Copyright Law

?X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Workprint Leaked to BitTorrent

By soulxtc

Appears on BitTorrent tracker sites everywhere well ahead of its scheduled May 1st release date.

Every so often BitTorrent users are treated to a workprint of a movie many are anxious to see. The most famous, or infamous, depending on which side of the fence you’re on, was the leak of a rough Star Wars 3 workprint which led to the shuttering of the Elite Torrents BitTorrent tracker site and the arrest and conviction of many associated with it.

Today we see the leak of another movie workprint, X-Men:Origins: Wolverine,” well ahead of its scheduled May 1st theater release date, and it could arguably be the biggest leak we’ve seen in a while considering the number of people anxious to see it.

Now according to one source the leaked workprint is not the final version expected to hit theaters, but is rather indeed a “workprint.”

“You see, late last year FOX sat down to take a look at what they had and - with the rampant success of a certain caped crusader’s summer film - decided to rethink their position on Superhero films,” reads a post on Spill.com. “Allegedly Rothman (who I have been repeatedly told has had a change of heart since all the direct criticism has been leveled at him) decided to greenlight additional shooting of material he squashed previously for being reportedly “too mature”. So they set about what they called “reshoots” which was nothing of the kind. It was supposedly BRAND NEW MATERIAL.”

The funny thing about the leak, since I’m sure we’re to hear about starving actors and actresses, is that the MPAA has just announced another record year for Hollywood box office ticket sales. That’s 2 years in a row of increasing profits for those keeping score at home.

So don’t feel to guilty downloading and watching a copy at home, but if you do like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” try to support the movie by buying a ticket and watching on the big screen just as most of us did for “The Dark Knight” which, despite being the most pirated movie of all time, still became the 2nd highest domestic grossing flic of all time.

Stay tuned.

Screenshots (click to enlarge)

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on April 01, 2009 (boomark / email).