title: Catch Me If You Can

text: One weekend, Frank prepares to impersonate a pilot again and is intercepted by Carl, who allows him to carry on his act, assuring him that no one is chasing him. As Frank returns to work and discusses another fraud case with Carl, the post-script says Frank has lived for 26 years in the Midwestern United States with his wife, with whom he has had three sons, remains friends with Carl, and has built a successful living as one of the world's leading experts on bank fraud and forgery.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Brian Howe, Frank John Hughes and Chris Ellis portray FBI agents Earl Amdursky, Tom Fox, and Special Agent Witkins, respectively. John Finn portrays FBI Assistant Director Marsh. Jennifer Garner cameos as a call girl named Cheryl Ann. Ellen Pompeo, Elizabeth Banks, and Kaitlin Doubleday have supporting roles as Marci, Lucy, and Joanna. The real Frank Abagnale appears in a cameo as a French police officer arresting his onscreen counterpart.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Frank Abagnale sold the film rights to his autobiography in 1980. According to Abagnale, producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin purchased the film rights after seeing him on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. Two years later, they sold the rights to Columbia Pictures, who in turn sold the rights to producer Hall Bartlett. Bartlett and business partner Michael J. Lasky hired Steven Kunes to write the screenplay, but Bartlett died before the project found a distributor. The rights were then sold to Hollywood Pictures, a division of Disney, and when the project went into turnaround, the rights were again sold to Bungalow 78 Productions, a division of TriStar Pictures. From there, the project was presented to Steven Spielberg at DreamWorks Pictures. According to "Daily Variety", executive producer Michel Shane purchased the film rights in 1990 for Paramount Pictures. By December 1997, Barry Kemp purchased the film rights from Shane, bringing the project to DreamWorks, with Jeff Nathanson writing the script. By April 2000, David Fincher was attached to direct over the course of a few months, but dropped out in favor of "Panic Room". In July 2000, Leonardo DiCaprio had entered discussions to star, with Gore Verbinski to direct. Spielberg signed on as producer, and filming was set to begin in March 2001.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Verbinski cast James Gandolfini as Carl Hanratty, Ed Harris as Frank Abagnale Sr. and Chloë Sevigny as Brenda Strong. Verbinski dropped out because of DiCaprio's commitment on "Gangs of New York". Lasse Hallström was in negotiations to direct by May 2001, but dropped out in July 2001. At this stage, Harris and Sevigny left the film, but Gandolfini was still attached. Spielberg, co-founder of DreamWorks, offered the job of director to Miloš Forman, and considered hiring Cameron Crowe. During this negotiation period, Spielberg began to consider directing the film himself, eventually dropping projects such as "Big Fish" and "Memoirs of a Geisha". Spielberg officially committed to directing in August 2001. That same month, Tom Hanks was cast to replace Gandolfini, who had exited due to scheduling conflicts with "The Sopranos".


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: The search for Sevigny's replacement as Brenda Strong lasted months, but Amy Adams was eventually cast. Spielberg "loved" her tape, and producer Walter F. Parkes commented that she was "as fresh and honest as anyone we'd seen," which was an important element in the role. Christopher Walken was cast as Frank Abagnale Sr. following Parkes' suggestion. Martin Sheen played Roger Strong, as he had "intimidating presence". Spielberg wanted a French actress to portray Paula Abagnale to stay true to the facts. He asked for the help of Brian De Palma, who was living in Paris, and he did tests with several actresses such as Nathalie Baye. Spielberg had seen Jennifer Garner on "Alias" and offered her a small role in the film.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Filming was scheduled to begin in January 2002, but was pushed to February 7 in Los Angeles, California. Locations included Burbank, Downey, New York City, LA/Ontario International Airport (which doubled for Miami International Airport), Quebec City and Montreal. The film was shot in 147 locations in only 52 days. DiCaprio reflected, "Scenes that we thought would take three days took an afternoon." Filming ran from April 25–30 on Park Avenue, just outside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Production moved to Orange, New Jersey and returned to Brooklyn for bank and courthouse scenes. Shooting also took place at the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Quebec City was chosen for its European character and French feel. Place Royale, within Old Quebec, stands in for Montrichard, and the church in the background of the arrest scene is Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. Filming ended on May 12 in Montreal.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: The film's soundtrack was released on December 10, 2002 by DreamWorks Records. The original score was composed and conducted by John Williams.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Abagnale had little involvement with the film, but believed Spielberg was the only filmmaker who "could do this film justice," despite the various changes from real-life events. In November 2001, Abagnale said:


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: I am not a consultant on the film. I've never met nor spoken to Steven Spielberg and I have not read the script. I prefer not to. I understand that they now portray my father in a better light, as he really was. Steven Spielberg has told the screenplay writer (Jeff Nathanson) that he wants complete accuracy in the relationships and actual scams that I perpetrated. I hope in the end the movie will be entertaining, exciting, funny and bring home an important message about family, childhood and divorce.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: The real Abagnale never saw his father again after he ran away from home, but Spielberg "wanted to continue to have that connection where Frank kept trying to please his father; by making him proud of him; by seeing him in the uniform, the Pan-American uniform."


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: In a presentation for "Talks at Google" in November 2017, Abagnale commented extensively about the accuracy of Spielberg's film:


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: I've only seen the movie twice. So when the media asked me what I thought about the movie, and what was right and what was wrong, I said: First of all I have two brothers and a sister; he portrayed me as an only child. In real life, my mother never remarried; there's a scene in the movie where she's remarried, and has a little girl. That didn't really happen. In real life I never saw my father after I ran away; in the movie they keep having him come back to Christopher Walken in the film. That didn't really happen. ... I escaped off the aircraft through the kitchen galley where they bring the food and stuff onto the plane; and there they had me escape through the toilet. ... I thought he stayed very close to the story, but pretty much all of that. He was very concerned about being accurate, first of all because it was the first time he made a movie about a real person living. Second the Bureau had an information officer on the set for all the shooting of the entire film to make sure that what he said about the FBI ... was accurate. ... And then of course, as he later said, 'I really got most of my information from those three retired agents.' ... So I thought he did a good job of staying very, very accurate at the movie.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: In addition, the real name of the actual FBI agent who Abagnale alleges tracked and later worked with him was Joseph Shea; Abagnale has stated that because Shea did not want his name to be used in the film, the character was renamed as Carl and given the surname Hanratty, based on a football player of the same name.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Despite his claim that Spielberg "stayed very close to the story", records show Abagnale was in the Great Meadow Prison in Comstock, New York between the ages of 17 and 20 (July 26, 1965 to Dec 24, 1968, inmate #25367), and before that, he was in the United States Navy (December 1964 to February 1965). Six weeks after his release from Great Meadow, on February 14, 1969, he was re-arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was jailed locally, and in June 1969, he was convicted of stealing from a local family and small business in Baton Rouge. Abagnale did dress as a Pan American Airlines pilot for a brief period in the fall of 1970. He was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia on November 2, 1970. Federal court records associated with his conviction show he cashed only 10 personal checks dressed up with a Pan American Airlines logo, totalling less than $1,500 USD. The facts behind many of Abagnale's exaggerated claims, and their inclusion or omission from the film, have been the subject of media reporting in 2021. His claim that he passed the Louisiana bar exam and worked for Attorney General Jack P. F. Gremillion was debunked by several journalists in 1978. Journalist Ira Perry was unable to find any evidence that Abagnale worked with the FBI; according to one retired FBI Special agent in charge, Abagnale was caught trying to pass personal checks in 1978 several years after he claimed that he began working with the FBI.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: "Catch Me if You Can" deals with themes of broken homes and troubled childhoods. Spielberg's parents divorced when he was a teenager, similar to Frank Abagnale's situation. In the film, Carl Hanratty is also divorced from his wife, who lives with their daughter in Chicago. "Some of my films have had to do with broken homes and people on the run from their sad pasts," Spielberg stated. But there are those strands that got me to say: you know, there's something also about me that I can say through the telling of this kind of lighthearted story.Spielberg also wanted to create a film that sympathized with a crook. He explained, Frank was a 21st-century genius working within the innocence of the mid '60s, when people were more trusting than they are now. I don't think this is the kind of movie where somebody could say, 'I have a career plan.'


