The Loquacious Limey

FBI to pursue Hugh Jackman theft

In news sure to wrinkle his Oscar-night Tux, the Hollywood Reporter says a preview copy of the upcoming Hugh Jackman tentpole, ‘X-Men – Wolverine,’ has been leaked via some Bit Torrent sites, and the FBI are now on the case.

Not officially due for US release until May 1st, the grainy, unfinished bootleg hit the fileshare sites sometime late Tuesday, and had already been copied around 200,000 times before 20th Century Fox discovered the leak and got the file blocked.

Numerous reviews of the unfinished movie have emerged online, but Fox was quick to praise fans of the film, whose response to the theft has been universal chastisement. And like most current movies, Wolverine was also forensically marked, so the FBI should have no trouble tracing those responsible to begin prosecution.

In 2007, the horror film “Hostel, Part II” saw its revenues utterly shredded by just such a leak. “You could buy it for a quarter in Mexico City,” the film’s director, Eli Roth, said at the time. ”As a result, in a lot of countries where the piracy was bad, they didn’t even release it.”

The bottom-line is, filesharing’s easy. But what would you do if it was your income at stake?

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FBI to pursue Hugh Jackman theft

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