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Movie News: Scream 7 - Neve Campbell & Kevin Williamson Courteney Cox? BACK! Update: Melissa Barrera & Jenna Ortega GONE!

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It's bright knives, big city, for 'Scream VI,' a sequel that can barely pay the rent

Ghostface comes to New York City, along with Jenna Ortega and Courteney Cox, in a sequel that starts off sharp but dulls quickly.
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Scream VI review: Bright knives, big city

Ghostface comes to NYC in a sequel that starts off sharp but dulls quickly.

By Joshua RothkopfMarch 08, 2023 at 03:19 AM EST







When horror franchises head to New York City (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, but don't bother with either of them), it's basically a sign that the building has been condemned. Decent scares do come out of the five boroughs, but those American psychos tend to be less Ed Gein, more neurotic and urban-derived.
Call it a small miracle, then, that, before smoothing out into a blandly excessive stabfest, Scream VI hatches a few creepy jolts in its first few minutes. Per longtime formula, a woman (Samara Weaving, the raw-boned survivor of co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's superior Ready or Not) gets a phone call, but she's waiting at a restaurant's bar for her Tinder date, surrounded by people, hardly at risk.

Still, the voice cajoles her outside, across the street, into that dark alley, and you see how the concept could be made to work, even if we're already way smarter than it. Don't call it a spoiler, either, when, after she meets her date (it's a quick one), he pulls off his Ghostface mask to reveal himself (hello, Tony Revolori from The Grand Budapest Hotel, still innocent-looking). Is this to be a new kind of Scream, one in which we know the sweet-faced killer in advance?

Ghostface in 'Scream VI.'
Of course it isn't, and the double death whammy has a perverse kick to it, raising plot expectations to an unfair degree. Scream VI ultimately squanders the goodwill of last year's occasionally satisfying reboot (a rampaging Neve Campbell bowed out of further participation), slackening into a dutiful merry-go-round of returning characters. Chiefly, there's Tara (Wednesday's deadpan Jenna Ortega in an underwritten role), enrolled at fictional Blackmore University, her overprotective older sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), busy ruining Tara's first year away from home, plus a clutch of chatty over-explainers and fresh nobodies. Every time the movie brings on another cast member — including a lunging Courteney Cox — it feels less like a horror movie and more like a soap opera with serrated edges.

None of them are safe (you knew that), not in a bodega, not on the subway, not in their apartments. It's a movie in which the actual city doesn't register, like a Friends episode: The One With the Relentless Stalker. Splattery, puncture-heavy violence — the hard-R rating is earned — alternates with deadening rafts of therapy-speak, including an actual therapy session. But there's no deeper meaning to any of it; the Scream idea, meta to its core, was always a preening celebration of its own cleverness, never mind the occasional half-explored nods to toxic fandom or cancel culture. When the final showdown goes down, in a museum filled with artifacts from the other films, you'll realize that such a hall of mirrors will never be built. No one loves these movies quite that much — not as much as the movies love themselves. Grade: C+
 
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From Jenna Ortega to Courteney Cox, here's who's returning for 'Scream VI'

Courteney Cox, Jenna Ortega, and Hayden Panettiere are among the 'Scream' franchise veterans who have come back for latest film
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From Jenna Ortega to Courteney Cox, here's who's returning for Scream VI

Sixth installment of horror-comedy franchise is released March 10.
By Clark CollisMarch 07, 2023 at 08:52 PM EST


Scream VI will be missing a couple of beloved franchise veterans, with David Arquette's Deputy Dewey having gone to the great stakeout in the sky during last year's Scream and the Sidney Prescott-playing Neve Campbell deciding not to come back for real-life salary-related reasons. But the sixth installment of the horror-comedy franchise is still full of familiar, and likely frightened, faces. Find out below which actors are returning.
Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter

Jenna Ortega in 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT
After surviving the Ghostface-orchestrated mayhem of Scream (2020), Ortega's character has relocated from Woodsboro to New York, where she attends college at the fictional Blackmore University.

