NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT >FOX DIGS IT’S CLAWS INTO 21ST CENTURY WITH WOLVERINE MOVIE LEAK

FOX CLAWS IT’S WAY INTO 21ST CENTURY WITH WOLVERINE MOVIE LEAK

April 3 2009

Hollywood, CA – Movies studios have long been reticent to adjust to change and no studio has been more so than the anachronistically named 20th Century Fox. With lawsuit after lawsuit and the increasingly controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Hollywood studios have fought tooth and nail to maintain the status quo when it comes to showcasing their product. But suddenly, it seems, that is no longer the case.

The release of an early version of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ through file sharing networks has been nothing short of a smash hit for the studio. Plagued by rumours of a bad script, bad story, and even worse acting, the studio was finding themselves with a potential dead duck in what was supposed to be the first blockbuster of the season. Now though with the digital release of the film the studio is staring a record opening weekend in the face and affirmed the studios efforts in releasing the movie online.

“Of course they are putting on a show and claiming that they knew nothing about the release but that is exactly what you would expect. The first rule of viral marketing is that you don’t let people in on the gag while it’s gaining steam. Talking to the FBI was a brilliant move,” said Scrape TV Media analyst Sarah Piper. “All the early reviews and the buzz that has started in the mainstream movie going public will ensure that this movie explodes at the box office. This has to be one of the most daring and successful viral campaigns ever.”

Traditionally viral marketing involves low dollar amounts and clever marketing but the integration of multi-million dollar movies into to fray raises the stakes not only for fellow studios, but marketers as well.

“From what I have heard the rest of the studios are very angry at Fox, not only for their coup in pulling off a campaign that none of them had thought of, but also because now all of them will need to release their movies online in order to be taken seriously. Many in the web community have been
pushing for such a day, but the studios simply don’t like the internet and would prefer to stay away from it,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “Aside from being really afraid of computers, they are afraid that the few thousand people that bother to download a movie won’t bother going to the theatre to see it and they want every single cent from moviegoers
and will do whatever they can to keep those monies in their pockets.”

Aside from efforts to sue ISP’s and charge downloader’s, the movie studios have also today with ways to increase revenue amongst paying consumers such as single use discs and even genetic imprinting on discs which would require each person viewing the television to pay for the privilege of watching. Those days may now be gone though with Fox’s bold move into the 21st century.

“These types of release have happened before. Both the original Hulk movie and Hostel II were web first releases but the difference between them and
Wolverine is that people actually have an interest in seeing Wolverine. That is what makes this all the more risky by Fox, but it appears all the more beneficial,” continued Temple. “Fox is dragging the rest of Hollywood into the internet age whether they like it or not.”

After talking to the FBI, Fox officials reportedly spent the rest of the day learning how to use their new computers with basics such as instant messaging and email. They have also been playing with a version of Adobe Photoshop in an attempt to change the company’s branding to 21st Century Fox. It is not immediately clear where the copy of the photo editing software came from.    

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT >FOX DIGS IT’S CLAWS INTO 21ST CENTURY WITH WOLVERINE MOVIE LEAK

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