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: DreamWorks was careful to market the film as "inspired by a true story" to avoid controversy similar to that surrounding "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) and "The Hurricane" (1999), both of which deviated from history. The premiere took place at Westwood, Los Angeles, California, on December 18, 2002.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Game Show Network has aired the 1977 episode of the television game show "To Tell the Truth" that featured Frank Abagnale. Segments were shown on December 29, 2002, and January 1, 2003, as promotion.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: "Catch Me If You Can" was released on DVD and VHS on May 6, 2003. It included special features including never-before-seen footage by director Steven Spielberg as well as interviews. A Blu-ray version was released on December 4, 2012.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: "Catch Me If You Can" was released on December 25, 2002, earning slightly above $30 million in 3,225 theaters during its opening weekend, in second place behind "". The film went on to gross $164.6 million in North America and $187.5 million in foreign countries, with a worldwide total of $352.1 million. The film was a financial success, recouping the $52 million budget seven times over. "Catch Me If You Can" was the eleventh highest-grossing film of 2002; "Minority Report", also a Spielberg film, was the tenth highest.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Catch Me If You Can" has a "certified fresh" rating of 96% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "With help from a strong performance by Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life wunderkind con artist Frank Abagnale, Steven Spielberg crafts a film that's stylish, breezily entertaining, and surprisingly sweet." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: Roger Ebert heavily praised DiCaprio's performance, and concluded "This is not a major Spielberg film, although it is an effortlessly watchable one." Mick LaSalle said it was "not Spielberg's best movie, but one of his smoothest and maybe his friendliest. The colorful cinematography, smart performances and brisk tempo suggest a filmmaker subordinating every other impulse to the task of manufacturing pleasure." Stephen Hunter believed DiCaprio shows "the range and ease and cleverness that Martin Scorsese so underutilized in "Gangs of New York.""


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: James Berardinelli observed, ""Catch Me if You Can" never takes itself or its subjects too seriously, and contains more genuinely funny material than about 90% of the so-called 'comedies' found in multiplexes these days." Berardinelli praised John Williams' film score, which he felt was "more intimate and jazzy than his usual material, evoking (intentionally) Henry Mancini." Peter Travers was one of few who gave the film a negative review; he considered the film to be "bogged down over 140 minutes. A film that took off like a hare on speed ends like a winded tortoise."


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: At the 75th Academy Awards, Christopher Walken and John Williams were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Score. Walken won the same category at the 56th British Academy Film Awards, while Williams, costume designer Mary Zophres and screenwriter Jeff Nathanson received nominations. DiCaprio was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. Williams also earned a Grammy Award nomination. Elements of the film were later parodied in "The Simpsons" episode "Catch 'Em If You Can".


title: Catch Me If You Can

text: A musical adaptation of the same name premiered at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington in July 2009, starring Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz. It began previews on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on March 11, 2011 and officially opened April 10, 2011. The musical was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The Twilight Saga is a series of romance fantasy films based on the book series "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. The series has grossed over $3.4 billion worldwide. The first installment, "Twilight", was released on November 21, 2008. The second installment, "", followed on November 20, 2009. The third installment, "", was released on June 30, 2010. The fourth installment, "", was released on November 18, 2011, while the fifth installment, "", was released on November 16, 2012.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The series had been in development since 2004 at Paramount Pictures' MTV Films, during which time a screen adaptation of "Twilight" that differed significantly from the novel was written. Three years later, Summit Entertainment acquired the rights to the film. After "Twilight" grossed $35.7 million on its opening day, Summit Entertainment announced they would begin production on "New Moon"; they had acquired the rights to the remaining novels earlier that same month. The films in the series have received generally negative to mixed reviews from critics.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Twilight" was in development for about three years at Paramount Pictures' MTV Films, during which time a film adaptation differing significantly from the novel was written. For example, the script transformed Bella into a star athlete. It was so different that Stephenie Meyer worried that she had made the wrong decision in selling the film rights to her novel. She said later, '"They could have put that [earlier] movie out, called it something else, and no one would have known it was "Twilight"!"


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: When Summit Entertainment reinvented itself as a full-service studio in April 2007, it acquired the rights, seeking to create a film franchise based on the book and its sequels.Erik Feig, President of Production at Summit Entertainment, guaranteed a close adaptation to the book. Meyer felt that Summit was open to letting her be a part of the film.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Catherine Hardwicke was hired to direct the film, and soon afterward, Melissa Rosenberg was hired to write the film. Rosenberg developed an outline by the end of August, then worked on the screenplay with Hardwicke the following month. "She was a great sounding board and had all sorts of brilliant ideas...I'd finish off scenes and send them to her, and get back her notes." Because of the impending WGA strike, Rosenberg worked full-time to finish the screenplay before October 31. In adapting the novel for the screen, she "had to condense a great deal", combining some characters and leaving others out. "[O]ur intent all along was to stay true to the book," Rosenberg explained, "and it has to do less with adapting it word for word and more with making sure the characters' arcs and emotional journeys are the same." Hardwicke suggested using voice over to convey the protagonist's internal dialogue, since the novel is told from Bella's point of view; and she sketched some of the storyboards during pre-production.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Hardwicke sought Meyer's feedback as she developed the movie; for example, the director phoned the author after changing a scene slightly. This surprised Meyer. "I've heard the stories...I know it's not normally like that when you adapt a book." Meyer, a natural pessimist, was waiting for the worst but, instead, called her experience in the book's film adaptation "the best I could have hoped for."


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Originally scheduled for release in December 2008, "Twilight" was moved to a worldwide release of November 21, 2008, after "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" moved from a November 2008 release to being released in July 2009.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Kristen Stewart was on the set of "Adventureland" when Hardwicke visited her for an informal screen test, which "captivated" the director. Hardwicke did not initially choose Robert Pattinson for the role of Edward Cullen; but, after an audition at her home with Stewart, he was selected. Meyer allowed Pattinson to view a manuscript of the unfinished "Midnight Sun", which chronicles the events in "Twilight" from Edward’s point of view. Meyer was "excited" and "ecstatic" in response to the casting of the two main characters. She had expressed interest in having Emily Browning and Henry Cavill cast as Bella and Edward, respectively, prior to pre-production.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Peter Facinelli was not originally cast as Carlisle Cullen: "[Hardwicke] liked [him], but there was another actor that the studio was pushing for." For unknown reasons, that actor was not able to play the part, and Facinelli was selected in his place. The choice of Ashley Greene to portray Alice Cullen was criticized by some fans because Greene is taller than her character as described in the novel. Meyer said that Rachael Leigh Cook resembled her vision of Alice. Nikki Reed, who portrayed Rosalie Hale, had previously worked with Hardwicke on the successful "Thirteen" (2003), which they co-wrote, and "Lords of Dogtown" (2005).


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Kellan Lutz was in Africa, shooting the HBO miniseries "Generation Kill", when the auditions for the character of Emmett Cullen were conducted. The role had already been cast by the time the HBO production ended in December 2007, but the selected actor "fell through." Lutz subsequently auditioned and was flown to Oregon, where Hardwicke personally chose him.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Rachelle Lefèvre wanted a role in the film because Hardwicke was director; she saw "the potential to explore a character, hopefully, over three films;" and she wanted to portray a vampire. "[She] thought that vampires were basically the best metaphor for human anxiety and questions about being alive." Christian Serratos initially auditioned for Jessica Stanley, but she "fell totally in love with Angela" after reading the books and took advantage of a later opportunity to audition for Angela Weber. The role of Jessica Stanley went to Anna Kendrick, who got the part after two mix-and-match auditions with various actors.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Because of major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between "Twilight" and "New Moon", director Chris Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black." Trying to keep the role, Lautner worked out extensively and put on 30 lbs. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue as Jacob in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon".