"At the top of the film, we see my character, Tara, avoiding her trauma and desperately trying to reclaim her teenage experience and become a normal college student," says the Wednesday star.
Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter

Melissa Barrera 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT
Tara's sister Sam has also moved east to keep an eye on her sibling and an eye out for a certain mask-wearing psycho.
"We saw her at the end of the last movie telling her sister, 'I'm going to hold your hand; I'm never leaving your side,'" says Barrera. "She meant it, and it's a little bit like she's taking it to the extreme now."
Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin
Tara is joined at Blackmore University by her high school pal Chad Meeks-Martin, the nephew of Jamie Kennedy's horror movie expert Randy Meeks from the first three Scream films.

"My character's been stabbed a plethora of times and is trying to leave that in the past and start a new life in New York City," says Gooding. "We see how that falls apart in the wake of a new Ghostface debacle."

Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding in 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT
Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin
Chad's twin sister Mindy is yet another survivor of the most recent Woodsboro massacre to be studying at Blackmore University.
"Somehow, they all got into the same school," says Brown with a laugh. "Who knows if that was because they all wrote really good essays and had good test scores or if Blackmore felt bad for them. Regardless, they're together, and Mindy is in a great place. I think moving to New York City is an exciting option for any young person, but especially a queer young person who was in a small town. Now she has the opportunity to explore her gender, explore her sexuality, in a place where more people look like her and are also exploring."
Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers

Courteney Cox in 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ
The Friends star has played journalist Gale Weathers, the chronicler of the franchise's many slayings, in every Scream film dating back to director Wes Craven's original 1996 movie. At the conclusion of Scream (2020), however, Gale announced that she would not write about the latest slaughter in Woodsboro because she wanted the Dewey-murdering killers, played by Jack Quaid and Mikey Madison, to die in anonymity.
"It's always good to see the return of Gale Weathers," says Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who co-directed Scream (2022) and Scream VI with Tyler Gillett. "Especially with where she was in the last movie and how her life has evolved."
"Bringing Ghostface to New York adds an entirely new element to the story," adds Cox. "Taking the character out of a small town and putting them in the heart of the city that never sleeps is more terrifying than ever."
Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface

Ghostface in 'Scream VI.'
Not all of the returning cast members are familiar faces. Jackson has voiced Ghostface since the first movie and does so again in Scream VI. Turns out, the actor is much less of a problem than his character.
"He's a treat to work with," says Bettinelli-Olpin.
Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed

Hayden Panettiere in 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT
The Nashville star's snarky, horror movie-loving character Kirby Reed became a fan favorite after the teenager was introduced in 2011's Scream 4. Kirby was in bad shape by the end of that movie, after being stabbed by Rory Culkin's villainous Charlie Walker, but Scream (2020) revealed that Panettiere's character was still alive, setting up actress' appearance in the new movie.
"She's come a long way," says Panettiere. "What happened to her has obviously impacted her life, and it sends her in a certain direction, but she's still the same old Kirby at the heart of it. She's just a little older, a little wiser, but just as spitfire-y, and snarky, and all that good stuff."
The cast of Scream VI also includes Tony Revolori, Samara Weaving, Dermot Mulroney, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, and Josh Segarra.
Scream VI slashes into cinemas March 10.
 
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'Scream VI' star Mason Gooding was told his character would die in the last movie

The 'Core Four' from 'Scream VI' was almost a 'Core Three': Mason Gooding reveals he was initially told his character would die in 'Scream 5'
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Scream VI star Mason Gooding was told his character would die in the last movie

"It wasn't until we began filming that I was told that I was going to survive," says the actor.
By Clark CollisMarch 08, 2023 at 02:46 PM EST

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In Scream VI, Mason Gooding's Chad Meeks-Martin coins the term "the Core Four" for the friend group (played by himself, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, and Melissa Barrera) who have moved to New York after surviving the Ghostface-orchestrated mayhem of Scream (2022). But the Core Four was almost the Core Three, given that the original plan was for Gooding's character to perish in the fifth Scream movie.
"I was kind of bait-and-switched," says the actor. "The script that I got the first time around said I died. I don't think you necessarily go into a Scream movie expecting to live every time. I just kind of accepted my fate. It wasn't until we began filming Scream 5 that I was told that I was going to survive and make it to the next one."


Mason Gooding in 'Scream VI'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Gooding recalls being "shocked for a few different reasons" when he read the script for Scream VI by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick.
"I didn't necessarily know that the 'Core Four' dynamic was going to take on the level of intimacy that it did, so to speak," he teases. "Nor did I think I was going to be as thrown off by the killer reveal as I was. People will see why when they watch the movie."
Gooding's Scream VI costar Dermot Mulroney recently told EW that the film features "gorier, longer" kills, and Gooding confirms the movie has an abundance of the red stuff.

