jake Braver was the overall visual-effects supervisor and visual-effects company Spin VFX worked on most of the visual effects.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The musical score to "John Wick" was composed by Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard, with on-screen violin music performed by Scott Tixier. The film features a few pieces of additional music such as Marilyn Manson's "Killing Strangers" and T-Bo and Bengie B's "Get Money". The original soundtrack album, "John Wick: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack", was released digitally on October 21, 2014, and received a physical format release on October 27 by Varese Sarabande Records. In addition to Bates and Richard's score, the album features music by artists such as Ciscandra Nostalghia, The Candy Shop Boys, and M86 & Susie Q. Le Castle Vania provided additional music for the score.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Director Chad Stahelski said influences on "John Wick" included; "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966), "Point Blank" (1967), "Le Cercle Rouge" (1970), and "The Killer" (1989). Stahelski said about "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Look at Clint Eastwood in [the film] —there is so much back-story unsaid there. We're big fans of leaving it to your imagination. We just give you some gold coins, and then it's, 'Where do the gold coins come from?' We'll get to that. Have your imagination do some work there." He also said "Point Blank" (1967) influenced "John Wick": "One of the biggest inspirations for the film was "Point Blank". We watched it on a loop in our office and there are a couple homages to that [in "John Wick"]." Park Chan-wook's "The Vengeance Trilogy" (2002-2005) and Lee Jeong-beom's "The Man from Nowhere" (2010) influenced the film due to "[their] minimalist composition and graphic nature."


title: John Wick (film)

text: For screenwriter Derek Kolstad, both Alistair MacLean and Stephen King were huge influences in the creation of the story of "John Wick" in terms of characterization and world-building, stating, "MacLean could build a world, and King could surprise you by what the main character truly was capable of." Outside of films, Stahelski and Leitch drew inspiration from the visual stylings of the 1960s and 1970s as well as cinematic influences, including Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin, William Friedkin and Sam Peckinpah. With Stahelski himself stating, "All the way back to Kurosawa up to Sergio Leone. We like the spaghetti western sensibility there, some of the composition." Albeit inspiration and emulation from the noir film genre, Stahelski also added, "maybe was sort of less impactful for us than the other sort of westerns and Kurosawa and things like that. I think we wanted to make this hard-boiled character."


title: John Wick (film)

text: The official website for "John Wick" debuted on August 15, 2014, introducing a marketing campaign and interactive layout to promote the film. The website streamed an audio file and contained interactive games such as "The Red Circle Club" and "Revenge Ride". Lionsgate provided information on the cast and crew along with a gallery and video section.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The first images debuted on August 21, 2014, featuring Reeves as Wick. With the release, Lionsgate confirmed the film being set for a "sudden release" on October 24, 2014.


title: John Wick (film)

text: On September 10, 2014, the teaser poster was released with the confirmation date of the expected teaser trailer.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The teaser trailer for "John Wick" debuted September 12, 2014. The theatrical release poster and the final theatrical trailer were both released on September 30, 2014, by Stahelski and Leitch on an 'Ask me anything' Reddit session.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Lionsgate had provided Collider and Moviepilot, on October 2, 2014, with a prize pack to give away to various readers, which included "Assassin's Creed Unity", a $25 Fandango gift card, a Lionsgate DVD 3-pack with "Dredd", "Gamer", and "Rambo", and a "John Wick" poster and T-shirt. On October 6, 2014, the official website for "John Wick" had been updated to include three trailers, photographs with John's story, individual cast photos, and mini-biographies. The IMAX TV spot trailer for "John Wick" debuted October 6, 2014, featuring new footage of the film. Carl F. Bucherer was the official partner of the "John Wick" premiere in New York City on October 13, 2014. Keanu Reeves sported a Manero AutoDate with a light dial, Willem Dafoe wore a Manero AutoDate in classic black, and Daniel Bernhardt donned a Patravi ChronoGrade. An IMAX featurette was released on October 22, 2014, with clips relating to the film accompanied by statements by Reeves, Stahelski, and Leitch.


title: John Wick (film)

text: As part of a cross-promotional deal with Overkill Software, Lionsgate and Thunder Road Pictures, on October 21, 2014, John Wick was added as a playable character in the online game "Payday 2". Other elements from the film were included, such as Wick's signature weapons and skill tree that allowed for dual-wielding of certain firearms. Fandango offered people who purchased tickets online at select theaters a free download of "Payday 2" through Steam. "Variety" described Liongate's deal as a "pretty imaginative marketing move". Danielle DePalma, Lionsgate's EVP of digital marketing, stated, "We're big fans of "Payday 2" and the team at Starbreeze, and we're thrilled to kick off our partnership with such a cool movie". Bo Andersson Klint, Starbreeze CEO, stated, "We've finally got a real hitman on our team. Being able to play as John Wick in "Payday 2" ahead of the movie's release is a great reward for our loyal "Payday 2" community."


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick" premiered at the Regal Union Square Theatre, Stadium 14 on October 13, 2014, in New York City. It had an earlier screening at the Austin Fantastic Fest on September 19, where it opened the official sidebar section, Special Gala Screening, to an astounding reception. It opened in Los Angeles at the ArcLight Hollywood on October 22, 2014. "John Wick" had its television premiere on the USA channel on March 12, 2017.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Prior to "John Wick"'s public release, an advance screening of the film was shown on October 9, 2014, at Regal Oakwood in Hollywood, Florida. A screening was shown in advance at the UA Court Street in Brooklyn, New York on October 14. Glendale Designs sponsored a private screening on October 16, 2014, at Harkins Arrowhead in Peoria, Arizona. BackstageOL and Lionsgate hosted an advance screening on October 21, 2014, at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium in Houston, Texas, and at the Santikos Embassy 14 in San Antonio, Texas. Lionsgate announced 40 additional advanced screenings at selected theaters in the United States October 21 and 22, as part of a national promotional campaign. Entertainment One Films held advance screenings in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, and Vancouver between October 20 and 23.


