20th Century Fox and the Leaked Tentpole
For those who have not heard, 20th Century Fox has endured a pretty disastrous April Fool's Day. Last last night, a high-quality work print of the company's summer tentpole X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked onto various torrent websites. The studio quickly had them removed, but the damage has been done. The film is widely available for anyone willing to put in a modicum of effort into finding it. And early word seems to indicate that the film is, predictably, a complete disaster. The leak, which reportedly includes unfinished CGI, temporary score, and missing/unfinished scenes, has drawn screams of fury from fans hoping Fox would rectify the atrocity that was X-Men III: The Last Stand. Reviews of the leak seem unanimous in their disdain for underdeveloped characters, wooden dialogue, and non-stop action. In other words, the very same things that ruined the last X-Men movie are even more present in this one.
The big question right now is, how much damage is this going to do to the film, which isn't due in theatres until May 1st? A film like this relies on two things: Opening weekend mania giving the film an extraordinary Box Office take, and repeat attendance from loyals fans. 20th Century Fox is earning a reputation for disrespecting fans of this particular franchise, with Tim Rothman (an executive for the studio) being quoted as saying "Fuck the fans. We already have their money" after negative reports from the set of X3. Earlier this year, the studio enraged fans with a lawsuit against Warner Bros' production of Watchmen, which could have potentially prevented the film's release. Despite the film's underwhelming Box Office - it has stuggled to reach $100 million after 4 weeks of release - the lawsuit clearly upset the very vocal fanbase, which unfortunately is something Wolverine is now relying on to succeed.
The film's most recent trailer showed promise, but after this fiasco I probably won't be in line come May 1st, and I doubt I'll be the only one. It will be interesting, though, to see how the film performs at the Box Office. What do you think? Does the film have any chance of becoming a success, or will it be end of a rapdily fading franchise?
The big question right now is, how much damage is this going to do to the film, which isn't due in theatres until May 1st? A film like this relies on two things: Opening weekend mania giving the film an extraordinary Box Office take, and repeat attendance from loyals fans. 20th Century Fox is earning a reputation for disrespecting fans of this particular franchise, with Tim Rothman (an executive for the studio) being quoted as saying "Fuck the fans. We already have their money" after negative reports from the set of X3. Earlier this year, the studio enraged fans with a lawsuit against Warner Bros' production of Watchmen, which could have potentially prevented the film's release. Despite the film's underwhelming Box Office - it has stuggled to reach $100 million after 4 weeks of release - the lawsuit clearly upset the very vocal fanbase, which unfortunately is something Wolverine is now relying on to succeed.
The film's most recent trailer showed promise, but after this fiasco I probably won't be in line come May 1st, and I doubt I'll be the only one. It will be interesting, though, to see how the film performs at the Box Office. What do you think? Does the film have any chance of becoming a success, or will it be end of a rapdily fading franchise?