"I think this was the bloodiest Scream from a gallon-to-gallon standpoint of blood used," he says. "And that, I think, speaks to the level of viscera in and around the movie, some of which I am subjected to myself. I can say from experience the moniker of 'bloodiest Scream' holds up. But what I've always loved about [the first] Scream is the care and love that the movie seems to embody in its theme and messaging. It's not a nasty horror film; it has a certain level of empowerment in its main characters and final girl that I really appreciate as a horror fan. So it was very nice to see that echo through in this Scream as well."
Gooding is predictably tight-lipped about whether his character perishes this time around but insists that fans should not feel bad for him if Ghostface does turn Chad into a ghost.
"What's cool about Scream is, you're happy either way," he says. "You either get a cool death or a really cool opportunity to come back, so either way I kind of win-win."
Scream VI slashes into cinemas March 10.
 
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Scream VI star Hayden Panettiere worried she could no longer act after 4-year break

'It was daunting, honestly,' says the Heroes and Nashville actress of her return as franchise fan favorite Kirby Reed.
By Clark CollisMarch 09, 2023 at 08:28 PM EST

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Hayden Panettiere accrued fans playing Claire Bennet in Heroes and Juliette Barnes in Nashville, but to horror movie lovers, she will always be high school student Kirby Reed from 2011's Wes Craven-directed Scream 4.
"It's one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life and my career," Panettiere says of accepting the role.
"Wes was so warm and kind, and considerate, and like a father," Panettiere continues, describing what it was like to work with Craven, who directed the first four Scream movies and died in 2015. "He takes his time to teach you how to do a horror movie, how to work with the timing, the anticipation. He's like, 'It might seem long to you, it might seem like it takes too long to you, but the timing has to be perfect.' He taught me the art of that. He was a wonderful human being."

Panettiere has endured some tough times in the years since working with Craven. Last July, she spoke to PEOPLE magazine about battling depression and addiction, struggles that had led her to rehab and a four-year absence from our screens. Then, just last month, Panettiere's brother, Jansen, passed away at the age of 28 as the result of heart issues.

Hayden Panettiere

| CREDIT: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES
Speaking to EW at a New York hotel, the actress is an understandably quiet but still enthusiastic presence as she talks of Kirby Reed's return in the just-released Scream VI.
"It's bigger and better and gorier than ever," Panettiere, 33, says of the movie directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. "It's in the red zone!"
Kirby was last seen bleeding out at the end of Scream 4, having been stabbed by Kieran Culkin's killer, but was never actually pronounced dead. When Panettiere learned that the Scream franchise was being rebooted, she got in touch with the behind-the-scenes team and made it clear that she would be happy to reprise her fan-favorite role.

"I called them," she says. "When I heard that they were doing Scream 5, I called them, and I said, 'By the way, I might be alive still! And I might be useful! Please, if there is a way, bring me back!'"
Last year's Scream included a shot of a YouTube video that identified Kirby as a "Woodsboro survivor," setting up Panettiere's proper return in Scream VI, her first acting gig in almost half a decade.
"It was daunting, honestly," she says. "I was a little bit worried. I was worried that I couldn't act anymore. I mean, I took four years off. I had to remind myself of what I could do and to make sure that I could still do it. But I knew I made the right decision. This was the best, the best first movie back that I could have dreamt of. It was like coming home. I was 21 when I did Scream 4, and Wes Craven, the whole cast, the whole crew, it was such a family. I was hoping to find the same thing here, and I very definitely did. Matt and Tyler and the whole cast. I mean, just incredible, just incredible people."

Hayden Panettiere in 'Scream VI.'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SPYGLASS MEDIA GROUP
Pattiniere's Scream VI costar Mason Gooding describes working with Pattiniere as "a dream come true. I don't know if anyone knows this, maybe because of her petite stature, but she's a badass through and through. I think if anyone were to run into Ghostface and come out unscathed, it would be Hayden. She has a very powerful persona and mindset."
Scream VI reveals that Kirby has become an FBI agent, always on alert for the return of Ghostface.
"She wants the monsters to be afraid of her," says Panettiere. "She made it through, and she comes back, and what does somebody do after they've been through trauma? They either go and lock all their doors and hide in the cupboards, or they come out fighting, and she came out fighting."
The film also makes clear that Kirby remains a fan of horror films, just like the woman who plays the character.
"I love scary movies. I love being able to scare myself," says Panettiere. "You know, you go through that period of, like, you get your first scare, and then you become numb to it, and then I really went for it. I tried to figure out what really truly scared me, and I watched all the horror movies, and there's some frightening stuff out there, but I like to be scared, as long as I'm not alone."
 