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick" began a wide theatrical release in the United States on October 24, 2014, expanding in successive weeks to France, Australia, and Netherlands, and premiered in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2015, after expanding throughout Europe.


title: John Wick (film)

text: By May 22, 2013, Lionsgate had sold more than $250 million in territorial rights to nine titles at the Cannes Film Festival, including "John Wick". StudioCanal distributed the piece throughout Germany, Metropolitan Filmexport acquired the French distribution rights, Acme Film acquired the distribution rights throughout the Baltic region, Monolith Films acquired the film rights in Poland, Imagem Filmes acquired the Brazilian distribution rights, VieVision Pictures obtained the film rights in Taiwan, Panasia Films obtained the film rights in Hong Kong, InterCom acquired some of the rights for Eastern Europe, Entertainment One picked up the Canadian distribution rights, Belga Films acquired the rights to distribute the film in Belgium, and A-Film has distribution in the Netherlands, M2 Pictures acquired the Italian distribution rights, the Huayi Brothers picked up the Chinese distribution (being one of only four films from the United States that were picked up, with a planned 2015 limited theatrical release), Lionsgate acquired from Thunder Road Pictures the distribution rights in the United States with a planned 2014 limited theatrical release, and in October, Summit Entertainment, a Lionsgate company, distributed the film in the United States. On October 31, 2014, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures would be distributing the film in the UK (along with ). It was later announced that the release date in the United Kingdom was moved back from the first weekend of 2015 to April 10, 2015.


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick" earned $14.4 million from 2,589 locations on its opening weekend, compared to the $7–8 million most analysts projected the film would make. By the end of its theatrical run, "John Wick" grossed $43 million in North America and $45.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $88.8 million, against a production budget of $20–30 million.


title: John Wick (film)

text: The film had a wide release in the United States and Canada in selected theaters on October 24. The film earned $5.45 million on its opening day, including $875,000 from Thursday night previews, which was the second-highest opening of that weekend, at an average of $5,465 per theater. The film grossed $2.5 million from 347 IMAX locations that weekend, which represented 17.7 percent of the film's overall gross for its opening weekend. The audience was 60% male and 77% were older than 25.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Outside North America, the film took $1.4 million during its international opening weekend. The film's highest-grossing debuts were in France, Australia, Thailand, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. On its second week, it added $6.7 million from 33 territories. The film went number one in France ($1.2 million) from 300 screens, number three in Australia ($961,000) from 177 screens, and number ten in the Middle East ($1 million) from a total of 80 screens.


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick" earned a mostly positive reception upon release, attaining praise for the action sequences, direction, visual style, pacing and the performances of the cast, especially Keanu Reeves as John Wick. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 86% based on 217 reviews, and an average rating of 6.90/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Stylish, thrilling, and giddily kinetic, "John Wick" serves as a satisfying return to action for Keanu Reeves – and what looks like it could be the first of a franchise." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on reviews from 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a "B" grade, on an A+ to F scale.


title: John Wick (film)

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" stated, ""John Wick" is the kind of fired-up, ferocious B-movie fun some of us can't get enough of" and noted the "juicy performances" from Dafoe, Leguizamo, and McShane. Richard Corliss of "Time" magazine wrote, "Action movies are about movement, and "John Wick" pursues that goal with remorseless verve." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a "B+" rating, stating, "An underworld fantasy that grafts crisp action on to Rian Johnson-esque world-building, producing one of the more fully realized shoot-'em-up flicks in recent memory." He continued by praising Kolstad's script which "distinguishes itself by carefully defining the boundaries of its universe". Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film an "A−" rating and called Kolstad's screenplay, "a marvelously rich and stylish feat of pulpy world-building."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Justin Lowe of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "After a marked absence from the genre, Reeves resoundingly returns with an effortless, kinetic style that positions the film extremely well for any potential follow-ups." Peter Debruge of "Variety" spoke highly of the film, "Back in action-hero mode, Keanu Reeves joins forces with his "Matrix" stunt double to deliver a slick and satisfying revenge thriller" and noted "what a thrill well-choreographed action can be when we're actually able to make out what's happening". Stephanie Zacharek of "The Village Voice" said that, "Reeves is wonderful here, a marvel of physicality and stern determination – he moves with the grace of an old-school swashbuckler." Bilge Ebiri of "Vulture" commented, "It's a beautiful coffee-table action movie."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Jeannette Catsoulis wrote, in her review for "The New York Times", "Harboring few ambitions beyond knock-your-socks-off action sequences, this crafty revenge thriller delivers with so much style – and even some wit – that the lack of substance takes longer than it should to become problematic." Catsoulis praised Dafoe and Leguizamo for "bringing real subtlety to an all-too-brief scene" and Nyqvist as "marvellous", as well as Stahelski's direction and Sela's cinematography. Forrest Wickman of "Slate" noted, ""John Wick" offers a slow burn, sizzling in a manner true to its hero's surname." Jordan Hoffman of "The Guardian" scored the film four out of five stars, writing, "A slick, propulsive and ridiculous crime picture that strides like an automatic machine gun."


title: John Wick (film)

text: Peter Bradshaw, also reviewing for "The Guardian", gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated "Reeves's semi-deliberate zonked deadpan style only really works in juxtaposition with funny dialogue – and this is a pretty humourless and violent film, which grinds on and on with more and more gleaming black SUVs getting trashed." Ealasaid Haas of "San Jose Mercury News" described "John Wick" as a "disappointingly standard revenge movie." John Semley of "The Globe and Mail" called the title "the new name in crummy action cinema," giving it one-half out of 4 stars.


