Hugh Jackman’s much-anticipated action film Wolverine is due for release on May 1. The film is still undergoing editing and isn’t ready yet for viewing, but someone managed to get their hands on a copy and put it online in unfinished condition. Fox News entertainment columnist Roger Friedman brought attention to this by positively reviewing the illegal version in his now-canceled column Fox411, saying how easy it was to obtain along with other pirated media online. Friedman’s review was swiftly removed and he was canned by Fox, which counts Wolverine’s distribution company, 20th Century Fox, among its sister companies.
Jackman has addressed the illegal distribution of his upcoming film and expresses remorse that people are seeing a version that’s not ready. He likens it to “a Ferrari without a paint job.”:
“It’s a serious crime and there’s no doubt it’s very disappointing – I was heartbroken by it,” Hugh Jackman said Wednesday about last week’s Internet leak of a work print of his X-Men Origins: Wolverine. “Obviously people are seeing an unfinished film. It’s like a Ferrari without a paint job.”
While Wolverine is set for official release on May 1, its studio, 20th Century Fox, says the FBI and the Motion Picture Association of America were investigating who might have pirated it and have promised to prosecute the culprits.
As part of a world tour to promote the movie, Jackman, 40, previewed about 20 minutes to about 600 fans in Sydney, Australia, and said he didn’t think the Web leak would harm eventual cinema attendance, the Associated Press reports. The star made his entrance from a helicopter – and then to the ground on an aerial wire.
[From People]
Jackman is probably right and this film is likely to be a blockbuster no matter what, but it’s got to be frustrating to all of the people involved to have their hard work put out there before it’s complete. You often hear about the monetary cost of pirating but there is also all that effort people put into it, which can seem in vain when a movie gets out before it’s complete. Still you understand the primal urge to see this film before it’s out – it has Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber in it! That’s just too much hotness at once. The movie-going public is bound to agree.
Here’s the trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
Hugh Jackman is shown promoting Wolverine in Sydney today. Credit: Carlos Costas, PacificCoastNewsOnline.com
Yea I know a bunch of people aleady bragging that they have the movie. But this movie looks so good it “would” be a shame to watch basically the draft of it. I cant wait to go to the theaters and watch it 😀
I dunno – don’t understand the appeal of this Wolverine character. I like Hugh a lot more before it.
Don’t forget Ryan Reynolds, CB. Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber AND Ryan Reynolds. Any theatre showing this movie better make sure all sprinklers are in good working condition!
This film might suffer because the last X-Men was so disappointing, and Wolverine isn’t a particularly sympathetic character. I doubt the leak will harm it as even the most hardened of pirate movie-fans will fork out for a cinema ticket to see the blockbusters, but with my cynical hat on I would say that Fox have realised that it probably won’t do as well as they’d hoped, so they leaked it themselves to have something to point the finger act when it underwhelms at the box office.
Just my 2 cents!
My son found the leaked version a few days ago and watched it–I disapproved, and told him I’d wait til it came out “properly”. He said it was pretty awesome even unfinished.
Miranda: As an X-Men fan,I feel like the only people who will be disappointed with the movie are going to be the Die-hard Deadpool fanboys already ticked off at what they’ve seen from the “Merc with a mouth” in the trailers. (Interesting to note, even Ryan Reynolds didn’t seem very happy with the direction the directors and producers took Deadpoool. Guess he’s a genuine fan. :))Then there will also be the dead-hard Gambit fanboys and fangirls that won’t be satisfied with Taylor Kitch’s accent. But a Cajun accent is incredibly hard to replicate for an actor. I’ve only seen it done once really well in “The Band of Brothers.”
Just taking a looks at the trailers tells me the movie will be better than X3. The world is MUCH more raw and hardcore, and leaves out the complete sap from the trilogy. There will be people that will complain how it deviates from the Trilogy. To that I say, “Too bad. The Trilogy butchers the comics anyway. They butcher them so bad that I shouldn’t even be calling the movies a trilogy.” Only Hugh essentially nailed the biggest parts of his character. I’d say Jean as well, but she’s not a complex character at all if you take away her Phoenix persona.
I’m excited for this movie, and I feel like it’s one of the few movie adaptations coming out this year that Hollywood has a very good chance of getting more than 75% correct. The only thing to wait for now is a movie featuring Gambit. With the REAL Rogue, not that sniveling creature in the movies.
(afterthought to my other post)
…actually, I feel like they have a chance of getting the adaptation more than 80% correct. Which is saying something for Hollywood.
After seeing the movie trailer what else is there to see.
i hate it when they show so many scenes in the trailers.
LOL ive already watched it and let me tell you….me and my mates watched it after a huge spliff and man we laughed out heads off everytime a wire or unrendered CG came into view hahahaha i recommend it to everyone. We still gona watch the finished version wen it comes out ^^. Good movie.
Not to worry, the fans will watch the pirated version AND the cinema version, and then write reviews on the pros and cons of each.
He should worry, there are enough people obsessed about Wolverine that aren’t just going to settle for a half-done version.
Seriously.
Ack *shouldn’t worry*
I am glad Friedman was fired. It is about time. He is such a boob.