Well hello again to each and every single one of you very fine and wonderful people, My name is Sam, and I will always be your host for this all new entry of the weekly series of Weird Mind News Room where for this week we will be focused on all forms of New Releases, Trailers and some News Stories in focus that you may be unfamiliar in releasing from this week, but let us move from Intros and lets get to talking on all things media for another week.
One Last New Releases
Movies
Obsession
On the first of the new releases will bring the case that we have all had a sense of that one person that we may have wished to be with for a long time that you have went against asking due to fear and worry of rejection, but what if the case that a simple gimmick item that could grant a simple wish for those turns into what you hoped for, but in this regards may lead to a nightmare connection, well that is what the new film from YouTuber Curry Barker has in mind for us here as we have the release of his new horror of Obsession. After Breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart (Inde Navarrette) a hopeless romantic (Michael Johnston) gets exactly what he asks for. However, he soon discovers that some desires come with a dark and sinister price. Reception for this new horror so far has been very well recieved with praise on its production, performances, simple approach to horror and proving the scares can be genuine and seen so far as one of this years best and if you want to see the outcome of that wish, you can check this film out now in cinemas.
Good Omens Finale / Season 3
This next release counts as both a film and TV series for reasons that happened that it started as a tv show and was planned to continue for one last go around, but after some allegations on the original creator of the adaption it was reworked into a 1 episode finale season as it looks like the relationship across eons will all be coming to an end as we have the release of the 3rd and final season of Good Omens. The finale will see the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, Aziraphale and Crowley must confront their relationship, heal old wounds and rediscover their bond while going on a timeless expedition to save all of reality and beyond. Reception on this season / finale film has been a little mixed on critics side but underwhelmed to audiences with praise on seeing the return of this dynamic of Martin Sheen and David Tennent and for the narrative concept, though some feel it is a little anti-climatic and felt they could've done more instead of morphing it into a singular episode, but if you want to see how it all comes together, then you can catch the full series now in Amazon Prime.
TV Shows
Punisher One Last Kill
On the side of proper tv shows for this week, we will be heading to the realm of some of the superheroics for this week and will be a focus to a hero that may be more of not really a hero, but in the more morally grey where a sense of years of torment and issues will see him hang up the killing but will have him back to cause a bit more bloodshed as we have the release of the all new Marvel Special Presentation with the release of Punisher One Last Kill. This special will focus on Frank Castle set to try and hang up the killing and live a normal life that does not need a focus on revenge, but that does not fully last long as he is pulled back into the world of crime one last time to battle an unexpected conflict. Reception on this New special seems to be well recieved on both sides with praise on the more singular focused story, kills and the more mature aspect to it all (even if there is one moment that has taken the most discussion to it all of looking unfinished) but if you want to see what Frank was up to before his appearance in the new Spider-Man then you can catch the new special now on Disney+
Rivals Season 2
On the 2nd of the shows for this week, it will soon be a return to a focus of high society, a bit of scandal and a sense of being at one another throats once more for as it will be time to return to an all out battle for excellence as we have the release of the 2nd season to Rivals. The new season will follow on from the firsts drama filled finale where rivalries will push everyone to the brink, loyalties will be tested and hearts are broken in the pursuit of victory, but what is the true cost of war? Reception on this new season similar to season 1 was very well recieved with praise on the narratives, cast and building tension and rivalry from the writing and humour and if you want to see how this story will play out, you can catch the first 3 episodes now on Disney+ with a new episode releasing every Friday.
Devil May Cry Season 2
The last of the Tv series for this week is seeing a return to the realm of all out action and supernatural powers, cause all it will take is a man with an attitude, a fashionable coat and a pair of iconic pistols as we have the return of another video game adaption in focus as we have the release of the 2nd season of the anime take on Devil May Cry. The narrative will continue on the plot of the focus of the continuing battle for Dante as he takes the fight to the underworld and demons to get his revenge against those that killed his family including the powerful adversary of Vergil. Reception on this 2nd season seems to be a bit more of a positive outcome to many that seems to improve over the issues of the 1st season with better action, performances and appealing animation and if you want to take the fight to the underworld then you can catch the new season now on Netflix.