title: John Wick (film)

text: On August 7, 2015, Lionsgate and Starbreeze Studios announced a partnership to develop a first-person shooter virtual reality game based on the film for the HTC Vive/Steam VR. Development was to be headed by Grab Games, with Starbreeze set to publish. WEVR was to develop an introductory experience for the game. The game was released on February 9, 2017, with the name "John Wick Chronicles". and have a standalone narrative based on the Continental Hotel. Additionally, John Wick content – a free "Character Pack" and a chargeable "Weapons Pack" – was released for the "Payday 2" games on October 20, 2016, as cross-promotion.


title: John Wick (film)

text: "The Reaper" character skin in "Fortnite Battle Royale" was often referred to as John Wick. There has since been an official John Wick skin released alongside a limited game mode titled "Wick's Bounty."


title: John Wick (film)

text: "John Wick Hex" is a tactical third person game set in the John Wick universe, just before the trilogy's events. It has been relatively well-received, with an 80% rating on PC Gamer. It makes use of a timeline and movement budget, as well as a replay function that stitches together a level the player completed into an action sequence.


title: John Wick (film)

text: A sequel, "", was released on February 10, 2017. A second sequel, titled "", was released on May 17, 2019. The third sequel, titled "", will be released on March 24, 2023.


title: The Irishman

text: The Irishman (subtitled onscreen as I Heard You Paint Houses) is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt. It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, with Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The film follows Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family, including his time working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).


title: The Irishman

text: In September 2014, following years of "development hell," "The Irishman" was announced as Scorsese's next film after "Silence" (2016). De Niro, who also served as producer, and Pacino were confirmed that month, as was Pesci, who came out of his unofficial retirement to star after numerous requests. Principal photography began in September 2017 in New York City and the Mineola and Williston Park sections of Long Island and wrapped in March 2018. Scenes were filmed with a custom three-camera rig to help facilitate the extensive de-ageing digital effects that made De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci appear younger. With a runtime of 209 minutes and a production budget of $159–250 million, it is the longest and most expensive film of Scorsese's career.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" premiered at the 57th New York Film Festival, and had a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, followed by digital streaming on Netflix starting on November 27, 2019. It received universal critical acclaim, with praise for Scorsese's direction and the performances of De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci. The film was nominated for 10 awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, and received numerous other accolades.


title: The Irishman

text: In a nursing home, elderly Irish-American World War II veteran Frank Sheeran recounts his time as a hitman for the Mafia. In 1950s Philadelphia, Sheeran works as a union delivery truck driver, where he starts selling some of the meat shipments to local gangster Skinny Razor, a member of the Philadelphia crime family headed by Angelo Bruno. After the delivery company accuses Sheeran of theft, Union lawyer Bill Bufalino gets the case thrown out when Sheeran refuses to name his customers to the judge. Bill introduces Sheeran to his cousin Russell Bufalino, head of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family. Sheeran begins to carry out jobs for Russell, as well as members of the South Philadelphia underworld, including "painting houses", a euphemism for contract killing. Soon, Russell introduces Sheeran to Jimmy Hoffa, head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who has financial ties with the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family and is struggling to deal with fellow rising Teamster Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, in addition to mounting pressure from the federal government. Hoffa becomes close with Sheeran and his family, especially his daughter Peggy, and Sheeran becomes Hoffa's chief bodyguard.


title: The Irishman

text: After the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy, Bufalino is thrilled while Hoffa is furious. Kennedy's brother, Robert Kennedy, whom he appointed Attorney General, forms a "Get Hoffa" squad to bring down Hoffa, who is eventually arrested and convicted in 1964 for jury tampering. While Hoffa is in prison, his replacement as Teamsters president, Frank "Fitz" Fitzsimmons, misuses the union's pension fund and gives interest-free loans to the Mafia. Hoffa's relationship with Tony Pro, himself arrested for extortion, also deteriorates beyond repair when Hoffa refuses to improve his pension terms. Hoffa has his sentence commuted by President Richard Nixon in 1971, although he is forbidden from partaking in any Teamsters activities until 1980.


title: The Irishman

text: Despite his parole terms, Hoffa undertakes a plan to reclaim his power atop the Teamsters. Hoffa's growing disrespect for other Teamster leaders and his intention to separate the union from the Mafia begin to worry Russell. During a dinner in Sheeran's honor in October 1973, Russell tells Sheeran to confront Hoffa and warn him that the heads of the crime families are displeased with his behavior. Hoffa then informs Sheeran that he "knows things" that Russell and the dons of other families are unaware of and claims that what he knows makes him untouchable, for if anything ever happened to him, they would all end up in prison.


title: The Irishman

text: In 1975, while on their way to the wedding of Bill's daughter, Russell tells Sheeran that the dons have become fed up with Hoffa and have sanctioned his murder. Reluctantly, Russell informs Sheeran that he has been chosen as the triggerman, knowing he might otherwise try to warn or save Hoffa. The two drive to a private airport where Sheeran boards a plane to Detroit. Hoffa, who had scheduled a meeting at a local restaurant with Tony Pro and Anthony Giacalone, is surprised to see Sheeran arrive late with Hoffa's unsuspecting foster son Chuckie O'Brien and loan shark Sally Bugs. They advise Hoffa that the meeting was moved to a house where Tony Pro and Russell are waiting to drive him over there. Entering the house, Hoffa finds it empty and realizes that he has been set up. He turns around to leave, at which point Sheeran shoots him dead at point-blank range and leaves the gun atop his body by the entrance. After Sheeran departs, two other mobsters wrap up the body and cremate it in secret.


