This week puts the old adage “there’s no such thing as bad press” to the test for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is still all over the news because of the leak of an unfinished but DVD-quality copy that appeared all over the internet on March 31st.
The latest news on that front is that Australian visual effects company Rising Sun Pictures — whose logo appears in a caption a few minutes into the leaked copy — has denied being the source of the leak, claiming that “neither Rising Sun Pictures or [sic] its staff members have ever been in possession of a full-length version, so it would have been impossible for the movie to have been leaked from here.”
A day earlier, Fox sent out an official statement about the leak to news outlets:
Last night, a stolen, incomplete and early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was posted illegally on websites. It was without many effects and had missing scenes and temporary sound and music. We immediately contacted the appropriate legal authorities and had it removed. We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it. The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law - the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts and the last person who committed such a crime is still in jail. The FBI and the MPAA also are actively investigating this crime. We are encouraged by the support of fansites condemning piracy and this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors, and above all, hurts the fans of the film.
Meanwhile, as the hunt goes on, the Hollywood Reporter has posted an interview with Wolverine director Gavin Hood refuting the months-old rumors of behind-the-scenes fighting with Fox head Tom Rothman over whether or not the movie was too dark. (Random timing — taking people’s minds off the current disaster by bringing up negative press that died down a while ago?) Anyway, Hood says:
We didn’t always agree, [but] we certainly never yelled at each other. Some of these fan sites have really been upsetting in that way. I have never had a stand-up argument with Tom Rothman. Never, ever…and that is a fact.
At this point, Fox execs probably just want to sleep for the next two months and have their interns wake them up after Wolverine has left theaters. Talk about business headaches.
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