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A leaked copy of the upcoming summer blockbuster, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has been traced to a month-old digital working print, Sharon Waxman at The Wrap is reporting. The FBI is investigating, as are Twentieth Century Fox, which is releasing the film, and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Though the Internet has been a hazard for Hollywood studios facing illegal downloaders after a movie's release, it is extremely unusual for an entire film to leak online ahead of its distribution in theaters. In this case, the film leaked a full month before the $130 million, effects-driven adventure film is scheduled to hit theaters. The breach must be alarming for Fox and for any Hollywood studio that sends its big-budget movies out to third-party vendors for special effects, motion-capture or other high-tech processes, placing the studio's core product at the mercy of Internet pirates -- and Internet critics.A digital print leaked online is apparently much harder to trace. The film is a prequel to the blockbuster hit "X-Men."
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.