title: The Irishman

text: After invoking their Fifth Amendment rights in a grand jury investigation into Hoffa's disappearance, Sheeran, Russell, Tony Pro, and others are eventually convicted on various charges unrelated to Hoffa's murder. One by one, the elderly gangsters die in prison. Sheeran is eventually released and placed in a nursing home. He tries to reconcile with his alienated daughters, but Peggy, suspecting his involvement in Hoffa's disappearance, has since severed all contact with him. Sheeran begins seeing a Catholic priest assigned to the nursing home who gives him absolution for the crimes he committed over his lifetime, though Sheeran shows little remorse – aside from his killing of Hoffa. As the priest leaves, Sheeran asks him to leave the door slightly ajar, emulating one of Hoffa's habits.


title: The Irishman

text: Additionally, several actors appear in smaller roles, including Aleksa Palladino as Mary Sheeran, Kevin O'Rourke as John McCullough, Bo Dietl as Joey Glimco, Kate Arrington as Older Connie Sheeran, Jordyn DiNatale as Young Connie Sheeran, Jim Norton as Don Rickles, Al Linea as Sam "Momo" Giancana, Garry Pastore as Albert Anastasia, Daniel Jenkins as E. Howard "Big Ears" Hunt, Paul Ben-Victor as Jake Gottlieb, Patrick Gallo as Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, Jake Hoffman as Allen Dorfman, Ken Clark as James P. Hoffa, Peter Jay Fernandez as Cecil B. Moore, Jeff Moore as Frank Church, Gino Cafarelli as Frank Rizzo, and Robert Funaro as Johnny, a Friendly Lounge bartender. Unnamed roles include Jonathan Morris and James Martin as priests, Action Bronson as a casket salesman, Vinny Vella as a meat company yard manager, Matt Walton as a TV host, and Dascha Polanco as a nurse.


title: The Irishman

text: In an interview with "The Guardian", Scorsese mentioned that the original contemplation of this project started in the 1980s, stating: "Bob [De Niro] and I had tried for many years to come up with a project. This one actually started about 35 years ago with the idea of the remake of "The Bad and the Beautiful" and the sequel "Two Weeks in Another Town". Somehow we exhausted that." Afterwards, Scorsese approached De Niro with an idea to do an aging hitman story, which did not move forward. De Niro then revived that old discussion and "got the project underway" after reading a copy of the 2004 book "I Heard You Paint Houses" written by Charles Brandt, with Scorsese saying that De Niro "became rather emotional" as he told him about the lead character. Scorsese then became interested in directing a film adaptation of the book and in casting De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" started its development phase in 2007. New plot materials and rewrites caused the movie to lose its place in the film release calendar, and Scorsese went on to direct three more films, "Hugo" (2011), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) and "Silence" (2016), before returning to "The Irishman". In September 2014, after years of development hell, Pacino confirmed that the film would be Scorsese's next project after "Silence". In October 2015, De Niro stated that the film was still happening and could have started filming in 2016 with Steven Zaillian confirmed as screenwriter. De Niro also served as a producer for the film. In July 2017, it was reported that the film would be presented as a series of flashbacks of an older Frank Sheeran, depicted as recollecting his many criminal activities over several decades, with De Niro appearing "as young as 24 years and as old as 80." Producer Irwin Winkler defined the project as "the coming together of people that have worked together since we're kids together", while Rosenthal said that "what will surprise you is, as a Scorsese movie, it is a slower movie. ... It is guys looking at themselves through an older perspective."


title: The Irishman

text: In May 2016, Mexican production company Fábrica de Cine had offered $100 million to finance the film, and through that deal Paramount Pictures would retain domestic rights. IM Global was also circling to bid for the film's international sales rights. STX Entertainment bought the international distribution rights to the film for $50 million beating out other studios like Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate, while Fábrica de Cine closed the deal and Paramount retained its domestic rights.


title: The Irishman

text: By February 2017, Paramount Pictures had dropped domestic distribution rights for "The Irishman" following the announcement that Fábrica de Cine would not be financing the film due to its climbing budget. Netflix then bought the film rights for $105 million and agreed to finance the film's $125-million budget with a projected release date of October 2019. In March 2018, it was also reported the film's budget had ballooned from $125 million to $140 million, due in large part to the visual effects needed to make De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci appear younger at various points throughout the film. By August of that year, speculation had arisen that the cost had reportedly risen to as much as $175 million by the time post-production was to have wrapped, and some publications asserted that it might go as high as $200 million.


title: The Irishman

text: In August 2019, it was reported that the film's official cost was $159 million. However, reports on the production budget have continued to vary, occasionally noted as high as $250 million, with Jeff Sneider of Collider saying: "No one is on the same page on the budget for this film. And let me tell you what that means. It means the budget is [way higher] than any of you are imagining."


title: The Irishman

text: In July 2009, Brandt received a phone call from De Niro that led to a meeting a month later between the two of them, Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. The meeting was supposed to last an hour but ended up lasting four hours. Brandt said that "the material was new to them" and Zaillian already had a script ready, but the additions Brandt made required a do-over. To help, Brandt handed over a screenplay of his own. Brandt said, "Zaillian is a great writer, don't get me wrong ... I wanted to log the material." In the opening credits and as a reflection of the writing adaptation process, the final film is titled "I Heard You Paint Houses", the name of the novel on which the picture is based, while the title "The Irishman" appears only in the end credits.


title: The Irishman

text: The truthfulness of Sheeran's supposed confessions and the book on which the film was based has been challenged by "The Lies of the Irishman", an article on "Slate" by Bill Tonelli, as well as by "Jimmy Hoffa and The Irishman: A True Crime Story?" by legal scholar Jack Goldsmith, which appeared in "The New York Review of Books". Chip Fleischer, the publisher of "I Heard You Paint Houses", wrote a detailed reply to Tonelli's piece, calling it "irresponsible in the extreme, not to mention damaging." In an interview, De Niro defended the writing process of the film by stating, "We're not saying we're telling the actual story. We're telling our story."