Video Games
Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Game
On the sole Game release for this week, we will be returning to the series of titles that all have a focus of some connection and where it will come down to your focus of choice that could be the outcome on if the characters you control will live or see an untimely demise as after a long gap since the previous release we have the start of the 2nd season to the Dark Pictures Anthology with the release of Directive 8020. The new game will see you take control of a group of Astronauts aboard a spaceship of the Cassiopeia who are sent on a mission to find a possible new place to live with the earth slowly dying. While in Cryosleep, those looking over the explorers experience a situation that will have some devastating affects and begin to wonder, can we really trust anyone on this ship. Reception on this new entry of the series seems to be a fair bit of mixed to modestly received with praise to some performances, tone, updated mechanics to character outcomes and relationships, though it seems most issues stem to the outcome of some of the narrative elements, character animations feeling a little stiff and some elements of the immersion feeling a little off from those elements but could still have some appeal to some and if you want to play it for yourself then you can play it now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Web Series
Gameoverse Pilot
For the last of the new releases in focus for this week will be seeing a whole new focus of an all new world of some new Indie Animation that will be taking an all new concept of video games in a bit of a new style and perspective as Glitch Productions alongside RubberRoss brings us his long in development project pilot with the release of the pilot to Gameoverse. The series takes place in a multiverse of video game worlds where if a Games hero defeats the main villain and completes the game, the world will be annihilated. The series will follow Kit (Erica Lindbeck), who travels across each world to stop attempting to prevent this destruction by helping each games villains while contending against the Syntax, who assist the heroes in order to facilitate the world's annihilation. Reception so far on the pilot episode seems to be liked with appeal to the new lead characters so far, the concept of the worldbuilding so far, the animation and the story and seems like this could be another success for the Indie Animation scene and if you want to check it out for yourself (and support Ross and co-writer Arin Hanson) then you can catch the pilot now on YouTube.
Trailers to Obsess over
Wildwood
Now on the first of the 2 trailers that we have for this week, we will be starting off with a focus to a studio that has been quite absent for almost a decade at this point, but it seems in that time since their last hand crafted title that they have made something truly special as it will be time for an adventure beyond your home in order to rescue one of your own as we have the first official trailer for the long awaited passion project from Laika studios with Wildwood. Based on the novel of the same name, the film will follow Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her Classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Trembley) are drawn into a hidden magical forest near Portland in an attempt to save Prue's kidnapped infant brother Mac from the crows, who are led by a mysterious woman named Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). So like the studio of Aardman, it is an appeal and appreciation to their development and approach to the craft of Stop motion and I have to say they really went all in on the time and effort for this one in particular as this one has apparently been in development for the better part of 15 years and while they have made a few other films in between like Kubo, Box trolls, Paranorman and Missing Link, I have to say the studio just has that appeal and especially with this one as it actually looks phenomenal in detail and visuals and even from the little dialogue of this trailer, it still speaks so much and I can feel this could be something truly special and show how much of an appeal animation has in this day and age and personally I am excited to check this out and its thankfully not majorly far away from release either as the adventure into the magical forest will begin in cinemas from the 23rd of October.
Stuart fails to save the universe
As for the other trailer for this week is one that I really question how much of a marketable and story heavy concept can come from this original series in focus when things were about science as it seems with this one where one small mishap by a side character of a series leads to a journey of multiversal shenanigans and have to bring the question if this is the right person for the job to save the day as we have have the release of the trailer for the newest spin off for the Big Bang Theory with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. The series will see Comic book shop owner Stuart Bloom causing the end of the universe after a mishap with a device created by Sheldon and Leonard, and is soon tasked with restoring reality along with his Girlfriend Denise, Geologist Bert and quantum physicist Barry Kripke. So I have to say of all the shows by Chuck Lorre, the one I didn't expect having this many spin offs was Big Bang Theory from the original that was fine (and is a favourite of a watch recently of my dad), to Young Sheldon and then Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage to now this is quite a weird fluxuation of shows. Now the ideal of some sense of a multiverse esque apocalypse setting seems like an interesting one and I am sure it could have its appeal if done well with the aspects in proper focus, but I really wonder, what else can they do with a series like Big Bang to properly give anything else to focus on, butI am sure we can see in due time as this new series will find itself released on HBO Max from July 23rd.
