A Kickstarter funding page has been started to publish a graphic novel of “Eat Figher”, a 2018 webtoon with a female competitive eater protagonist. $3000 must be raised by December 12 for the project to go forward. The volume is expected to have 250 pages and has the following synopsis:

Eat Fighter is a competitive eating, zombie murder epic that follows Missy, a thirty-something fitness nut who throws away her kale and step-counting ways to become a superstar on the competitive eating circuit. Following the lifestyle of her late brother, who was a champion competitive eater himself, she embarks on a quest to Seoul to become the World Champion Eat Fighter. But eating barrels of barbecue and acres of apple pie doesn’t come without a price—so what’s Missy’s secret as to why she can eat as much as she wants and never gain a pound?

A video trailer for the project has been produced.

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ScreenRant.com has a post about director Tim Burton’s request for Joey Chestnut to have a cameo role in Beetlejuice 2. Chestnut turned down the offer to focus on training for a contest, most likely Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in 2023.

During Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2 commentary feature, the director speaks about the creative nature of developing the latest batch of dead people seen in the afterlife. Among the group is a man who died during a hot dog-eating contest, one of the first afterlife characters Burton created, and someone Betelgeuse is sitting next to while in the waiting room in the sequel. Burton’s Beetlejuice 2 commentary reveals he actually wanted famous hot dog contest eater Joey Chestnut to play the afterlife character, but the competitor was too busy training for an upcoming event.

Burton shared that he was inspired by Chestnut’s record-breaking events when creating afterlife characters, so he decided to add someone who died as a result of eating too many hot dogs. When Beetlejuice 2 started filming, Chestnut would’ve been prepping to compete in the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held every Fourth of July.

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NJ Arts has an article about the new documentary, “No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story” which includes an interview with contest co-founder Angelo Cataldi. He discusses the medical personnel (or lack thereof) at the event:

Which was a good thing because, until 2007, the only medical personnel at Wing Bowl was Dr. St. George Hunt, a local veterinarian. “He couldn’t Heimlich anyone,” says Cataldi. “Basically, he neutered cats. I ended up with two of them.”

He laughs. “It was a joke.”

Yes, a big ha-ha, until Ice Cream Man showed up. “A guy came in for an eating stunt. He wanted to eat two gallons of ice cream, and we thought that was cool,” says Cataldi. “So, the guy ate the first gallon of ice cream fine. He was feeling good.”

But a few spoonfuls into the second gallon, his lips started turning blue. “By now, the guy is shivering and he’s moving slower. We ended up calling 911. He was in some physical jeopardy at one point. And that was the day we were told all eating stunts had to be approved by the legal department and that there had to be doctors on duty at the event — things we should have been doing all along.”

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“No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story” will debut at the Philadelphia Film Festival on October 22. Another screening will take place on October 26. Directory Pat Taggart and producer Frank Petka will hold a Q & A session following the screening. The synposis:

A hilariously captivating retelling of Philadelphia’s infamous Wing Bowl, spiced with colorful commentary from iconic eaters, organizers, and celebrities, as they recount the event’s wild journey from humble beginnings to an unbelievable spectacle. Featuring legendary tales of eaters like the notorious Wing Bowl villain “Damaging Doug” with his larger-than-life aura, and the shocking moment when Matt “Sloth” Dutton delivered the most artistic vomit in event history, all amid the chaos unleashed by the rowdy, alcohol-fueled audience. Reigning champion “El Wingador” reflects on his moments of glory and the journey to reclaim his title after it was unexpectedly nabbed by the small-but-mighty outsider Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas. No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story is a thrilling look at an electrifying era of trash talk, out-of-control crowds, and mouth-watering wings that took hold of the City of Brotherly Love, birthing a cultural phenomenon that will never be forgotten—from the first bite to the final wing.

It will be interesting to see if Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas was interviewed for the film. As far as I know, she has been radio silent for the past six years.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer and NBC Philadelphia have articles about an upcoming documentary about the Wing Bowl titled “No One Died: The Wing Bowl Story”. The assertion “No One Died” may not be 100% accurate. Fino “Chili Dawg” Cachola passed away soon after qualifying for the Wing Bowl in December 2004. An excerpt from “Horsemen of the Esophagus” by Jason Fagone chronicles the final weeks of Cachola’s life. A previous Wing Bowl documentary that followed six competitors in the 2005 Wing Bowl, “Swallow Your Pride”, has disappeared from the internet after being available on youtube. A few clips can be viewed on the film’s channel.

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TVLine announces that there will be two undercard competitions for “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef” that will be streamed on Netflix from Las Vegas on September 2: Matt Stonie and Leah Shutkever will face off against opponents who have yet to be named. This will be Matt Stonie’s first public eating competition since a Draft Kings event in April 2021 and Leah Shutkever’s first public competition since the Highway 55 burger eating contest in June 2018. The broadcast co-hosts will be actor/comedian Rob Riggle and WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia. Cari Champion and Chris Rose will be the announcers for the competitions.

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The ESPN schedule for July 4 has been finalized and the women’s Nathan’s Famous contest will be streamed on ESPN3 yet again while ESPN2 shows the talk show “First Take”. ESPN3 will also offer individual cameras for Geoff Esper and Miki Sudo.

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The ESPN schedule for July 4 is now out. The men’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest will be televised on ESPN2 at noon eastern and then rerun several times throughout the day. It appears the women’s competition will be relegated to streaming yet again. The 2019 documentary, “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” will also be televised on July 4 at 10pm on ESPN2.

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