There is only one more full day before X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters, and I’m having trouble choosing an excuse for why I won’t be seeing it this weekend. I can’t say that I watched the leaked version, because I don’t download movies illegally (though not so much because it’s illegal as much as I’m not savvy with torrent sites). So here are my remaining options: I hear it stinks; I’m angry about the multiple endings scam; I fear that I’ll get swine flu; I’m boycotting Fox for lying about the version of the film that was pirated.
The last of these choices is a hot topic today, thanks to a post late last evening from Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture, in which he addresses Fox’s apparent lie regarding the leaked version’s running time and shares a statement from a studio exec responding to the controversy. “A lot of information and misinformation was flying back and forth then,” says Chris Petrikin, Fox’s VP of corporate communications. “And there was no way to sort it out quickly or definitively. In fact, I think I told [Co-Chairman Tom Rothman] that there might be 10 minutes missing from the stolen version, based — obviously — on misinformation I was given or misinterpreted.”
So those of you who downloaded the movie may no longer have an incentive to see it on the big screen, though I doubt this lie really makes any difference to anyone. Still, I am curious to know if anyone is really thinking of boycotting the movie because of a lie, fib or mistake made by a studio exec. Let me know if and why you’re avoiding the comic book flick this weekend, and check out the rest of the blogosphere’s response to the spin clarification after the jump.
- Commenting on Goldstein’s post, “Andrew” criticizes the studio for lying:
What is this? The Ari Fleischer school of PR - give me a break. If this is how it went down then it confirms the incompetence and mediocrity that allow people at Fox to keep their job. Either it was a lie, or Fox decided to spin a situation without getting all their facts straight. No wonder NewsCorp stock is in the toilet.
- Lane Brown at Vulture thinks the studio needs to get their shit together:
Remember, Rothman gave this interview only a full day and a half after Fox learned that Wolverine had leaked — how could the studio possibly have had time to watch a 107-minute video file to determine how much of its $150 million blockbuster was being freely traded on the Internet? (Though we’d certainly hate to imply that Fox is so on top of things that they could’ve come up with a couple of brief talking points in 36 hours.) And the real issue is the scale of the crime — for which there have been no arrests or named suspects, even a month later.
Jeez, how did a studio this organized ever manage to misplace a DVD?
- Rod at The Playlist sees the continued backlash against this movie as just business as usual for certain complainers:
fact of the matter remains that Fox has a bad track record. We don’t especially care and the geek bloggers are excessive in their hatred for Fox — mostly because they tend to **** up films that nerds love (”Daredevil,” “Live Free or Die Hard,” etc.) — but still, color us skeptical. Others will probably have a field day with this rebuttal.
- Commenting at In Contention, “alynch” makes a good point:
Fox shouldn’t be trying to clarify this matter. They should simply say, “Yeah, we told a fib in order to discourage people from stealing our movie, and anybody who caught us in this lie is a thief.”
- David Poland at The Hot Blog makes a suggestion:
Personally, I think Fox should include the now-infamous leaked version in the eventually DVD package for this film. Own the situation. And if you are a film lover, the footage of unfinished effects is kind of interesting when you see the final version. It’s the kind of stuff that studios put in DVD extras in order to illustrate the process of building effects.
- STV at Movieline adds to Poland’s reasoning that Fox must “own the situation”:
After all, if studio reps and execs naturally can’t help but dig a deeper hole for Wolverine every time they open their mouths, don’t they eventually have no choice but to just sell the hole itself? It’s a lot more honest, and in any case, seems a much, much easier story to keep straight when the press come calling. Just a suggestion.
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