News of the directive in mind
A hefty serving of dates, projects unveilings and castings
Mmm Mmm, you are just in time for a hefty and tasty serving of the Hodge Podge straight out of the Oven as we have another array and focus of some new array of Release dates, new projects and other forms of updates on casting aspects that we will be focusing overall and I am sure there is something that will appeal but let us see what we have on a serving for you to sample
So a good half of the stories is once again a focus of some new release announcements across all form of media and we will start in the focus to the array of something to do with your hands as it will be a return to the focus of some new sets based on the popular brand of LEGO and in the case of returning to another set theme that will be going for another big piece and was a starting form of a rumoured piece from a couple of weeks ago and after a fair bit of waiting and discussion, it will soon be time to light the beacons of Gondor as after a fair bit of wait, it was on Tuesday of this week that they finally unveiled the reveal of the large build version of Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings and I have to say it is quite a beauty to behold. Now the set was revealed with a massive display in focus with it coming in at over 8200 pieces and will come in with a size of 59 cm tall, 62 cm wide and about 37cm deep and come with an array of about 10 minifigures as well alongside it. Now while this set is a beauty, it will set you back quite a price as the set will come in at around €650 and will be dropping on June 4th of this year which may be quite a bit of a hole in your pocket and priced around the same amount as the Pokemon set from February. There has also been a bit of debate about one of the images of the minifigs with Gandalf the White, as it seems there is damage on the torso part of the minifig in the image and has caused a great debate about it all but maybe its just the linig of the fig on display. Personally I do really like this and I want to get some of these sets from the Rivendall, Barad Dur and even the Shire and I do want to get them (and if LEGO would support in that endeavor then I will be definitely doing a fair amount of build streams for it all) and I feel it does look nice with the most of the focus will be to find a place in my home to put it on display but I guess I will figure it out in the future cause I really like it all but I am sure we can see about getting this (maybe similar to a sub goal for getting this) but I guess we will see down the line.
Now from physical items to Streaming, we will be heading soon enough back to a Galaxy Far Far Away on the big screen in the following week with the bounty hunter and little Jedi companion, but in this case we will be focusing to another member of the rebellion that was a major part of the early days of the empire before their master turned to the darkside and while there was hope we will see them sooner, it seems it will be a little longer before they are back to take the fight to the enemy as it was announced this week that the long delayed 2nd season of Ahsoka has been confirmed it will not be releasing in 2026 and will now be dropping in early 2027 instead. Now it seems that it was long overdue for them to actually release a 2nd season as it was teased since celebration last year with the confirmation of it being bigger with more action and battles and the case of confirming that Rory McCann will be portraying the character of Baylan Skoll after the passing of Ray Stevenson in May 2023 and also Hayden Christensen will also be back as Anakin for this season that I feel it was probably the focus of making sure it all comes together to appease and appeal to the fans that are still out there and wanting to see more of Snips in live action once more and once it has a focus and they have an idea in mind for this saga then so be it with the delay. Now while we know it will be dropping next year, the specific month and date is still up in the air, but once I hear anything new on that front I will provide it in a later episode.
Then from One streaming series to another, we will be going from sci-fi over to Superheroes as we will be delving into some news relating to the MCU and it looks like a trilogy of shows that has been ongoing since 2021 will be properly coming to a conclusion later this year with an official revealing that the final series in the Wandavision trilogy of Vision Quest has gotten a release date, with it set to drop on Disney+ from the 14th of October of this year. Now this will finally give us the insight as to what happened to the White Vision we saw in the Wandavision finale and see how he will reclaim his memories and probably find the new version of his kids of Wiccan and Speed in the process and I am sure we may see how they may have a presence in the upcoming Avengers films and even to the case of how does Ultron fit into this series and if it will have the more comic accurate design in this series. I am intrigued by this and I was for some reason thinking we were going to get this before the new Spider-Man film but I guess it made sense for the gap in the fall to help lead up to Doomsdays release or so but I am sure we will find out in due time. Hopefully we will get the first bit of footage for this series real soon but I am sure we will see what the series will entail by its release in Mid October.