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In late March 2009, Summit Entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the "wolf pack" alongside Lautner. The casting for the rest of the Quileute people was headed by casting director Rene Haynes, who has worked on films with large Native American casts, such as "Dances with Wolves" and "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In mid-2009, it was announced that Bryce Dallas Howard would be replacing Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria for the third "Twilight" film, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". Summit Entertainment attributed the change to scheduling conflicts. Lefevre said she was "stunned" and "greatly saddened" by the decision. Jodelle Ferland was cast as the newly turned vampire, Bree. Other new cast members for the third film include Xavier Samuel as Riley, Jack Huston as Royce King II, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria, Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater, and Booboo Stewart as Seth Clearwater.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Principal photography for "Twilight" took 44 days, after more than a week of rehearsals, and completed on May 2, 2008. Similar to her directorial debut "Thirteen", Hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand-held cinematography to make the film "feel real". Meyer visited the production set three times, and was consulted on different aspects of the story; she also has a brief cameo in the film. To make their bodily movements more elegant, and to get used to their characters' fighting styles, the cast playing vampires participated in rehearsals with a dance choreographer and observed the physicality of different panthera. Instead of shooting at Forks High School itself, scenes taking place at the school were filmed at Kalama High School and Madison High School. Other scenes were also filmed in St. Helens, Oregon, and Hardwicke conducted some reshooting in Pasadena, California, in August.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In early November 2008, Summit announced that they had obtained the rights to the remaining books in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series: "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn". On November 22, 2008, one day after the theatrical release of "Twilight", Summit confirmed that they would begin working on "New Moon". Melissa Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to "Twilight"'s release and handed in the draft for "New Moon" during "Twilight"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s opening weekend in November 2008.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In early December 2008, it was announced that "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel. Hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project. Instead, Chris Weitz, director of "The Golden Compass" and co-director of "American Pie", was hired to direct "The Twilight Saga: New Moon". Filming for "New Moon" began in Vancouver in late March 2009, and in Montepulciano, Italy, in late May 2009.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In early 2009, before the release of "", Summit confirmed that they would begin production on "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse". Since Weitz would be in post-production for "New Moon" when "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" began shooting, he would not be directing the third film. Instead, "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" was taken on by director David Slade, with Melissa Rosenberg returning as screenwriter. Filming began on August 17, 2009 at Vancouver Film Studios and finished in late October, with post-production beginning early the following month. In April 2010, it was revealed that re-shoots of the film were needed. Slade, who previously said he would not be around for them, was seen, along with Stephenie Meyer, on set. The three main stars were also present.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of "Breaking Dawn". Following months of speculation and cast rumors, it was officially announced on April 28, 2010, that Academy Award winner Bill Condon, who directed "Gods and Monsters" and "Dreamgirls", would direct "Breaking Dawn"; producing the film will be Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, and author Stephenie Meyer. "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on-screen. As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book – and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience," said Bill Condon. A November 18, 2011 release date has been set for the first part, while the second is scheduled for release on November 16, 2012. Following that announcement, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaption of the fourth book would start production in the fall on June 11, 2010. With this announcement, it was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles, the Cullen family, and Charlie Swan, would return for both parts. Bill Condon was also confirmed to direct both parts.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In order to keep the budget on both parts of "Breaking Dawn" reasonable, which would be substantially greater than the previous installments in the series, filming in Louisiana was also negotiated, providing larger tax credits for the studio to benefit from.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Twilight" was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Melissa Rosenberg. It focuses on the development of a personal relationship between teenager Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and the subsequent efforts of Edward and his family to keep Bella safe from a separate group of hostile vampires. Edward refuses to grant Bella's request to transform her into a vampire so that they can be together forever, arguing that she should have a normal human life.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film was released theatrically starting on November 21, 2008. It grossed $35.7 million on its opening day, and has come to gross US$393.6 million worldwide. The DVD was released on March 21, 2009 and grossed an additional $238 million from sales. The Blu-ray disc edition of the film was released on March 21, 2009, in select locations, but was made more widely available at further retailers on May 5, 2009, grossing over $26 million; getting to a total of over $264 million in home media sales.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "" was directed by Chris Weitz and written by Melissa Rosenberg. The film follows the Cullens' departure from Forks, and Bella Swan's fall into a deep depression. This depression persists until Bella develops a strong friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). She consequently discovers that Jacob has unwillingly become a werewolf. Jacob and his tribe must protect Bella from Victoria, and a gregarious herd of vampires. Edward tells Bella that he will change her into a vampire if she agrees to marry him.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film was released theatrically starting on November 20, 2009, and set numerous records. It was at the time the biggest advance-ticket seller on Fandango and held the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million. Its sequel, "", broke that record in June 2010, grossing $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history. "New Moon" is the thirteenth highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "" was directed by David Slade and written by Melissa Rosenberg. The film follows Bella Swan as she develops awareness of the possible complications of marrying a vampire. Jacob Black and the rest of the wolves form a temporary alliance with the Cullens to battle Victoria and her army of newborn vampires to keep Bella safe. Jacob unsuccessfully tries to convince Bella to leave Edward and be with him instead. Edward proposes to Bella and she accepts it.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film was released theatrically starting on June 30, 2010, and is the first "Twilight" film to be released in IMAX. It set a new record for biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) in box office history, grossing an estimated $30 million in over 4,000 theaters. The previous record holder was the previous film in the series, "" with $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters. The film then scored the biggest Wednesday opening in domestic history with $68,533,840 beating "'s" $62 million. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" has also become the film with the widest release ever, playing in over 4,416 theaters.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" was directed by Bill Condon, and author Stephenie Meyer co-produced the film along with Karen Rosenfelt and Wyck Godfrey, with Melissa Rosenberg penning the script. The book's plot was split into two films, the first of which was released on November 18, 2011. The filming of "Breaking Dawn" began in November 2010.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The first part follows Bella and Edward as they get married and Bella becomes pregnant. They deal with her struggle of being pregnant and nearly dying because of her half-human, half-vampire child.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2" was released on November 16, 2012. The second part of "Breaking Dawn" sees the climax of Bella and Edward's relationship. Bella must learn, as a newly transformed vampire, to use her special shield powers, as well as protect her half-human half-vampire daughter, Renesmee. The film also shows the final battle between The Cullens, along with vampires from the Denali Clan, and other vampire friends, as well as the wolves from the Quileute Tribe, against The Volturi.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Twilight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. The album was released on November 4, 2008 by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records, and debuted at No. 1 on the "Billboard" 200, having sold about 165,000 copies in its first week of release, 29% of which were digital downloads. "Twilight" is the best-selling theatrical movie soundtrack in the United States since "" (2002). "Decode", by Paramore, was the first single released from the soundtrack. It premiered on Paramore's fan club site and Stephenie Meyer's official website on October 1, 2008. The song was certified Platinum in the U.S on February 16, 2010, selling over 1,000,000 copies. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010 for Best Song Written for a Movie. "Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)", by Perry Farrell, was the second single released from the soundtrack. It premiered on Meyer's website on October 23, 2008.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Twilight: The Score" was composed and orchestrated by Carter Burwell over a 9- to 10-week period, and was recorded and mixed in about 2 weeks in late September 2008. Burwell began the score with a "Love Theme" for Bella and Edward's relationship, a variation of which became "Bella's Lullaby" that Robert Pattinson plays in the film, and that is included on the "Twilight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". The original theme is featured throughout the film, and serves to "play the romance that drives the story". Another theme Burwell composed was a "Predator Theme", which opens the film, and is intended to play Edward's vampire nature. Other themes include a bass-line, drum beat and distorted guitar sound for the nomadic vampires, and a melody for the Cullen family. "Twilight: The Score" was released digitally on November 25, 2008 and in stores on December 9.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "" had, once again, Alexandra Patsavas as music supervisor; while "", was composed by Alexandre Desplat. The movie's director, Chris Weitz, has a working relationship with Desplat, who scored one of his previous films, "The Golden Compass" (2007). "The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was released on October 16, 2009 by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The album debuted at No. 2 on the "Billboard" 200, later jumped to No. 1 with 153,000 copies sold. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon: The Score" was released on November 24, 2009.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "" had, once again, Alexandra Patsavas as music supervisor. It was released on June 8, 2010, by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The lead single from the soundtrack, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)", performed by the British band Muse, was released on May 17, 2010. The soundtrack debuted at number two on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 albums chart with estimated sales of 144,000 copies.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film's score, "", was composed by Howard Shore, who composed the scores for "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001-2003).


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "" saw the release of two singles: "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri and "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars. The former reached number thirty one and the latter of the two number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Twilight" grossed over $7 million in ticket sales from midnight showings alone on November 21, 2008. It grossed $35.7 million on its opening day. For its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, "Twilight" accumulated $69.6 million from 3,419 theaters at an average of $20,368 per theater.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film has made $192.7 million in the United States and Canada, and a further $200.8 million in international territories for a total of $393.6 million worldwide.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The film was released on DVD in North America on March 21, 2009 through midnight release parties, and sold over 3 million units in its first day. It has continued to sell units, totaling as of July 2012, making $201,323,629.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" set records for advance ticket sales, causing some theaters to add additional showings. The film set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million in 3,514 theatres, before expanding to 4,024 theaters. The record was previously held by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", which grossed $22.2 million domestically during its midnight premiere. The film grossed $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history, beating "The Dark Knight"'s $67.2 million. This opening strongly contributed to another record: the first time that the top ten films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $100 million in a single day.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The opening weekend of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is the ninth-highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137. The film also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: While "The Twilight Saga" has been successful at the box office, critical reception of the films was mixed.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "New York Press" critic Armond White called "Twilight" "a genuine pop classic", and praised Hardwicke for turning "Meyer's book series into a Brontë-esque vision". "USA Today" gave the film two out of four stars and Claudia Puig wrote: "Meyer is said to have been involved in the production of "Twilight", but her novel was substantially more absorbing than the unintentionally funny and quickly forgettable film."