title: The Irishman

text: The casting director for the film was Ellen Lewis, who was also the casting director in four other Scorsese films. In July 2017, Pacino and Pesci officially joined the cast, with Ray Romano also joining and Bobby Cannavale and Harvey Keitel in final negotiations. Pesci was offered his role a reported 50 times before agreeing to take part, at first saying he did not want to do "the gangster thing again", while Scorsese tried to persuade him "The Irishman" would be "different." De Niro played a big part in convincing Pesci to take the role, telling him "We gotta do this. Who knows if there'll be anything after?" In September 2017, Jack Huston, Stephen Graham, Domenick Lombardozzi, Jeremy Luke, Joseph Russo, Kathrine Narducci, Danny Abeckaser, J. C. MacKenzie, and Craig Vincent joined the cast. In October, Gary Basaraba, Anna Paquin, Welker White, and Jesse Plemons joined the cast of the film. Later, Craig Di Francia and Action Bronson were revealed to have joined the cast. Sebastian Maniscalco and Paul Ben-Victor were later revealed as being part of the cast.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" is the ninth feature collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese and their first since 1995's "Casino"; the fourth film to star both De Niro and Pacino (following "The Godfather Part II", "Heat," and "Righteous Kill"); the seventh to star both De Niro and Pesci (following "Raging Bull", "Once Upon a Time in America", "Goodfellas", "A Bronx Tale", "Casino", and "The Good Shepherd"); the first to star both Pacino and Pesci; and the first time Pacino has been directed by Scorsese. Scorsese said of finally working with Pacino, "I'd been wanting to work with Al for years. Francis Coppola introduced me to him in 1970. Then he's in "The Godfather" one and two, and he's in the stratosphere. For me, Al was always something unreachable. We even tried to make a film in the 1980s but couldn't get the financing for it. I said, 'What's he like to work with?' Bob [De Niro] said, 'Oh, he's great. You'll see.'" Scorsese added that there is a meta aspect to seeing Pacino and De Niro interact in "The Irishman", saying, "What you see in the film is their relationship as actors, as friends, over the past 40, 45 years. There's something magical that happens there."


title: The Irishman

text: Principal photography was originally set to start in August 2017, in and around New York City, and would continue through December 2017. Instead, filming began on September 18, 2017, in New York City and in the Mineola and Williston Park sections of Long Island, and wrapped on March 5, 2018, for a total of 108 days. Additional scenes were filmed in the Hudson Valley in Salisbury Mills and Suffern, among other sites, including Paterson, New Jersey. A posture coach was hired to instruct De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci on how to comport themselves like much younger men. The picture was primarily shot on 35 mm film with Arricam STs and LTs, and with RED Heliums for sections shot on digital, with two IR-capable Arri Alexa Minis as witness-cameras for the de-aging. All scenes that required de-aging effects were shot digitally with a custom three-camera rig they called the "three-headed monster."


title: The Irishman

text: Scorsese envisioned the film as having an "old-fashioned" look which cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto accomplished by using "a series of lookup tables" for each scene. Sherlock summarized the filming approach used for each historical decade depicted throughout the film, stating: "The '50s-set scenes have a Kodachrome look; the '60s-set scenes have an Ektachrome look; the '70s-set scenes have a silvery layer plastered over them; and any scene set in the '80s and onwards have a bleach bypass look, and are also more de-saturated than the other scenes." The extensive production design covered 117 filming locations, 319 scenes, 160 actors, in a story spanning 50 years. Producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff summarized her relation to Scorsese and his principal crew, stating: "I also work closely with the line producer, AD [Assistant Director] and DP [Director of Photography] on a budget and schedule, and we create a production plan that will realize Marty's vision. ... We scouted a lot. Our prep was almost six months; sometimes we were scouting after the day's wrap, trying to find new location ... due to weather or whatever; it was pretty insane."


title: The Irishman

text: Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson were costume designer and co-designer, respectively. Speaking about Scorsese, Powell said, "one of the things he said on a first meeting was that we weren't doing the same kind of gangsters as "Goodfellas" or "Casino" ... These weren't flashy peacock looks. We were doing a low-key version. I mean, there are some obvious mafia types in there, but half of that is the way these people hold themselves." The film had a total of "250 characters and 6,500 extras", said Peterson, with Powell adding that "you need a lot of research, a lot of hard work, and you need to just get down and do it. ... You basically have to sort of divide your brain up into those five different decades, and approach it as if there are three or four films in one. You're filming more than one decade in one day, and that's when you'd have to really know what you were doing."


title: The Irishman

text: Bill Desowitz, writing for "IndieWire", stated that the film had been considered as contending for an Oscar nomination for its editing. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker commented: "Marty wanted to show the banality of the violence ... It's not like the incredible camera moves or flashy editing of the earlier movies. Victims are killed in an instant—often in very simple wide shots. And his brilliant idea of slamming the titles in front of the audience (describing how various mob characters die) was a way of showing that being part of the Mafia is not a good idea".


title: The Irishman

text: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman handled the effects for the film. In August 2015, Scorsese and De Niro made a test reel by recreating a scene from "Goodfellas" (1990), to see if the de-aging could work. Scorsese said that "the risk was there, and that was it. We just tried to make the film. After sitting on the couch for ten years [...] we finally had a way." By the time the film was released, Pacino was 79 years old, with De Niro and Pesci both 76 years old. Scorsese and De Niro made the decision not to use motion tracking markers. Helman said, "He's not going to wear a helmet with little cameras in there ... He's going to want to be in the moment with Joe Pesci and Al Pacino on set, with no markers on him. So, if you're going to capture the performance, how are you going to do that?" Scenes that required the de-aging visual effects were shot digitally with a custom three-camera rig. Helman and his team had spent two years analyzing old films to determine how the actors should look at various ages.


