Execs at Twentieth Century Fox, who were facing the potentially lethal leak of a copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine two weeks ago, may now have reason to relax — and actually be excited — for the film’s May 1 opening. A tracking report containing consumer research statistics shows a high "wanna see" rating for the film, which is said to be the No. 1 choice for young men and guys aged 31 and older. Those two demographics are key to boosting the first-weekend numbers for a male-targeted superhero franchise film like Wolverine. (Fox has no comment.)
This is quite a dramatic turnaround for a movie that was hit with a crisis scenario two weeks ago, when a full-length, unfinished copy of the movie was uploaded onto the Internet and subsequently downloaded by more than 100,000 viewers free of charge. That could have translated into a lot of lost ticket sales, and, indeed, some industry observers predicted the effects could be catastrophic for the big summer tentpole. But this research seems to contradict that line of thinking and support those who wondered aloud whether the leak might actually turn out to be a positive development for the X-Men spin-off by generating heaps of free publicity. One exec from a competing studio says that it’s too early to predict Wolverine’s opening weekend numbers, but they’re sure to be huge. "Wolverine is in fabulous shape," says the source. "They could open today."
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Leaked or not, I’ll definetely see X-Men Origins: Wolverine the FIRST day it comes out in theaters…
the title to this article: “well, duh.”
Did anyone really doubt that this film wouldn’t do well? If anything, all the ‘noise’ about the leak helped to boost awareness. So few ppl know how to d/l films!
lets-be-vain.blogspot.com
So where’s the link to the movie?
lol just kidding
http://tvdonewright.wordpress.com/
This story is kinda silly, really. I don’t want to sound like the most annoying conspiracy theorist (though I can be…) but I suspect that this is exactly the reason why the film was “leaked” –to sense if there was still a strong interest in this film. If illegal downloading ended up being high and ticket sales ended up low, they could easily blame it on that… And considering Fox’s track record with comic book films, they need any excuse they can wrap their money around.
I could have watched this online but didn’t. More than half the thrill of seeing a movie is on the big screen, besides who wants to see an unfinished version? I’m not that big a fanboy of this film to go through all that.
Tracking data for this one is through the roof:
http://failedscreenwriter.com/2009/04/08/missionary-position/
errr… maybe not…
well, obviously. People only illegaly download movies they’re not willing to pay to see, so early downloading doesn’t translate to lost ticket sales.
I saw it. It’s terrible. Never get that 2 hours back.
Bad, really bad movie. Those who haven’t the work print wouldn’t understand, somehow they think THIS IS AN INCOMPLETE VERSION which actually to some extent yes, they are right but there’s no way to fix this movie. It is bad from start to finish!!!
I’m waiting for this and avoiding the download. Movies are meant to be seen in theatres. If I want online fun, I’ll look at http://www.pyramidsofmars.com with all its retro sci-fi action. But come release day, I’ll be in line for Wolverine.
Too little too late to save the current Fox Regime.
Fox is desperate now having picked up the Narnia franchise and going to war with Warner Brothers over Watchmen.
only makes me want to see the movie even more. wolverine is awsome. the finished product can only be better. it was definitely more than i expected and alot better than some of the earlier comic book movies, i.e. daredevil,electra and the first hulk. i’ll still be in line for wolverine.
John, I don’t really know about the Fox regime, but you’re obviously desperate for trying to imply that a war over Watchmen, with domestic sales lower than the cost of the production, has had a negative impact on Fox. Watchmen didn’t hurt anyone, except the poor folks who wasted their time and money going to the movie theater.
Yeah, I watched the workprint at a buddy’s house. The missing SPFX didn’t stop me from digging what I saw. It’s clever and fun. Fans of the X-Men trilogy will be pleased. I can’t wait to see it on the big silver screen.
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I was going to see it before the leak, and I still intend to see it now. I wouldn’t want to watch whatever was leaked anyway…there’s a big difference between a movie on my computer screen and in a theater with digital projection and sound!
The tracking data and the above comments suggest that even those who watched the leaked version want to see the movie on the big screen. The Business Insider noticed that just days after the pirated copy showed up online:
http://www.businessinsider.com/leak-may-not-hurt-wolverines-box-office-performance-much-after-all-2009-4
The movie was horrible, this leak hurt fox.