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: Robert Ignizio of the "Cleveland Scene" described "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" as an "entertaining fantasy", and noted that it "has a stronger visual look [than "Twilight"] and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle." Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" gave the film two and half stars out of four, praised Kristen Stewart's performance in the film and wrote: "Despite melodrama that, at times, is enough to induce diabetes, there's enough wolf whistle in this sexy, scary romp to please anyone." The "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" gave the film a "B" grading and said, "the movie looks tremendous, the dialogue works, there are numerous well placed jokes, the acting is on point." Mick LaSalle from the "San Francisco Chronicle" responded with a more mixed review, stating, "[E]xpect this film to satisfy its fans. Everybody else, get ready for a bizarre soap opera/pageant, consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they're thinking." Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it "takes the tepid achievement of "Twilight", guts it, and leaves it for undead." The release of the movie has also inspired feminist criticism, with Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" making light of the claim that Edward Cullen is little better than a stalker. In any case, the influx of female viewers into the theaters indicates the increasing importance of the female demographic in dictating Hollywood's tastes.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "The Hollywood Reporter" posted a positive review of "", saying the film "nails it". "Variety" reports that the film "finally feels more like the blockbuster this top-earning franchise deserves". One review stated the film was the best in "The Twilight Saga" so far, acknowledging that, "The person who should be worried is Bill Condon, the director tapped for the two-part finale, "". He's got a real challenge to make movies as good as "Eclipse"." A.O. Scott of "The New York Times" praised David Slade's ability to make an entertaining film, calling it funny and better than its predecessors, but pointed out the acting hasn't improved much.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: A more negative review said that while ""Eclipse" restores some of the energy "New Moon" zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving", the film "isn't quite the adrenaline-charged game-changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe. The majority of the 'action' remains protracted and not especially scintillating should-we-or-shouldn't-we conversations between the central triangle." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun Times" gave the film a more positive review than for the first two films in the saga, but still felt the movie was a constant, unclever conversation between the three main characters. He criticized the "gazes" both Edward and Jacob give Bella throughout the movie, and noted that the mountain range that appears in the film looks "like landscapes painted by that guy on TV who shows you how to paint stuff like that." He also predicted that a lack of understanding for the film series in general would not bode well with the audience, stating, "I doubt anyone not intimately familiar with the earlier installments could make head or tails of the opening scenes." He gave the film 2 stars out of 4.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: "Breaking Dawn – Part 1" received mostly negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 25% of critics (of the 207 counted reviews) gave the film a positive review, and the site's consensus reads "Slow, joyless and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, "Breaking Dawn Part 1" may satisfy the "Twilight" faithful, but it's strictly for fans of the franchise". "Part 2" had a mixed critical reception but was much more favorable than "Part 1". Richard Roeper said that "The fifth and final entry in the historically successful "Twilight" franchise is the most self-aware and in some ways the most entertaining", giving it a grade C+.


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In 2010, a parody film, "Vampires Suck", starring Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, and Chris Riggi, was released, its material largely based on "Twilight" and its sequel, "". Though the film was a critical failure, with Rotten Tomatoes critics giving it an approval rating of only 4%, it was a financial success, opening at number one in the United States and grossing more than $80,000,000 worldwide, against a $20,000,000 budget. In 2012, another parody film, "Breaking Wind", featuring a cast of unknown actors, was released straight to DVD by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.""


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: The successful animated film, "Hotel Transylvania", briefly parodied the Twilight Saga, namely the scene in which Edward reveals his vampirism to Bella in the woods near Forks High School. The scene, which lasts only a few seconds, can be seen playing on an airplane TV as Count Dracula attempts to convince Jonathan to forgive him and come back to Hotel Transylvania.""


title: The Twilight Saga (film series)

text: In 2019, Russian figure skater Alena Kostornaia used music from the Twilight and soundtracks for her free program. With this program, she later became the European champion, and was the favourite for the world title before the championship's cancellation in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and substance abuse (including alcoholism and the use of and withdrawal from benzodiazepines) are risk factors. Some suicides are impulsive acts due to stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties), relationship problems (such as breakups or divorces), or harassment and bullying. Those who have previously attempted suicide are at a higher risk for future attempts. Effective suicide prevention efforts include limiting access to methods of suicide such as firearms, drugs, and poisons; treating mental disorders and substance abuse; careful media reporting about suicide; and improving economic conditions. Although crisis hotlines are common resources, their effectiveness has not been well studied.


title: Suicide

text: The most commonly adopted method of suicide varies from country to country and is partly related to the availability of effective means. Common methods of suicide include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms. Suicides resulted in 828,000 deaths globally in 2015, an increase from 712,000 deaths in 1990. This makes suicide the 10th leading cause of death worldwide.


title: Suicide

text: Approximately 1.5% of all deaths worldwide are by suicide. In a given year, this is roughly 12 per 100,000 people. Rates of suicide are generally higher among men than women, ranging from 1.5 times higher in the developing world to 3.5 times higher in the developed world. Suicide is generally most common among those over the age of 70; however, in certain countries, those aged between 15 and 30 are at the highest risk. Europe had the highest rates of suicide by region in 2015. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year. Non-fatal suicide attempts may lead to injury and long-term disabilities. In the Western world, attempts are more common among young people and women.


title: Suicide

text: Views on suicide have been influenced by broad existential themes such as religion, honor, and the meaning of life. The Abrahamic religions traditionally consider suicide as an offense towards God due to the belief in the sanctity of life. During the samurai era in Japan, a form of suicide known as seppuku (, ) was respected as a means of making up for failure or as a form of protest. Sati, a practice outlawed by the British in India, expected a Hindu widow to immolate herself on her husband's funeral pyre, either willingly or under pressure from her family and society. Suicide and attempted suicide, while previously illegal, are no longer so in most Western countries. It remains a criminal offense in some countries. In the 20th and 21st centuries, suicide has been used on rare occasions as a form of protest, and kamikaze and suicide bombings have been used as a military or terrorist tactic. Suicide is often seen as a major catastrophe for families, relatives, and other nearby supporters, and it is viewed negatively almost everywhere around the world.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide, derived from Latin , is "the act of taking one's own life". Attempted suicide or non-fatal suicidal behavior amounts to self-injury with at least some desire to end one's life that does not result in death. Assisted suicide occurs when one individual helps another bring about their own death indirectly via providing either advice or the means to the end. This is in contrast to euthanasia, where another person takes a more active role in bringing about a person's death. Suicidal ideation is thoughts of ending one's life but not taking any active efforts to do so. It may or may not involve exact planning or intent. In a murder–suicide (or homicide–suicide), the individual aims at taking the lives of others at the same time. A special case of this is extended suicide, where the murder is motivated by seeing the murdered persons as an extension of their self. Suicide in which the reason is that the person feels that they are not part of society is known as egoistic suicide.


title: Suicide

text: In 2011, the Centre for Suicide Prevention in Canada found that the normal verb in scholarly research and journalism for the act of suicide was "commit". On the other hand, the American Psychological Association lists "committed suicide" as a term to avoid because it "frame[s] suicide as a crime". Some advocacy groups recommend using the terms "took his/her own life", "died by suicide", or "killed him/herself" instead of "committed suicide". The Associated Press Stylebook recommends avoiding "committed suicide" except in direct quotes from authorities. The "Guardian" and "Observer" style guides deprecate the use of "committed", as does CNN. Opponents of "commit" argue that it implies that suicide is criminal, sinful, or morally wrong.


title: Suicide

text: Factors that affect the risk of suicide include mental disorders, drug misuse, psychological states, cultural, family and social situations, genetics, experiences of trauma or loss, and nihilism. Mental disorders and substance misuse frequently co-exist. Other risk factors include having previously attempted suicide, the ready availability of a means to take one's life, a family history of suicide, or the presence of traumatic brain injury. For example, suicide rates have been found to be greater in households with firearms than those without them.


title: Suicide

text: Socio-economic problems such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and discrimination may trigger suicidal thoughts. Suicide might be rarer in societies with high social cohesion and moral objections against suicide. About 15–40% of people leave a suicide note. War veterans have a higher risk of suicide due in part to higher rates of mental illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical health problems related to war. Genetics appears to account for between 38% and 55% of suicidal behaviors. Suicides may also occur as a local cluster of cases.


title: Suicide

text: Most research does not distinguish between risk factors that lead to thinking about suicide and risk factors that lead to suicide attempts. Risks for suicide attempt rather than just thoughts of suicide include a high pain tolerance and a reduced fear of death.


title: Suicide

text: Mental illness is present at the time of suicide 27% to more than 90% of the time. Of those who have been hospitalized for suicidal behavior, the lifetime risk of suicide is 8.6%. Comparatively, non-suicidal people hospitalized for affective disorders have a 4% lifetime risk of suicide. Half of all people who die by suicide may have major depressive disorder; having this or one of the other mood disorders such as bipolar disorder increases the risk of suicide 20-fold. Other conditions implicated include schizophrenia (14%), personality disorders (8%), obsessive–compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Those with autism also attempt and consider suicide more frequently.


title: Suicide

text: Others estimate that about half of people who die by suicide could be diagnosed with a personality disorder, with borderline personality disorder being the most common. About 5% of people with schizophrenia die of suicide. Eating disorders are another high risk condition. Around 22% to 50% of people suffering with gender dysphoria have attempted suicide, however this greatly varies by region.


title: Suicide

text: Among approximately 80% of suicides, the individual has seen a physician within the year before their death, including 45% within the prior month. Approximately 25–40% of those who died by suicide had contact with mental health services in the prior year. Antidepressants of the SSRI class appear to increase the frequency of suicide among children but do not change the risk among adults. An unwillingness to get help for mental health problems also increases the risk.


title: Suicide

text: A previous history of suicide attempts is the most accurate predictor of suicide. Approximately 20% of suicides have had a previous attempt, and of those who have attempted suicide, 1% die by suicide within a year and more than 5% die by suicide within 10 years.