title: The Irishman

text: In March 2018, speaking about the de-aging process, Pacino told "IndieWire", "I was playing Jimmy Hoffa at the age of 39, they're doing that on a computer ... We went through all these tests and things ... Someone would come up to me and say, 'You're 39.' [You'd recall] some sort of memory of 39, and your body tries to acclimate to that and think that way. They remind you of it." The extent of the visual effects was made evident when the amount of effects was quantified by "Indiewire" stating: "Once again technology caught up with need when ILM developed an innovative, digital de-aging process without facial impediments ... The impressive results put ILM on the Academy's longlist this week for the VFX Oscar ... The costly VFX de-aging, therefore, became the tech centerpiece, with 1,750 shots created for two and a half hours of footage".


title: The Irishman

text: Robbie Robertson and music supervisor Randall Poster compiled the soundtrack. It features both original and existing music tracks. Speaking to "Rolling Stone", Robertson said, "This is probably the tenth film I've worked on with Marty [Scorsese], and every time we do it, it's a whole new experience ... The music score for "The Irishman" was an unusual feat. We were trying to discover a sound, a mood, a feel, that could work, over the many decades that this story takes place." Robertson also wrote the score for the film, although only his "Theme for the Irishman" appears on the soundtrack. Two tracks Robertson wrote for the film that appear in the credits, "I Hear You Paint Houses" and "Remembrance" featuring Frederic Yonnet on the diatonic harmonica, were included on his 2019 album "Sinematic". The album was digitally released on November 1, 2019, followed by a physical release on November 29.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" had its world premiere at the 57th New York Film Festival on September 27, 2019, and had a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, followed by digital streaming on Netflix starting on November 27, 2019.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman"s international premiere was at the Closing Night Gala of the BFI London Film Festival on October 13, 2019. The festival's director Tricia Tuttle said it was an "immense cinephile thrill" to close the event with an "epic of breathtakingly audacious scale and complexity" from "one of the true greats of cinema." The film also had screenings at numerous film festivals, including: Mill Valley, Hamptons, Lumière, San Diego, Mumbai, Rome, Philadelphia, Chicago, Tokyo, Camerimage, Los Cabos, Mar del Plata, and Cairo. Additionally, from November 1 to December 1, 2019, "The Irishman" screened at the Belasco Theatre in New York City, making it the first film to ever screen in the Belasco's 112-year history.


title: The Irishman

text: A 23-minute featurette of a roundtable discussion with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci titled "" was released on Netflix on November 28, 2019. A three-part companion podcast for the film called "Behind The Irishman" was hosted by Sebastian Maniscalco, and published weekly from December 2 to 16, 2019; there were also three bonus episodes released on January 27, 30, and February 3, 2020.


title: The Irishman

text: According to Nielsen, "The Irishman" was watched by 17.1 million people in its first five days of digital release in the United States, including 3.9 million on its debut day. While the overall total was lower than previous Netflix originals such as "Bird Box" (26 million over its first week in December 2018), 751,000 users watched the film in its entirety on its premiere date (18 percent), which was on par with "Bird Box" and higher than "" (11 percent). Nielsen also noted that the largest number of viewers to watch the film in its entirety (930,000) came on November 29, and its opening day demo was made up mostly of men aged 50–64 (20 percent), while they also made up an overall 15 percent of the viewership over the five-day period. Several days later, Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos announced that a total of 26.4 million accounts worldwide had watched at least 70 percent of the film, meaning that about 16 percent of all Netflix account holders watched the film during its first week of release. He also estimated that total would reach 40 million after the film's first month of release. It was the fourth most watched Netflix film of 2019, and the fifth most popular Netflix release overall. In July 2020, Netflix revealed the film had in-fact been watched by 64 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the most-ever for one of their original films.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" received a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, in the United States. As part of the continuing tensions between the film markets for direct-to-digital streaming and theatrical releases and distribution of films, several theater chains protested the policy of Netflix for the release of Scorsese's "The Irishman". The film did not play at the theaters owned by AMC, Cinemark, Regal, or Cineplex, because the "four week progression to SVOD remains unacceptable to those chains." It was previously reported in February 2019 that Netflix would possibly give the film a wide theatrical release, at the request of Scorsese. The heads of several theater chains, including AMC's Adam Aron, who refused to play "Roma" the previous November, said they would only be open to playing "The Irishman" if Netflix "respects the decades old theatrical window, that suggests that movies come to theaters first for a couple of months, and then go to the home." Two major chains offered to exhibit the film if given an exclusivity window of 60 days, approximately two weeks shorter than the typical window, but could not reach an agreement with Netflix. The film peaked at playing in 500 theaters, essentially the most possible without the involvement of a major chain.


title: The Irishman

text: In the United Kingdom, Altitude Film Distribution launched the film through the Everyman and Curzon cinema chains, where the film was shown on about 80 screens, while other British cinema chains, including Picturehouse, Vue, and Odeon, turned down the film in order to uphold the 90-day window that was standard practice across much of Europe. In Italy, "The Irishman" played on about 100 screens via Cineteca di Bologna, the same distributor that released "Roma" in 2018 and caused an uproar among Italian exhibitors, but no similar protests occurred over "The Irishman". The film also received limited releases in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The film did not play in France because of the country's 30-month window between a film's theatrical release and its availability on TV and other outlets. Despite all of this controversy, "The Irishman" became Netflix's biggest theatrical release both in the United States and internationally.


title: The Irishman

text: The announcement trailer for the film premiered during the 91st Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2019. Netflix then released a teaser trailer on July 31, 2019, while the official trailer debuted on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on September 25, 2019. The final trailer was released on November 19, 2019. To promote the release of the film on its streaming service, Netflix took over five blocks of Little Italy, Manhattan, on November 22 and 23, 2019, and back-dated them to August 1, 1975, the day after Jimmy Hoffa was reported missing. The studio spent an estimated $50 million promoting the film, as well as an additional $40 million on its Oscar campaign.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" received director-approved special edition DVD and Blu-ray releases by The Criterion Collection on November 24, 2020.