Keeping it once more on the side of Disney for just one more release date announcement, we have seen many a times of having a form of a summer to remember and we all remember some elements of camp life for those that went to a summer camp in the past and many would want to go back for one more summer to remember as it was announced earlier this week that the long awaited 3rd film in the Camp Rock series will be set to premiere this summer in the month of August on the streamer and on Disney Channel in the US. Now not much is really known on this project will see the Jonas Brother return for this entry with them looking to give one member of camp a chance to be an opening act for their tour and as the competition heats up it will see rivalries formed and even some romances all for the chance of being a part of the musical experience. It has to be said that the ideals of a 3rd Camp Rock after nearly 2 decades is quite something, though there is a case of wondering will this have the same appeal as those other 2 films (besides some of the awkward and cringe moments like the surprise dance challenge scene from the 2nd film) given as well that the main lead actress of Demi Lovarto does not seem to be appearing in this film and will only appear in a executive producer role but I guess we will see what will come of it in due time and get more of a better idea on the date and time and see if the likes of this was justified or if it should've stayed as some fond memories of the past. So for now we have no idea on the official date, but once there is anything to it all I will provide it in a later episode.
Keeping it to streaming but just moving over to a different company, it looks like a planned new adaption of a popular series that involve some powerful heroes with high end tech and robotics that had all the hope and appeal to be something of a success for the big screen may be getting a bit of some more assembly being required and not seen as big enough for the big screen as it was announced this week that the planned live action film based on Voltron that would be starring Henry Cavil from Amazon will no longer be released in cinemas and instead will be releasing straight onto Prime Video with that window now set for release in early 2027. I am not sure why this is seeing a bit of a sudden change to streaming as I feel with anything this would do somewhat of an appeal and success to release in cinemas, especially for Amazon who has been still riding off a successful release this year thanks to Project Hail Mary and given some return of Masters of the Universe, Mortal Kombat, Mario Galaxy and others planning to have some success, I am sure it will have its fans to go see it, but it seems they are going the approach similar to that of Paramount with the Avatar sequel film getting pushed to streaming instead (so maybe we'll expect a leak of this film sent by someone in the company to a person by email as well, who knows) but I hope with both of them they will have a chance for theatrical (cause if Netflix is planning to do it for some of their big projects to come then so can those 2). Now at the moment I am sure we will get some idea of what to expect from this project, the first bit of footage or look at the title and a proper set release date, but once I do hear anything new I will provide it in a later episode.
The last of the release date / window projects in focus is one that I felt the ideal could work but from the way they have described it is one that has already labelled it to be a fail to some online but will be a focus of sun, surf, sand and a whole lot of Slo-Mo as it was unveiled that a new planned updated take on the popular series of Baywatch is getting a new take on the franchise with an all new cast and setting for release in January of next year. Now as I said in the case that this has already seen a sense of people calling this as a fail already in the form of how the network that is releasing it as they have described it as "Pure Escapism with a cast that blends top television talent with major social influencers" and from that one line has already seen a lot of concern about it as influencers in projects are not the most well versed in providing a fair bit of performance (but not always a disaster, some do give an effort but its a very thin margin). I get the approach of doing this as they will want some familiar faces to front the show and for a sense of eye candy for certain audiences, but I am not sure if this was ever really necessary and given as well it has been in development hell for years (I am not sure if this spawned from the film with the Rock and Zac Efron from 2017) it has a lot going against it but I am sure we could see by the first bit of footage for it at some point in the very near future. Now as things stand we have no date currently in January for this but I am sure if we get an idea of it by then I will provide it in a later episode.