title: Suicide

text: Non-suicidal self-harm is common with 18% of people engaging in self-harm over the course of their life. Acts of self-harm are not usually suicide attempts and most who self-harm are not at high risk of suicide. Some who self-harm, however, do still end their life by suicide, and risk for self-harm and suicide may overlap. Individuals who have been identified as self-harming after being admitted to hospital are more likely to die by suicide.


title: Suicide

text: A number of psychological factors increase the risk of suicide including: hopelessness, loss of pleasure in life, depression, anxiousness, agitation, rigid thinking, rumination, thought suppression, and poor coping skills. A poor ability to solve problems, the loss of abilities one used to have, and poor impulse control also play a role. In older adults, the perception of being a burden to others is important. Those who have never married are also at greater risk. Recent life stresses, such as a loss of a family member or friend or the loss of a job, might be a contributing factor.


title: Suicide

text: Certain personality factors, especially high levels of neuroticism and introvertedness, have been associated with suicide. This might lead to people who are isolated and sensitive to distress to be more likely to attempt suicide. On the other hand, optimism has been shown to have a protective effect. Other psychological risk factors include having few reasons for living and feeling trapped in a stressful situation. Changes to the stress response system in the brain might be altered during suicidal states. Specifically, changes in the polyamine system and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis.


title: Suicide

text: Social isolation and the lack of social support has been associated with an increased risk of suicide. Poverty is also a factor, with heightened relative poverty compared to those around a person increasing suicide risk. Over 200,000 farmers in India have died by suicide since 1997, partly due to issues of debt. In China, suicide is three times as likely in rural regions as urban ones, partly, it is believed, due to financial difficulties in this area of the country.


title: Suicide

text: The time of year may also affect suicide rates. There appears to be a decrease around Christmas, but an increase in rates during spring and summer, which might be related to exposure to sunshine. Another study found that the risk may be greater for males on their birthday.


title: Suicide

text: Being religious may reduce one's risk of suicide while beliefs that suicide is noble may increase it. This has been attributed to the negative stance many religions take against suicide and to the greater connectedness religion may give. Muslims, among religious people, appear to have a lower rate of suicide; however, the data supporting this is not strong. There does not appear to be a difference in rates of attempted suicide. Young women in the Middle East may have higher rates.


title: Suicide

text: Substance misuse is the second most common risk factor for suicide after major depression and bipolar disorder. Both chronic substance misuse as well as acute intoxication are associated. When combined with personal grief, such as bereavement, the risk is further increased. Substance misuse is also associated with mental health disorders.


title: Suicide

text: Most people are under the influence of sedative-hypnotic drugs (such as alcohol or benzodiazepines) when they die by suicide, with alcoholism present in between 15% and 61% of cases. Use of prescribed benzodiazepines is associated with an increased rate of suicide and attempted suicide. The pro-suicidal effects of benzodiazepines are suspected to be due to a psychiatric disturbance caused by side effects, such as disinhibition, or withdrawal symptoms. Countries that have higher rates of alcohol use and a greater density of bars generally also have higher rates of suicide. About 2.2–3.4% of those who have been treated for alcoholism at some point in their life die by suicide. Alcoholics who attempt suicide are usually male, older, and have tried to take their own lives in the past. Between 3 and 35% of deaths among those who use heroin are due to suicide (approximately fourteenfold greater than those who do not use). In adolescents who misuse alcohol, neurological and psychological dysfunctions may contribute to the increased risk of suicide.


title: Suicide

text: The misuse of cocaine and methamphetamine has a high correlation with suicide. In those who use cocaine, the risk is greatest during the withdrawal phase. Those who used inhalants are also at significant risk with around 20% attempting suicide at some point and more than 65% considering it. Smoking cigarettes is associated with risk of suicide. There is little evidence as to why this association exists; however, it has been hypothesized that those who are predisposed to smoking are also predisposed to suicide, that smoking causes health problems which subsequently make people want to end their life, and that smoking affects brain chemistry causing a propensity for suicide. Cannabis, however, does not appear to independently increase the risk.


title: Suicide

text: There is an association between suicidality and physical health problems such as chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, kidney failure (requiring hemodialysis), HIV, and systemic lupus erythematosus. The diagnosis of cancer approximately doubles the subsequent frequency of suicide. The prevalence of increased suicidality persisted after adjusting for depressive illness and alcohol abuse. Among people with more than one medical condition the frequency was particularly high. In Japan, health problems are listed as the primary justification for suicide.


title: Suicide

text: Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia and sleep apnea, are risk factors for depression and suicide. In some instances, the sleep disturbances may be a risk factor independent of depression. A number of other medical conditions may present with symptoms similar to mood disorders, including hypothyroidism, Alzheimer's, brain tumors, systemic lupus erythematosus, and adverse effects from a number of medications (such as beta blockers and steroids).


title: Suicide

text: Certain occupations carry an elevated risk of self-harm and suicide, such as military careers. Research in several countries has found that the rate of suicide among former armed forces personnel in particular, and young veterans especially, is markedly higher than that found in the general population.


title: Suicide

text: The media, including the Internet, plays an important role. Certain depictions of suicide may increase its occurrence, with high-volume, prominent, repetitive coverage glorifying or romanticizing suicide having the most impact. When detailed descriptions of how to kill oneself by a specific means are portrayed, this method of suicide can be imitated in vulnerable people. This phenomenon has been observed in several cases after press coverage. In a bid to reduce the adverse effect of media portrayals concerning suicide report, one of the effective methods is to educate journalists on how to report suicide news in a manner that might reduce that possibility of imitation and encourage those at risk to seek for help. When journalists follow certain reporting guidelines the risk of suicides can be decreased. Getting buy-in from the media industry, however, can be difficult, especially in the long term.


title: Suicide

text: This trigger of suicide contagion or copycat suicide is known as the "Werther effect", named after the protagonist in Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" who killed himself and then was emulated by many admirers of the book. This risk is greater in adolescents who may romanticize death. It appears that while news media has a significant effect, that of the entertainment media is equivocal. It is unclear if searching for information about suicide on the Internet relates to the risk of suicide. The opposite of the Werther effect is the proposed "Papageno effect", in which coverage of effective coping mechanisms may have a protective effect. The term is based upon a character in Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute"—fearing the loss of a loved one, he had planned to kill himself until his friends helped him out. As a consequence, fictional portrayals of suicide, showing alternative consequences or negative consequences, might have a preventive effect, for instance fiction might normalize mental health problems and encourage help-seeking.


title: Suicide

text: Trauma is a risk factor for suicidality in both children and adults. Some may take their own lives to escape bullying or prejudice. A history of childhood sexual abuse and time spent in foster care are also risk factors. Sexual abuse is believed to contribute to approximately 20% of the overall risk. Significant adversity early in life has a negative effect on problem-solving skills and memory, both of which are implicated in suicidality.


title: Suicide

text: Problem gambling is associated with increased suicidal ideation and attempts compared to the general population. Between 12 and 24% of pathological gamblers attempt suicide. The rate of suicide among their spouses is three times greater than that of the general population. Other factors that increase the risk in problem gamblers include concomitant mental illness, alcohol, and drug misuse.


title: Suicide

text: Genetics might influence rates of suicide. A family history of suicide, especially in the mother, affects children more than adolescents or adults. Adoption studies have shown that this is the case for biological relatives, but not adopted relatives. This makes familial risk factors unlikely to be due to imitation. Once mental disorders are accounted for, the estimated heritability rate is 36% for suicidal ideation and 17% for suicide attempts. An evolutionary explanation for suicide is that it may improve inclusive fitness. This may occur if the person dying by suicide cannot have more children and takes resources away from relatives by staying alive. An objection is that deaths by healthy adolescents likely does not increase inclusive fitness. Adaptation to a very different ancestral environment may be maladaptive in the current one.


title: Suicide

text: Infection by the parasite "Toxoplasma gondii", more commonly known as toxoplasmosis, has been linked with suicide risk. One explanation states that this is caused by altered neurotransmitter activity due to the immunological response.


title: Suicide

text: Rational suicide is the reasoned taking of one's own life. However, some consider suicide as never being rational.


title: Suicide

text: Euthanasia and assisted suicide are accepted practices in a number of countries among those who have a poor quality of life without the possibility of getting better. They are supported by the legal arguments for a right to die.


title: Suicide

text: The act of taking one's life for the benefit of others is known as altruistic suicide. An example of this is an elder ending his or her life to leave greater amounts of food for the younger people in the community. Suicide in some Inuit cultures has been seen as an act of respect, courage, or wisdom.


title: Suicide

text: A suicide attack is a political or religious action where an attacker carries out violence against others which they understand will result in their own death. Some suicide bombers are motivated by a desire to obtain martyrdoms or are religiously motivated. Kamikaze missions were carried out as a duty to a higher cause or moral obligation. Murder–suicide is an act of homicide followed within a week by suicide of the person who carried out the act.