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" opened at three theaters in New York City and five in Los Angeles on November 1, 2019; while Netflix does not publicly disclose box office figures for its films, "IndieWire" estimated that it grossed a "strong" $350,000 in its opening weekend, an average $43,750 per venue. "Deadline Hollywood" noted that numerous showtimes at several theaters, including Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles and the IFC Center in New York, had sold-out showings. The site also argued that had the film gone wide theatrically, it likely would have become a box office bomb given its 209-minute runtime and large budget, noting that another period crime film with a long runtime that opened the same weekend, "Motherless Brooklyn", failed to meet its projections. Conversely, CNBC wrote that Netflix was "leaving millions on the table" by not giving the film a wide theatrical release, and claimed it could have legged out to at least $100 million at the domestic box office, citing the high demand for tickets during its opening weekend (with some reselling for $65–85) and that Scorsese's last gangster film, "The Departed", made $132 million in 2006. An opinion piece in the "Chicago Tribune" wrote the film "potentially could have brought in anywhere from $80–115 million" if it was released theatrically, and also contested that the film would lose Netflix as much as $280 million due to its high production and marketing costs compared to limited box office receipts.


title: The Irishman

text: Expanding to 22 theaters in its second weekend, the film made an estimated $440,000, for a ten-day running total of about $940,000. It then grossed an estimated $1.25 million from 175 theaters in its third week, and $1.2 million from 200 in its fourth. Despite being released on Netflix on November 27, the film expanded to 500 theaters in its fifth weekend, "close to the maximum number with most top theater chains refusing to let their customers have a chance to see it in theaters despite the acclaim and interest", and made an estimated $1 million. It then made an estimated $450,000 from 320 theaters in its sixth weekend—likely becoming Netflix's most successful theatrical release to-date with a running total of $6.7 million—and then $100,000 from 70 theaters in its seventh. Through its eighth and ninth weekend, the film was reduced to minimal theater play. "The Irishman" grossed an estimated $7 million in North America and $968,683 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $8 million.


title: The Irishman

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "An epic gangster drama that earns its extended runtime, "The Irishman" finds Martin Scorsese revisiting familiar themes to poignant, funny, and profound effect." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 94 out of 100 based on 55 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The Irishman

text: Writing for "Time", Stephanie Zacharek gave "The Irishman" a perfect score, calling the film "clever and entertaining, to the point where you may think that's all it's going to be" and that "its last half-hour is deeply moving in a way that creeps up on you, and it's then that you see what Scorsese was working toward all along"; she also added that "the de-aging is distracting at first ... but the special effects are hardly a deal breaker, and in the end they probably add to the movie's mythological vibe". Similarly, Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" called it "a coldly enthralling, long-form knockout—a majestic Mob epic with ice in its veins", particularly praising Pacino's performance as "the film's most extraordinary." "RogerEbert.com"s Matt Zoller Seitz gave the film three and a half stars out of four, defining Scorsese as "one of the greatest living, though still largely unsung, comedy directors" and also praised the editing of Thelma Schoonmaker.


title: The Irishman

text: Benjamin Lee of "The Guardian" wrote that in the film "there's an almost meta-maturity, as if Scorsese is also looking back on his own career, the film leaving us with a haunting reminder not to glamorise violent men and the wreckage they leave behind." Mike Ryan of "Uproxx" called it a "phenomenal film", stating that the de-aging is "pretty good" and "the best I've seen so far", but noted that "if you stare at it, yes, you can see the imperfections ... but you do get used to it". "IndieWire"s Eric Kohn stated that ""The Irishman" is Martin Scorsese's best crime movie since "Goodfellas", and a pure, unbridled illustration of what has made his filmmaking voice so distinctive for nearly 50 years", reserving particular praise for Steven Zaillian's screenplay, writing that "Zaillian hasn't delivered a script this polished since "Moneyball"." David Edelstein wrote for "Vulture" that "[Pesci] plays Bufalino as almost supernaturally focused and watchful, always hypersensitive to other peoples' rhythms. ... I thank the gods of acting that he came out of retirement to do this." He also praised the performances of De Niro and Pacino, stating that "The Irishman" is one of Scorsese's "most satisfying films in decades." Writing for "TheWrap", Alonso Duralde praised Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography and Scorsese's direction, writing that "at the age of 76, Scorsese is embracing new technologies with the fervor of Ang Lee ... and indulging in retro fantasy with the keen eye of Quentin Tarantino". Nicholas Rapold of "Film Comment", gave the de-aging CGI approach used in the filming a mixed assessment, stating that: "De Niro's rosy complexion as a truck driver 'kid' recalls a tinted postcard photo more than a person, and I can't explain away the same de-aged De Niro curb-stomping a grocer, looking more like the septuagenarian star he is than a ferociously protective dad."


title: The Irishman

text: While giving a positive review, David Rooney of "The Hollywood Reporter" criticized the running time, stating that "the excessive length ultimately is a weakness" and "that the material would have been better served by losing an hour or more to run at standard feature length." Writing for the "National Review", Kyle Smith gave a more critical review, saying that "while it's a good film, it isn't a great one" and also commented that "["The Irishman"] could easily be trimmed by 30 minutes or more by tightening up the midsection." Conversely, Richard Brody of "The New Yorker" wrote "it runs a minute shy of three and a half hours, and I wouldn't wish it any shorter", and Karen Han of "Polygon" said that "Scorsese is so adept at storytelling, and his cast is so unbelievable, that the film ... barely feels its length."


title: The Irishman

text: "The Irishman" also garnered acclaim from a number of filmmakers, many of whom listed the film as one of their favorites of 2019, including Ana Lily Amirpour, Olivier Assayas, Bong Joon-ho, Guillermo del Toro, Luca Guadagnino, Ciro Guerra, Bill Hader, Don Hertzfeldt, Alejandro Landes, Alex Ross Perry, Paul Schrader, Adam Wingard, and Quentin Tarantino, who ranked it as his favorite of the year.