For the focus of the next batch of project will mainly be in the are of Project announcement and updates and for this next concept is a project announcement for a long running franchise that will be in a focus of going a quarter mile at a time and will be all about the concept of one thing and that is family as it was announced that a new spin off tv series based on the franchise of the Fast and Furious is in the works. Now I can say it is just one but there is a bit of a mixed array of sources saying it is one but some have gone as far as to say there is apparently 4 shows in development for this franchise which makes me think this is getting a little out of hand and most of this information is coming to us from one man and that is with Vin Diesel himself. Now I am unsure on what they can really do with this many spin off shows as I know with anything there was at least 1 or 2 spin offs in mind from the likes of Tyrese and Ludacris looking at the concept of that before Universal went with the focus of the spin off of the more recent additions to the series of Hobbs and Shaw, which I would not be surprised if that is one of them in the focus of the spin off to continue the plot set up in the 2019 film. Then again, this is Vin Diesel we are talking about with this franchise in particular as he has made a lot of promises about this franchise from 11 being the last film, to reports universal was happy with Fast X that it was being turned into a 3 part finale, then a 2027 release before that was debunked for a March 2028 release, then reports the series was possibly not even going to get a conclusion cause of inflated budgets and underwhelming returns and the most egregious aspect of most concepts post Furious 7 from Magnets defying physics, drifting over submarines, Dom going rogue and even going to Space, but the most consistent is that Diesel wants them to bring Paul Walkers character back for the finale but have to question if its worth it, even after his memorial scene in 7 (and don't get me started about all of his other projects he talks about all the time on his socials) so it really seems like its unclear about the future of this franchise. Now as things stand, nothing has been properly set in stone for this and most focus is them getting to actually make the final film in the series but if there is any follow ups to all of this I will provide it in a later episode.
For the next project update and announcement, it seems that the concept of this planned franchise was a possible one and done concept after some focus shifted to other project adaptions, but there was always a hope that one day it could all come back for another globe trotting adventure, well it seems those questions are being answered and a certain Belgian creation may be back on the case as it was announced this week that a long awaited sequel to The Adventures of Tintin is finally moving ahead with this follow up being directed an written by Peter Jackson. Now this was confirmed this week at the currently ongoing Cannes film festival where it was brought up in conversation at a panel for Jackson and he had finally confirmed that the sequel is in development and was currently finishing writing the project and that him and Spielberg will be looking to start production on it real soon. Now for those uninitiated to the concept Tintin is a series of novels from a Belgian novelist of Herge that followed Tintin, a reported with a distinct hairstyle and his faithful companion of his dog Snowy as they go on grand adventures to discover the secrets of ancient treasures across land and sea and will come into contact with some distinct character like the dual police officers of Thompson and Thompson, Dr Calculus and his longtime adventure companion of Captain Haddock and it was initially planned that we were to have 3 Tintin films by 2015 with the first one releasing being Spielberg's adaption of The Secret of the Unicorn (that also had elements on Red Rackham's treasure and the Crab with the Golden Claws) and what was to follow was Jackson to make the next entry but it ended up on the back burner as Warner has snatched him to make an adaption of the Hobbit and morph it into a trilogy after some conflict between them and Guillermo Del Toro who was making it initially and saw a delay after delay from that trilogy and some restoration of musical documentaries but it seems now that it is in full focus and has been actively writing over the last few days in mind. Now I loved that Tintin adaption and I am all set for a new one and have been waiting for a new entry for 15 years and the big question on my mind is with which of the vast library of novels will they take on next and will it have the powerful group of creatives involved with this one too, but I am still very excited for this follow up. Now as things stand right now, there is no set release on this project as of yet but if there is anything I will provide it in a later episode.
But speaking of adaptions based on some classic novels, this one has a lot of news and announcement to it all that after initially hearing it has me confused if this will connect to a recent take on the project or will be a whole new attempt of the source material as it was announced we are heading to a park with some realistic animatronics in focus as we got a confirmation that a new film adaption based on the novel of Westworld is in the works at Warner Bros and will be written by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. Now the reason I say that I am confused on the approach to this project is mainly down to the concept that we have recently just had an adaption and expansion of this novel as from 2016 to the early 2020s we saw the release of the HBO adaption of Westworld that was developed by Christopher Nolan's brother Johnathon and also from J.J Abrams which has me wondering in most particular instance if this will be an epilogue to the HBO series that was cancelled after its 4th season or will it be a 2nd proper remake adaption of the book similar to the film adaption that was released back in 1973 but it could be leaning toward the former as Johnathon Nolan still has an intention in mind to finish the series despite the cancellation and that was specified only about 2 years ago so maybe he is helping in developing this film take itself. Now the big question most as asking about is who is likely taking the directing duty for this and many have started to speculate that it could be Spielberg as while recently talking on his upcoming film of Disclosure Day, he has mentioned he plans to make a western as his next project and given the setting of this novel, this could line up with that but nothing has been set in stone. I am intrigued to what approach this will go in and I will get back to finishing up that series adaption (most reason I didn't was due to my focus on exams at the time) and while no set date has been made of when we could see it, once I hear anything new I will provide that in a later episode.