title: Suicide

text: Mass suicides are often performed under social pressure where members give up autonomy to a leader. Mass suicides can take place with as few as two people, often referred to as a suicide pact. In extenuating situations where continuing to live would be intolerable, some people use suicide as a means of escape. Some inmates in Nazi concentration camps are known to have killed themselves during the Holocaust by deliberately touching the electrified fences.


title: Suicide

text: The leading method of suicide varies among countries. The leading methods in different regions include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms. These differences are believed to be in part due to availability of the different methods. A review of 56 countries found that hanging was the most common method in most of the countries, accounting for 53% of male suicides and 39% of female suicides.


title: Suicide

text: Worldwide, 30% of suicides are estimated to occur from pesticide poisoning, most of which occur in the developing world. The use of this method varies markedly from 4% in Europe to more than 50% in the Pacific region. It is also common in Latin America due to the ease of access within the farming populations. In many countries, drug overdoses account for approximately 60% of suicides among women and 30% among men. Many are unplanned and occur during an acute period of ambivalence. The death rate varies by method: firearms 80–90%, drowning 65–80%, hanging 60–85%, jumping 35–60%, charcoal burning 40–50%, pesticides 60–75%, and medication overdose 1.5–4.0%. The most common attempted methods of suicide differ from the most common methods of completion; up to 85% of attempts are via drug overdose in the developed world.


title: Suicide

text: In China, the consumption of pesticides is the most common method. In Japan, self-disembowelment known as seppuku ("harakiri") still occurs; however, hanging and jumping are the most common. Jumping to one's death is common in both Hong Kong and Singapore at 50% and 80% respectively. In Switzerland, firearms are the most frequent suicide method in young males, although this method has decreased since guns have become less common. In the United States, 50% of suicides involve the use of firearms, with this method being somewhat more common in men (56%) than women (31%). The next most common cause was hanging in males (28%) and self-poisoning in females (31%). Together, hanging and poisoning constituted about 42% of U.S. suicides ().


title: Suicide

text: There is no known unifying underlying pathophysiology for suicide; it is believed to result from an interplay of behavioral, socio-economic and psychological factors.


title: Suicide

text: Low levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are both directly associated with suicide and indirectly associated through its role in major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive–compulsive disorder. Post-mortem studies have found reduced levels of BDNF in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, in those with and without psychiatric conditions. Serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter, is believed to be low in those who die by suicide. This is partly based on evidence of increased levels of 5-HT2A receptors found after death. Other evidence includes reduced levels of a breakdown product of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, in the cerebral spinal fluid. However, direct evidence is hard to obtain. Epigenetics, the study of changes in genetic expression in response to environmental factors which do not alter the underlying DNA, is also believed to play a role in determining suicide risk.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide prevention is a term used for the collective efforts to reduce the incidence of suicide through preventive measures. Protective factors for suicide include support, and access to therapy. About 60% of people with suicidal thoughts do not seek help. Reasons for not doing so include low perceived need, and wanting to deal with the problem alone. Despite these high rates, there are few established treatments available for suicidal behavior.


title: Suicide

text: Reducing access to certain methods, such as firearms or toxins such as opioids and pesticides, can reduce risk of suicide by that method. This may be in part because suicide is often an impulsive decision, with up to 70% of near-fatal suicide attempts made after less than one hour of deliberation—thus, reducing access to easily-accessible methods of suicide may make impulsive attempts less likely to succeed. Other measures include reducing access to charcoal (for burning) and adding barriers on bridges and subway platforms. Treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, depression, and those who have attempted suicide in the past, may also be effective. Some have proposed reducing access to alcohol as a preventive strategy (such as reducing the number of bars).


title: Suicide

text: In young adults who have recently thought about suicide, cognitive behavioral therapy appears to improve outcomes. School-based programs that increase mental health literacy and train staff have shown mixed results on suicide rates. Economic development through its ability to reduce poverty may be able to decrease suicide rates. Efforts to increase social connection, especially in elderly males, may be effective. In people who have attempted suicide, following up on them might prevent repeat attempts. Although crisis hotlines are common, there is little evidence to support or refute their effectiveness. Preventing childhood trauma provides an opportunity for suicide prevention. The World Suicide Prevention Day is observed annually on 10 September with the support of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organization.


title: Suicide

text: There is little data on the effects of screening the general population on the ultimate rate of suicide. Screening those who come to the emergency departments with injuries from self-harm have been shown to help identify suicide ideation and suicide intention. Psychometric tests such as the Beck Depression Inventory or the Geriatric Depression Scale for older people are being used. As there is a high rate of people who test positive via these tools that are not at risk of suicide, there are concerns that screening may significantly increase mental health care resource utilization. Assessing those at high risk, though, is recommended. Asking about suicidality does not appear to increase the risk.


title: Suicide

text: In those with mental health problems, a number of treatments may reduce the risk of suicide. Those who are actively suicidal may be admitted to psychiatric care either voluntarily or involuntarily. Possessions that may be used to harm oneself are typically removed. Some clinicians get patients to sign suicide prevention contracts where they agree to not harm themselves if released. However, evidence does not support a significant effect from this practice. If a person is at low risk, outpatient mental health treatment may be arranged. Short-term hospitalization has not been found to be more effective than community care for improving outcomes in those with borderline personality disorder who are chronically suicidal.


title: Suicide

text: There is tentative evidence that psychotherapy, specifically dialectical behaviour therapy, reduces suicidality in adolescents as well as in those with borderline personality disorder. It may also be useful in decreasing suicide attempts in adults at high risk. However, a decrease in suicide has not been observed.


title: Suicide

text: There is controversy around the benefit-versus-harm of antidepressants. In young persons, some antidepressants, such as SSRIs, appear to increase the risk of suicidality from 25 per 1000 to 40 per 1000. In older persons, however, they may decrease the risk. Lithium appears effective at lowering the risk in those with bipolar disorder and major depression to nearly the same levels as that of the general population. Clozapine may decrease the thoughts of suicide in some people with schizophrenia. Ketamine, which is a dissociative anaesthetic, seems to lower the rate of suicidal ideation. In the United States, health professionals are legally required to take reasonable steps to try to prevent suicide.


title: Suicide

text: Approximately 1.4% of people die by suicide, a mortality rate of 11.6 per 100,000 persons per year. Suicide resulted in 842,000 deaths in 2013 up from 712,000 deaths in 1990. Rates of suicide have increased by 60% from the 1960s to 2012, with these increases seen primarily in the developing world. Globally, /2009, suicide is the tenth leading cause of death. For every suicide that results in death there are between 10 and 40 attempted suicides.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide rates differ significantly between countries and over time. As a percentage of deaths in 2008 it was: Africa 0.5%, South-East Asia 1.9%, Americas 1.2% and Europe 1.4%. Rates per 100,000 were: Australia 8.6, Canada 11.1, China 12.7, India 23.2, United Kingdom 7.6, United States 11.4 and South Korea 28.9. It was ranked as the 10th leading cause of death in the United States in 2016 with about 45,000 cases that year. Rates have increased in the United States in the last few years, with the highest value being in 2017 (the most recent data). In the United States, about 650,000 people are seen in emergency departments yearly due to attempting suicide. The United States rate among men in their 50s rose by nearly half in the decade 1999–2010. Greenland, Lithuania, Japan, and Hungary have the highest rates of suicide. Around 75% of suicides occur in the developing world. The countries with the greatest absolute numbers of suicides are China and India, partly due to their large population size, accounting for over half the total. In China, suicide is the 5th leading cause of death.


title: Suicide

text: Globally , death by suicide occurs about 1.8 times more often in males than females. In the Western world, males die three to four times more often by means of suicide than do females. This difference is even more pronounced in those over the age of 65, with tenfold more males than females dying by suicide. Suicide attempts and self-harm are between two and four times more frequent among females. Researchers have attributed the difference between suicide and attempted suicide among the sexes to males using more lethal means to end their lives. However, separating intentional suicide attempts from non-suicidal self-harm is not currently done in places like the United States when gathering statistics at the national level.


title: Suicide

text: China has one of the highest female suicide rates in the world and is the only country where it is higher than that of men (ratio of 0.9). In the Eastern Mediterranean, suicide rates are nearly equivalent between males and females. The highest rate of female suicide is found in South Korea at 22 per 100,000, with high rates in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific generally.


title: Suicide

text: A number of reviews have found an increased risk of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Among transgender persons, rates of attempted suicide are about 40% compared to a general population rate of 5%. This is believed to in part be due to social stigmatisation.


title: Suicide

text: In many countries, the rate of suicide is highest in the middle-aged or elderly. The absolute number of suicides, however, is greatest in those between 15 and 29 years old, due to the number of people in this age group. Worldwide, the average age of suicide is between age 30 and 49 for both men and women. This means that half of people who died by suicide were approximately age 40 or younger, and half were older. Suicidality is rare in children, but increases during the transition to adolescence.