title: The Irishman

text: At the 92nd Academy Awards, "The Irishman" received 10 nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Pacino and Pesci, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects, although it failed to win any. It was also nominated for five awards at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.


title: The Irishman

text: In his critical comments on the film and after noting Scorsese's many contributions to the mobster and gangster film genre, Nicholas Rapold of the Lincoln Center Film Society interpreted the main themes of the film to deal more with the subject of the remorseless sociopathic and psychopathic killer than with themes directly related to organized crime. After comparing the film to David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence", Rapold stated:


title: The Irishman

text: Richard Brody, writing for "The New Yorker", found the film to be a dark allegory of American politics and American society, stating:


title: The Irishman

text: Guillermo del Toro agrees with Brody: In his extended comments on "The Irishman", del Toro found the thematic content of the film and its depiction of character development to be comparable to the films of "Renoir, Bresson, Bergman, Oliveira or Kurosawa". Using cinematic techniques involving interconnected flashbacks and flashforwards, del Toro found Scorsese's juxtaposition of the "ruthless gangster" depicted in Frank Sheeran with his "diminished, elderly self" as compelling depictions of where "oblivion reigns supreme". Del Toro's thematic emphasis, as he attributes it to Scorsese, is the portrayal of the demise of Sheeran in the frailty of his old age as overshadowing the ruthless and relentless accumulation of his criminal activities which defined his more youthful years, with old age transforming Sheeran into a forgotten shadow of his former self.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married to former President Barack Obama.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. In her early legal career, she worked at the law firm Sidley Austin where she met Barack Obama. She subsequently worked in nonprofits and as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago as well as the vice president for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Michelle married Barack in 1992, and together they have two daughters.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Obama campaigned for her husband's presidential bid throughout 2007 and 2008, delivering a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She has subsequently delivered acclaimed speeches at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 conventions. As first lady, Obama served as a role model for women and worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She supported American designers and was considered a fashion icon.


title: Michelle Obama

text: After her husband's presidency, Obama's influence has remained high. In 2020, Obama topped Gallup's poll of the most admired woman in America for the third year running.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson III (1935–1991), a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian Shields Robinson (b. July 30, 1937), a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school.


title: Michelle Obama

text: The Robinson and Shields families trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. On her father's side, she is descended from the Gullah people of South Carolina's Lowcountry region. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was born into slavery in 1850 on Friendfield Plantation, near Georgetown, South Carolina. He became a freedman at age 15 after the war. Some of Obama's paternal family still reside in the Georgetown area. Her grandfather Fraser Robinson, Jr., built his own house in South Carolina. He and his wife LaVaughn (née Johnson) returned to the Lowcountry from Chicago after retirement.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Among her maternal ancestors was her great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Dosey Shields, born into slavery in South Carolina but sold to Henry Walls Shields, who had a 200-acre farm in Clayton County, Georgia, near Atlanta. Melvinia's first son, Adolphus T. Shields, was biracial and born into slavery around 1860. Based on DNA and other evidence, in 2012 researchers said his father was likely 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, son of Melvinia's master. They may have had a continuing relationship, as she had two more mixed-race children and lived near Shields after emancipation, taking his surname (she later changed her surname).


title: Michelle Obama

text: As was often the case, Melvinia did not talk to relatives about Dolphus's father. Dolphus Shields, with his wife Alice, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, after the Civil War. They were great-great-grandparents of Michelle Robinson, whose grandparents had moved to Chicago. Other of their children's lines migrated to Cleveland, Ohio, in the 20th century.


title: Michelle Obama

text: All four of Robinson's grandparents had multiracial ancestors, reflecting the complex history of the U.S. Her extended family has said that people did not talk about the era of slavery when they were growing up. Her distant ancestry includes Irish, English, and Native American roots. Among her contemporary extended family is Rabbi Capers Funnye; born in Georgetown, South Carolina. Funnye is the son of her grandfather Robinson's sister and her husband, and he is about 12 years older than Michelle. Funnye converted to Judaism after college. He is a paternal first cousin once-removed.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Robinson's childhood home was on the upper floor of 7436 South Euclid Avenue in Chicago's South Shore community area, which her parents rented from her great-aunt, who had the first floor. She was raised in what she describes as a "conventional" home, with "the mother at home, the father works, you have dinner around the table". Her elementary school was down the street. She and her family enjoyed playing games such as Monopoly, reading, and frequently saw extended family on both sides. She played piano, learning from her great-aunt, who was a piano teacher. The Robinsons attended services at nearby South Shore United Methodist Church. They used to vacation in a rustic cabin in White Cloud, Michigan. She and her 21-month-older brother, Craig, skipped the second grade.


title: Michelle Obama

text: Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis, which had a profound effect on her. Subsequently, she was determined to stay out of trouble and perform well in school. By sixth grade, Michelle joined a gifted class at Bryn Mawr Elementary School (later renamed Bouchet Academy). She attended Whitney Young High School, Chicago's first magnet high school, established as a selective enrollment school, where she was a classmate of Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita. The round-trip commute from the Robinsons' South Side home to the Near West Side, where the school was located, took three hours. Michelle recalled being fearful of how others would perceive her, but disregarded any negativity around her and used it "to fuel me, to keep me going". She recalled facing gender discrimination growing up, saying, for example, that rather than asking her for her opinion on a given subject, people commonly tended to ask what her older brother thought. She was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society, and served as student council treasurer. She graduated in 1981 as the salutatorian of her class.


title: Michelle Obama

text: She majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies, graduating "cum laude" with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985 after completing a 99-page senior thesis titled "Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community" under the supervision of Walter Wallace.