The last of the project announcements is one that I initially discussed as a bit of bad news from a few weeks ago but it seems to have had a little bit of an update. So a couple of weeks ago I talked about the planned project being made by Matt Braly (Amphibia) and Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe) that was this planned animated film about a form of spirits and culture of Thailand from Sony Animation and it was a concept that had potential before it was announced earlier this year or late last year that the project was being shelved by Sony which was a bit of a disappointment, especially for Braly who was making this as his directorial debut and many hoped for it to be changed from being lost to time. However that has now changed as it was confirmed that the film has been saved from a Thailand studio who has picked up the rights for the project, with this studio working on some other big project including last years highest grossing film of Ne Zha 2. Now the project is now looking to be shopped around at the ongoing Cannes and Annecy in June in order to find a distributor for it to release in the near future and I hope it has a chance to do so as I feel similar to the Looney Tunes films that were shelved from WB that they had potential and proved some appeal and success from the outcome and I do hope we will see this in the very near future and hopefully will be swept up real quick but I am sure if there is any new news about it all then I will provide it in a later episode.
Now for the one sole bit of casting focus news for this week we have seen the case of seeing things that are quite unexplainable for many, but in the case for many there is a sense that many will be out there wanting to believe as it was announced another 4 new additions will be joining the upcoming new reboot take on the X-Files that will be developed by Ryan Coogler and has already casted Danielle Deadwyler a few weeks ago. The new cast additions include Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Tantoo Cardinal and recent Oscar winner Amy Madigan among a few others that are joining as well in some guest roles for this series. I am intrigued in the likes of what is to come from this series as I am interested in the approach that Coogler can do with some form of adaption like this that some of this big talent lending their talents for this will be an interesting one but I am sure we can see on who they will be playing in this series and if there will be even more familiar faces and cast to join as they eventually start some production on this series down the line and I am sure if there is more joining down the line and the ideal of when we will see this release, I will provide it in a later episode as well.
The one final story for this week is not really a casting announcement for any project but it looks like there is a plan for the night of glitz and glam will be having some well established talent again to host, as it was announced this week that Conan O'Brien will be back to host the Oscars for the 3rd time at next years academy awards. Personally I am all well and fine with this as I really felt for all the recent shows, he had the appeal and really actually cared about the concept of the media of film instead of the usual focus on the politics that Kimmel did or the disaster of the 3 women hosting it in 2022 (well I didn't hate Wanda Sykes or Regina hall and either of them could've hosted on their own, it was brought down by Amy Schumer's hiring) and I personally am fine with this choice for one last go around and then we have some more hosts similar to Conan in appeal (not to say I would have issues with him for a 4th time around) so I am sure we will see how he pulls it off with this next show in March of next year.
But what do you make of all of these stories, will you be picking up this new LEGO set in a few weeks and what other sets do you hope to see in the future, will you be checking out the 2nd season of Ahsoka when it releases next year, are you excited for the 3rd entry of the Wandavision trilogy and what are your thoughts on the first 2 entries, will you be watching the 3rd Camp Rock and do you see it work without an appearance by Lovarto, Do you think that Voltron film will release in cinemas or stay on streaming and when do you expect to see it, do you see this Baywatch reboot working out or as a lost cause, will you be checking out these many tv spin offs on Fast and Furious, are you excited for a 2nd Tintin adaption and what novels will they adapt for this sequel, do you see this Westworld film as a new take on the novel or an epilogue to the recent tv adaption, what studio do you hope will pick up Braly's and Sugars animated film, what are your thoughts on the new cast and the concept of this X-Files reboot and do you think that Conan will do another solid job as Oscars Host for a 3rd year and who do you hope will host the show in the future? Let me know your thoughts on it all down below.
And with all of that, this brings us to the end of the 168th edition of Weird Mind News Room and I hope that you enjoy the ramblings for another week. Let me know your thoughts on all that was discussed this week down below and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and I will see you all in the next episode :)
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