title: Suicide

text: In the United States, the suicide death rate is greatest in Caucasian men older than 80 years, even though younger people more frequently attempt suicide. It is the second most common cause of death in adolescents and in young males is second only to accidental death. In young males in the developed world, it is the cause of nearly 30% of mortality. In the developing world rates are similar, but it makes up a smaller proportion of overall deaths due to higher rates of death from other types of trauma. In South-East Asia, in contrast to other areas of the world, deaths from suicide occur at a greater rate in young females than elderly females.


title: Suicide

text: In ancient Athens, a person who died by suicide without the approval of the state was denied the honors of a normal burial. The person would be buried alone, on the outskirts of the city, without a headstone or marker. However, it was deemed to be an acceptable method to deal with military defeat. In Ancient Rome, while suicide was initially permitted, it was later deemed a crime against the state due to its economic costs. Aristotle condemned all forms of suicide while Plato was ambivalent. In Rome, some reasons for suicide included volunteering death in a gladiator combat, guilt over murdering someone, to save the life of another, as a result of mourning, from shame from being raped, and as an escape from intolerable situations like physical suffering, military defeat, or criminal pursuit.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide came to be regarded as a sin in Christian Europe and was condemned at the Council of Arles (452) as the work of the Devil. In the Middle Ages, the Church had drawn-out discussions as to when the desire for martyrdom was suicidal, as in the case of martyrs of Córdoba. Despite these disputes and occasional official rulings, Catholic doctrine was not entirely settled on the subject of suicide until the later 17th century. A criminal ordinance issued by Louis XIV of France in 1670 was extremely severe, even for the times: the dead person's body was drawn through the streets, face down, and then hung or thrown on a garbage heap. Additionally, all of the person's property was confiscated.


title: Suicide

text: Attitudes towards suicide slowly began to shift during the Renaissance. John Donne's work "Biathanatos" contained one of the first modern defences of suicide, bringing proof from the conduct of Biblical figures, such as Jesus, Samson and Saul, and presenting arguments on grounds of reason and nature to sanction suicide in certain circumstances.


title: Suicide

text: The secularization of society that began during the Enlightenment questioned traditional religious attitudes (such as Christian views on suicide) toward suicide and brought a more modern perspective to the issue. David Hume denied that suicide was a crime as it affected no one and was potentially to the advantage of the individual. In his 1777 "Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Soul" he rhetorically asked, "Why should I prolong a miserable existence, because of some frivolous advantage which the public may perhaps receive from me?" Hume's analysis was criticized by philosopher Philip Reed as being "uncharacteristically (for him) bad", since Hume took an unusually narrow conception of duty and his conclusion depended upon the suicide producing no harm to others – including causing no grief, feelings of guilt, or emotional pain to any surviving friends and family – which is almost never the case. A shift in public opinion at large can also be discerned; "The Times" in 1786 initiated a spirited debate on the motion "Is suicide an act of courage?".


title: Suicide

text: By the 19th century, the act of suicide had shifted from being viewed as caused by sin to being caused by insanity in Europe. Although suicide remained illegal during this period, it increasingly became the target of satirical comments, such as the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera "The Mikado", which satirized the idea of executing someone who had already killed himself.


title: Suicide

text: By 1879, English law began to distinguish between suicide and homicide, although suicide still resulted in forfeiture of estate. In 1882, the deceased were permitted daylight burial in England and by the middle of the 20th century, suicide had become legal in much of the Western world. The term "suicide" first emerged shortly before 1700 to replace expressions on self-death which were often characterized as a form of self-murder in the West.


title: Suicide

text: No country in Europe currently considers suicide or attempted suicide to be a crime. It was, however, in most Western European countries from the Middle Ages until at least the 19th century. The Netherlands was the first country to legalize both physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, which took effect in 2002, although only doctors are allowed to assist in either of them, and have to follow a protocol prescribed by Dutch law. If such protocol is not followed, it is an offence punishable by law. In Germany, active euthanasia is illegal and anyone present during suicide may be prosecuted for failure to render aid in an emergency. Switzerland has taken steps to legalize assisted suicide for the chronically mentally ill. The high court in Lausanne, Switzerland, in a 2006 ruling, granted an anonymous individual with longstanding psychiatric difficulties the right to end his own life. England and Wales decriminalized suicide via the Suicide Act 1961 and the Republic of Ireland in 1993. The word "commit" was used in reference to its being illegal, but many organisations have stopped it because of the negative connotation.


title: Suicide

text: In the United States, suicide is not illegal, but may be associated with penalties for those who attempt it. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in the state of Washington for people with terminal diseases. In Oregon, people with terminal diseases may request medications to help end their life. Canadians who have attempted suicide may be barred from entering the United States. U.S. laws allow border guards to deny access to people who have a mental illness, including those with previous suicide attempts.


title: Suicide

text: In Australia, suicide is not a crime. However, it is a crime to counsel, incite, or aid and abet another in attempting to die by suicide, and the law explicitly allows any person to use "such force as may reasonably be necessary" to prevent another from taking their own life. The Northern Territory of Australia briefly had legal physician-assisted suicide from 1996 to 1997.


title: Suicide

text: In India, suicide was illegal until 2014, and surviving family members used to face legal difficulties. It remains a criminal offense in most Muslim-majority nations.


title: Suicide

text: Most forms of Christianity consider suicide sinful, based mainly on the writings of influential Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, but suicide was not considered a sin under the Byzantine Christian code of Justinian, for instance. In Catholic and Orthodox doctrine, suicide is considered to be murder, violating the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," and historically neither church would even hold a burial service for a member that died by suicide, deeming it an act that condemned the person to hell, since they died in a state of mortal sin. The basic idea being that life is a gift given by God which should not be spurned, and that suicide is against the "natural order" and thus interferes with God's master plan for the world. However, it is believed that mental illness or grave fear of suffering diminishes the responsibility of the one completing suicide.


title: Suicide

text: Judaism focuses on the importance of valuing this life, and as such, suicide is tantamount to denying God's goodness in the world. Despite this, under extreme circumstances when there has seemed no choice but to either be killed or forced to betray their religion, there are several accounts of Jews having died by suicide, either individually or in groups (see Holocaust, Masada, First French persecution of the Jews and York Castle for examples), and as a grim reminder there is even a prayer in the Jewish liturgy for "when the knife is at the throat", for those dying "to sanctify God's Name" (see Martyrdom). These acts have received mixed responses by Jewish authorities, regarded by some as examples of heroic martyrdom, while others state that it was wrong for them to take their own lives in anticipation of martyrdom.


title: Suicide

text: Islamic religious views are against suicide. The Quran forbids it by stating "do not kill or destroy yourself". The hadiths also state individual suicide to be unlawful and a sin. Stigma is often associated with suicide in Islamic countries.


title: Suicide

text: In Hinduism, suicide is generally disdained and is considered equally sinful as murdering another in contemporary Hindu society. Hindu Scriptures state that one who dies by suicide will become part of the spirit world, wandering earth until the time one would have otherwise died, had one not taken one's own life. However, Hinduism accepts a man's right to end one's life through the non-violent practice of fasting to death, termed "Prayopavesa"; but "Prayopavesa" is strictly restricted to people who have no desire or ambition left, and no responsibilities remaining in this life.


title: Suicide

text: Jainism has a similar practice named "Santhara". Sati, or self-immolation by widows, is a rare and illegal practice in Hindu society.


title: Suicide

text: Within the Ainu religion, someone who dies by suicide is believed to become a ghost (tukap) who would haunt the living, to come to fulfillment from which they were excluded during life. Also, someone who insults another so they kill themselves is regarded as co-responsible for their death. According to Norbert Richard Adami, this ethic exists due to the case that solidarity within the community is much more important to Ainu culture than it is to the Western world.


title: Suicide

text: A number of questions are raised within the philosophy of suicide, including what constitutes suicide, whether or not suicide can be a rational choice, and the moral permissibility of suicide. Arguments as to acceptability of suicide in moral or social terms range from the position that the act is inherently immoral and unacceptable under any circumstances, to a regard for suicide as a sacrosanct right of anyone who believes they have rationally and conscientiously come to the decision to end their own lives, even if they are young and healthy.


title: Suicide

text: Opponents to suicide include philosophers such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant and, arguably, John Stuart Mill – Mill's focus on the importance of liberty and autonomy meant that he rejected choices which would prevent a person from making future autonomous decisions. Others view suicide as a legitimate matter of personal choice. Supporters of this position maintain that no one should be forced to suffer against their will, particularly from conditions such as incurable disease, mental illness, and old age, with no possibility of improvement. They reject the belief that suicide is always irrational, arguing instead that it can be a valid last resort for those enduring major pain or trauma. A stronger stance would argue that people should be allowed to autonomously choose to die regardless of whether they are suffering. Notable supporters of this school of thought include Scottish empiricist David Hume, who accepted suicide so long as it did not harm or violate a duty to God, other people, or the self, and American bioethicist Jacob Appel.