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'Scream VI' filmmakers studied 'Jason Takes Manhattan' before making NYC-set slasher sequel

'Scream VI' is not the first slasher franchise to have its villain visit Manhattan
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Scream VI filmmakers studied Jason Takes Manhattan before making NYC-set slasher sequel

Unlike Friday the 13th Part VIII, the sixth installment of Ghostface is entirely set in New York.
By Clark CollisMarch 08, 2023 at 05:17 PM EST



Scream VI breaks new ground for the iconic horror franchise by being set in New York City. There, the four young survivors of Scream (2022), played by Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding, have relocated in the hope of avoiding more interactions with Ghostface.
"This film takes place right on the heels of the last one," says Tyler Gillett, who co-directed Scream VI with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. "It finds the survivors having moved to New York together to try to deal with, escape, move on from the events of the previous movie. They move to the big city because what kind of bad thing could happen in the city? Surely Ghostface won't show up. And then Ghostface shows up!"


'Scream VI' and 'Friday the 13th Part VIII'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT PICTURES; EVERETT COLLECTION
Scream is not the first horror franchise to have its villain show up in the City That Never Sleeps. As the name implies, 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan featured a certain Mr. Voorhees visiting Times Square, even if most of the film takes place on a boat headed to NYC rather than the big city itself.

Scream VI executive producer Chad Villella reveals to EW that the new movie's behind-the-scenes team did check out the eighth Friday the 13th film before shooting the sixth Scream in Montreal.
"Oh, we definitely studied it, and we wanted to make sure that we didn't have a boat in this!" says Villella. "We wanted to be in the city, in the lived-in part of New York, that was very important to us. Obviously, being in a city is a scary thing. With Woodsboro, you're able to be isolated very easily, but in a city, you could be surrounded by millions of people and still feel very alone. That's exactly what we wanted to capture with this one."

Scream VI hits theaters March 10.
 
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Jenna Ortega's 'Scream VI' script didn't reveal Ghostface's identity

Jenna Ortega says her first 'Scream VI' script didn't reveal Ghostface's identity: 'This time around, they didn't give us the third act at all.'
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Jenna Ortega says her original Scream VI script did not reveal Ghostface's identity

"This time around, they didn't give us the third act at all."
By Clark CollisMarch 10, 2023 at 12:18 PM EST




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Horror fans who have already watched the just-released Scream VI know the identity of the character (or characters…?) who portray Ghostface this time around — which is more than star Jenna Ortega knew after reading the script for the latest installment of the slasher franchise.
The actress revealed that she and fellow cast members were originally given scripts with missing pages, presumably to decrease the chances of Ghostface-y spoilers escaping into the public domain.
"Sometimes they give us different scripts, different endings," Ortega told host Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on Thursday's The Tonight Show. "This time around, they just didn't give us the third act at all. You just don't know [who the killer is]. Everyone usually finds out at least by the last two weeks, but they try to play games."

Jenna Ortega in 'Scream VI'

| CREDIT: PHILIPPE BOSSÉ/PARAMOUNT PICTURES
A direct sequel to last year's fifth installment, Scream (2022), the new movie finds Woodsboro massacre survivors Tara (Ortega), Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad (Mason Gooding) attending college in New York with Tara's sibling Sam (Melissa Barrera) tagging along in an attempt to protect her sis.
"At the top of the film we see my character Tara avoiding her trauma and desperately trying to reclaim her teenage experience and become a normal college student," Ortega told EW earlier this year. "There's a lot of tension between her and Sam. She feels as though she's too protective and unwilling to allow them both to move on. She feels suffocated."

During her interview for The Tonight Show, Ortega also briefly teased what might happen in the second season of her hit Netflix show Wednesday.
"We just started getting a writers' room together, and kind of talking about it," Ortega said, "and everyone's [saying], we really want to up kind of the horror aspect a little bit, and then get Wednesday out of the romantic situation, and just let her be her own individual."
On the first season of the show, Ortega's Wednesday was part of a love triangle with the characters Xavier (Percy Hynes White) and Tyler (Hunter Doohan).
 
