diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 009415af..7f16215c 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ git_source(:github) do |repo_name|
   "https://github.com/#{repo_name}.git"
 end
 
+gem 'rack-cors', require: 'rack/cors'
 gem 'awesome_print'
 # Bundle edge Rails instead: gem 'rails', github: 'rails/rails'
 gem 'rails', '~> 5.0.1'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 9f7601a8..fcb76c2a 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -118,8 +118,9 @@ GEM
       slop (~> 3.4)
     pry-rails (0.3.4)
       pry (>= 0.9.10)
-    puma (3.6.2)
+    puma (3.11.4)
     rack (2.0.1)
+    rack-cors (1.0.2)
     rack-test (0.6.3)
       rack (>= 1.0)
     rails (5.0.1)
@@ -210,6 +211,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   minitest-spec-rails
   pry-rails
   puma (~> 3.0)
+  rack-cors
   rails (~> 5.0.1)
   sass-rails (~> 5.0)
   spring
diff --git a/app/controllers/movies_controller.rb b/app/controllers/movies_controller.rb
index 362e2791..68c8791c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/movies_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/movies_controller.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,19 @@ def show
       )
   end
 
+  def create
+    movie = Movie.new(movie_params)
+    puts "Movie params: #{movie_params}"
+    puts "Movie image url: #{movie.image_url}"
+      if movie.save
+        render json: { id: movie.id}, status: :ok
+      else
+        render json: { errors: movie.errors.messages }, status: :bad_request
+      end
+  end
+
+  # TODO: create method and route
+
   private
 
   def require_movie
@@ -29,4 +42,7 @@ def require_movie
       render status: :not_found, json: { errors: { title: ["No movie with title #{params["title"]}"] } }
     end
   end
+  def movie_params
+    params.permit(:title, :overview, :release_date, :image_url, :inventory, :external_id)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/movie.rb b/app/models/movie.rb
index 0016080b..6830d46e 100644
--- a/app/models/movie.rb
+++ b/app/models/movie.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 class Movie < ApplicationRecord
   has_many :rentals
   has_many :customers, through: :rentals
+  validates :external_id, uniqueness: true
+  # validate :exists?, on: :create
 
   def available_inventory
     self.inventory - Rental.where(movie: self, returned: false).length
@@ -8,12 +10,19 @@ def available_inventory
 
   def image_url
     orig_value = read_attribute :image_url
+    puts "image_url method orig_value: #{orig_value}"
     if !orig_value
       MovieWrapper::DEFAULT_IMG_URL
-    elsif external_id
+    elsif external_id && !url_valid?(orig_value)
       MovieWrapper.construct_image_url(orig_value)
     else
       orig_value
     end
   end
+  
+private
+  def url_valid?(url)
+    url = URI.parse(url) rescue false
+    url.kind_of?(URI::HTTP) || url.kind_of?(URI::HTTPS)
+  end
 end
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index cc803322..d8432a5d 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -15,9 +15,12 @@ class Application < Rails::Application
     #this loads everything in the lib folder automatically
     config.eager_load_paths << Rails.root.join('lib')
 
-    config.action_dispatch.default_headers = {
-      'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' => '*',
-      'Access-Control-Request-Method' => %w{GET POST OPTIONS}.join(",")
-    }
+    config.middleware.insert_before 0, Rack::Cors do
+      allow do
+        origins '*'
+        resource '*', headers: :any, methods: [:get, :post, :patch, :delete, :options]
+      end
+    end
+    
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 54bf033e..8eff1ff6 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
   resources :customers, only: [:index]
 
-  resources :movies, only: [:index, :show], param: :title
+  resources :movies, only: [:index, :show, :create], param: :title
 
   post "/rentals/:title/check-out", to: "rentals#check_out", as: "check_out"
   post "/rentals/:title/return", to: "rentals#check_in", as: "check_in"
diff --git a/lib/movie_wrapper.rb b/lib/movie_wrapper.rb
index 7bd05c0e..d0cb3f78 100644
--- a/lib/movie_wrapper.rb
+++ b/lib/movie_wrapper.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ def self.search(query)
     if response["total_results"] == 0
       return []
     else
+      puts "original results from external query: #{response["results"][0]}"
       movies = response["results"].map do |result|
         self.construct_movie(result)
       end
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ def self.search(query)
   private
 
   def self.construct_movie(api_result)
+    puts "api image: #{api_result["poster_path"]}"
     Movie.new(
       title: api_result["title"],
       overview: api_result["overview"],