title: Suicide

text: Advocacy of suicide has occurred in many cultures and subcultures. The Japanese military during World War II encouraged and glorified kamikaze attacks, which were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific Theater of World War II. Japanese society as a whole has been described as "suicide-tolerant" (see Suicide in Japan).


title: Suicide

text: Internet searches for information on suicide return webpages that 10–30% of the time encourage or facilitate suicide attempts. There is some concern that such sites may push those predisposed over the edge. Some people form suicide pacts online, either with pre-existing friends or people they have recently encountered in chat rooms or message boards. The Internet, however, may also help prevent suicide by providing a social group for those who are isolated.


title: Suicide

text: Some landmarks have become known for high levels of suicide attempts. These include China's Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Japan's Aokigahara Forest, England's Beachy Head, and Toronto's Bloor Street Viaduct. , the Golden Gate Bridge has had more than 1,300 suicides by jumping since its construction in 1937. Many locations where suicide is common have constructed barriers to prevent it; this includes the Luminous Veil in Toronto, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, and Empire State Building in New York City. They generally appear to be effective.


title: Suicide

text: An example of mass suicide is the 1978 Jonestown mass murder/suicide in which 909 members of the Peoples Temple, an American new religious movement led by Jim Jones, ended their lives by drinking grape Flavor Aid laced with cyanide and various prescription drugs.


title: Suicide

text: Thousands of Japanese civilians took their own lives in the last days of the Battle of Saipan in 1944, some jumping from "Suicide Cliff" and "Banzai Cliff". The 1981 Irish hunger strikes, led by Bobby Sands, resulted in 10 deaths. The cause of death was recorded by the coroner as "starvation, self-imposed" rather than suicide; this was modified to simply "starvation" on the death certificates after protest from the dead strikers' families. During World War II, Erwin Rommel was found to have foreknowledge of the 20 July plot on Hitler's life; he was threatened with public trial, execution, and reprisals on his family unless he killed himself.


title: Suicide

text: As suicide requires a willful attempt to die, some feel it therefore cannot be said to occur in non-human animals. Suicidal behavior has been observed in "Salmonella" seeking to overcome competing bacteria by triggering an immune system response against them. Suicidal defenses by workers are also noted in the Brazilian ant "Forelius pusillus", where a small group of ants leaves the security of the nest after sealing the entrance from the outside each evening.


title: Suicide

text: Pea aphids, when threatened by a ladybug, can explode themselves, scattering and protecting their brethren and sometimes even killing the ladybug; this form of suicidal altruism is known as autothysis. Some species of termites (for example "Globitermes sulphureus") have soldiers that explode, covering their enemies with sticky goo.


title: Suicide

text: There have been anecdotal reports of dogs, horses, and dolphins killing themselves, but little scientific study of animal suicide. Animal suicide is usually put down to romantic human interpretation and is not generally thought to be intentional. Some of the reasons animals are thought to unintentionally kill themselves include: psychological stress, infection by certain parasites or fungi, or disruption of a long-held social tie, such as the ending of a long association with an owner and thus not accepting food from another individual.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, ) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which claims Luhansk Oblast. It began as a breakaway state (2014–2022) and was then annexed by Russia in 2022. The city of Luhansk is the claimed capital city.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: Pro-Russian unrest erupted in the Donbas region in response to the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity. In April 2014, armed pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings and declared the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) as independent states, which received no international recognition prior to 2022. Ukraine and others viewed them as Russian puppet states and as terrorist organisations. This sparked the War in Donbas, part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War which also saw the Russian occupation and annexation of Crimea. The Luhansk and Donetsk People's Militias occupied almost half of the two oblasts and were at war with the Ukrainian military for the next eight years.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the LPR and DPR as sovereign states. Three days later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, partially under the pretext of protecting the republics. Russian forces captured more of Luhansk Oblast (almost the entirety of it), which became part of the LPR. In September 2022, Russia announced the annexation of the LPR and other occupied territories, following disputed referendums which were illegal under international law. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on countries not to recognise what it called the "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw".


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: The Head of the Luhansk People's Republic is Leonid Pasechnik, and its parliament is the People's Council.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: The 2014 constitution of the Luhansk People's Republic (art. 54.1) defined the territory of the republic as "determined by the borders existing on the day of establishment", without describing the borders. From February 2015 up until February 2022, the LPR's "de facto" borders were the Russo–Ukrainian border (south and east), the border between Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast (west), and the line of contact with Ukrainian troops (north) as defined in the Minsk agreements between Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE. When the Russian president announced recognition of the republics' independence on February 22, 2022, he said "we recognized all their fundamental documents, including the constitution. And the constitution spells out the borders within the Donetsk and Luhansk regions at the time when they were part of Ukraine".


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast and the LPR-controlled area from April 2014 to February 2022 are both landlocked.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: The highest point in left-bank Ukraine is Mohyla Mechetna hill ( above sea level), which is located in the vicinity of the city of Petrovske, in LPR-controlled territory.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: In December 2017, approximately 1.4 million lived in the LPR's territory, with 435,000 in the city of Luhansk. Leaked documents suggest that less than three million people, less than half of the pre-war population, remained in the separatist territories that Moscow controlled in eastern Ukraine in early February 2022, and 38% of those remaining were pensioners.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: On 18 February 2022, the LPR and DPR separatist authorities ordered a general evacuation of women and children to Russia, and the next day a full mobilization of males "able to hold a weapon in their hands".


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: Luhansk and Donetsk People's republics are located in the historical region of Donbas, which was added to Ukraine in 1922. The majority of the population speaks Russian as their first language. Attempts by various Ukrainian governments to question the legitimacy of the Russian culture in Ukraine had since the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine often resulted in political conflict. In the Ukrainian national elections, a remarkably stable pattern had developed, where Donbas and the Western Ukrainian regions had voted for the opposite candidates since the presidential election in 1994. Viktor Yanukovych, a Donetsk native, had been elected as a president of Ukraine in 2010. His overthrow in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution led to protests in Eastern Ukraine, which gradually escalated into an armed conflict between the newly formed Ukrainian government and the local armed militias.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: On 5 March 2014, 12 days after the protesters in Kyiv seized the president's office (at the time Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had already fled Ukraine), a crowd of people in front of the Luhansk Oblast State Administration building proclaimed Aleksandr Kharitonov as "People's Governor" in Luhansk region. On 9 March 2014 Luganskaya Gvardiya of Kharitonov stormed the government building in Luhansk and forced the newly appointed Governor of Luhansk Oblast, Mykhailo Bolotskykh, to sign a letter of resignation.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: One thousand pro-Russian activists seized and occupied the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building in the city of Luhansk on 6 April 2014, following similar occupations in Donetsk and Kharkiv. The activists demanded that separatist leaders who had been arrested in previous weeks be released. In anticipation of attempts by the government to retake the building, barricades were erected to reinforce the positions of the activists. It was proposed by the activists that a "Lugansk Parliamentary Republic" be declared on 8 April 2014, but this did not occur. By 12 April, the government had regained control over the SBU building with the assistance of local police forces.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: Several thousand protesters gathered for a 'people's assembly' outside the regional state administration (RSA) building in Luhansk city on 21 April. These protesters called for the creation of a 'people's government', and demanded either federalisation of Ukraine or incorporation of Luhansk into the Russian Federation. They elected Valery Bolotov as 'People's Governor' of Luhansk Oblast. Two referendums were announced by the leadership of the activists. One was scheduled for 11 May, and was meant to determine whether the region would seek greater autonomy (and potentially independence), or retain its previous constitutional status within Ukraine. Another referendum, meant to be held on 18 May in the event that the first referendum favoured autonomy, was to determine whether the region would join the Russian Federation, or become independent.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: During a gathering outside the RSA building on 27 April 2014, pro-Russian activists proclaimed the "Luhansk People's Republic". The protesters issued demands, which said that the Ukrainian government should provide amnesty for all protesters, include the Russian language as an official language of Ukraine, and also hold a referendum on the status of Luhansk Oblast. They then warned the Ukrainian government that if it did not meet these demands by 14:00 on 29 April, they would launch an armed insurgency in tandem with that of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: As the Ukrainian government did not respond to these demands, 2,000 to 3,000 activists, some of them armed, seized the RSA building, and a local prosecutor's office, on 29 April. The buildings were both ransacked, and then occupied by the protesters. Protestors waved local flags, alongside those of Russia and the neighbouring Donetsk People's Republic. The police officers that had been guarding the building offered little resistance to the takeover, and some of them defected and supported the activists.


title: Luhansk People's Republic

text: Demonstrations by pro-Russian activists began to spread across Luhansk Oblast towards the end of April. The municipal administration building in Pervomaisk was overrun on 29 April 2014, and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) flag was raised over it. Oleksandr Turchynov, then acting president of Ukraine, admitted the next day that government forces were unable to stabilise the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. On the same day, activists seized control of the Alchevsk municipal administration building. In Krasnyi Luch, the municipal council conceded to demands by activists to support the 11 May 2014 referendum, and followed by raising the Russian flag over the building.