14 DAY TRIAL // With just so little to go until the theatrical release of what is supposed to be one of the biggest box-office hits this summer, 20th Century Fox is facing quite a dilemma as a full-length copy of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” has leaked on the Internet. To make matters only worse, the leak is also a DVD quality rip, HitFix informs, is almost 100 percent complete and has no watermark.
Of course, as soon as the film appeared online, the legal hounds from the movie studio were already taking it down but that does not change one simple fact: once the information is out there, it is really hard, if not downright impossible, to make all traces of it completely go away. Or, to put it in other words, the toothpaste is out of the tube, and Fox has no way of putting it back.
As fans must remember, “Wolverine” was plagued by issues ever since they started to work on it and, no matter how much main star Hugh Jackman and even Fox itself tried to deny the rumors that were making the rounds on the Internet, it was all to little avail. Now, with this leak, which could virtually kill any chances “Wolverine” might have had at the box-office, this shows that it was one messy production from the start, several movie-oriented publications are pointing out. The security about the almost finished DVD, at least, was less than precarious, as the leak itself demonstrates.
The question that remains to be answered now – aside from how this will hurt the movie – is how this was possible in the first place. One would think, as Chud points out, that, given the kind of money that was invested in this production and knowing the expectations of the entire world, fans and critics alike, the studio would be more careful about how it handled unwatermarked quasi-finished copies of the film. Had Fox paid attention to who got to see the film and who did not, then it would not have been in such a critical situation, the same media outlet says.
“My source told me stories of people blithely taking home DVDs of major upcoming studio blockbusters – some with watermarks, some without – so that they wouldn’t have to work overtime at the office. And it’s not just the honchos who have this access. My source told me about interns bringing DVDs home to watch with their friends. Even he seemed incredulous about the lackadaisical security at most of these post-production houses.” Chud says, pointing to a possible way the movie might have gotten out on the Internet.
So far, Fox has not yet commented in any way on “Wolverine” getting out there long before its official release, as neither did it say what it plans to do next. For all fans know, the release could still be on for May 1, as initially scheduled. Stay tuned here for updates on this one.