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Courteney Cox says 'Scream VI' fight with Ghostface is her 'favorite scene' from the franchise

Courteney Cox had a 'very physical' time shooting 'Scream VI' encounter with Ghostface.
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Courteney Cox says Scream VI fight with Ghostface is 'favorite scene I've ever had in a Scream movie'

Friends star had a 'very physical' time shooting her character's encounter with iconic killer.
By Clark CollisMarch 10, 2023 at 03:35 PM EST

In the just-released Scream VI, Woodsboro massacre survivors Tara (Jenna Ortega), Sam (Melissa Barrera), Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad (Mason Gooding) relocate to New York in the hope of putting Ghostface behind them. Alas, before long, the masked maniac has embarked on a new killing spree, to the horror of everyone. Well, everyone except journalist Gale Weathers, the longtime chronicler of Ghostface's activities, who is once again played by Courteney Cox.
"Gale, when this movie opens, she lives in New York City, she's on a morning news program, and she's just doing her thing," says Cox. "Ghostface comes to town [following] Tera and Sam, and she's excited; it brings a little life to her job."
Cox's reporter has the opportunity to get up close and personal with Ghostface during an extended action sequence in Weathers' apartment.

"That took a little while," says the actress of shooting the sequence. "That was the bulk of my time filming. It was very physical. It was my favorite scene that I've ever had in a Scream movie because I got to really fight with Ghostface."

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Cox reveals that directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin encouraged the actress to undertake as much of the stunt work as possible herself.
"Oh God, I did so much," she says. "I can't believe that at this point in my life, I was able to do all that stuff. And I think the directors, they're so great...[but] I was like, is this normal, me doing this? I loved it; it was great. I was proud of myself."
Scream VI is the first movie in the franchise not to feature Cox's longtime costars, David Arquette and Neve Campbell. Arquette's character, Deputy Dewey, perished in Scream (2022), while Campbell declined to reprise her role of Sidney Prescott because of a salary dispute. What was that like for Cox?

"It feels good to be still around. I mean, I don't know what happens in this one," the actress teases, "but it was just nice to make the cut, literally."
 
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Box Office: ‘Scream VI’ Makes $5.7 Million in Previews

'Scream 6' has made $5.7 million in previews at the box office.
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Box Office: ‘Scream VI’ Makes $5.7 Million in Previews

By Jordan Moreau


The sixth time may be the charm: “Scream VI” is heading toward what could be a franchise-high opening at the box office this weekend. The Paramount and Spyglass Media slasher movie made $5.7 million at the domestic box office in Thursday previews. It’s expanding from 3,125 domestic theaters to 3,675 on Friday.
Nearly 27 years after the first “Scream” movie terrified moviegoers, the franchise is still going strong, thanks to last year’s reboot, or “requel,” also titled “Scream.” The 2022 “Scream” pulled in $3.5 million in Thursday previews in January 2022 before scaring up a solid $30 million opening weekend. “Scream 3,” released in 2000, years before some of the younger stars of the newest movie were born, holds the record for the franchise’s highest opening weekend with $34 million.



“Scream VI” is looking to take the crown from its earlier predecessor with an estimated debut between $35 million to $40 million this weekend. The sixth installment brings back the surviving stars from last year’s movie, including Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, plus Courteney Cox, who plays the longstanding “Scream” star Gale Weathers. “Scream VI” relocates the Ghostface murders from Woodsboro, Calif., to New York City, with a new cast of college-aged characters trying their best to not be stabbed repeatedly by the masked killer.
Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin return from 2022’s “Scream” to direct the latest installment, as do writers Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt. Last year’s horror ended its box office run with $81 million domestically and $137 million worldwide, all from a $25 million budget. “Scream VI” bumped up its price tag to $33 million, which, combined with positive reviews and clever, viral marketing, could bode well for the sequel.
Also staying in the box office ring this weekend is Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III,” which dominated last week with a franchise-record $58 million launch. Also premiering this weekend are Adam Driver’s sci-fi, dinosaur action movie “65,” which earned $1.225 million in previews, and Woody Harrelson’s basketball comedy “Champions.”
 

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