The Now You See Me franchise has to be one of the most unexpectedly resilient in Hollywood history. The original film by Louis Leterrier was a surprisingly massive worldwide hit, grossing over $350 million. The sequel, Now You See Me 2, made only half as much as the original domestically on a much larger budget, but was an unexpected blockbuster in China. Now, even though it’s taken nearly a decade, the franchise is back, with a hit-starved Lionsgate hoping to relaunch it for a younger crowd. |

When Ireland starved in 1847, help came from an unlikely place, the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Abdülmecid I sent £1,000 to aid Irish families during the Great Famine, and stories say he tried to send ships of food too. The donation is verified in both British and Ottoman records. The ships are harder to prove, though local tradition in Drogheda swears they arrived. What matters is the symbolism. A Muslim ruler sending relief to a mostly Catholic country in an age when Britain ruled Ireland and faile