FBI and MPAA Step Up "Wolverine" Leak Investigation

From: WorstPreviews.com

20th Century Fox has determined that the copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" that leaked online this week was a roughly month-old work print. The leaked copy was digital rather than film, making it more difficult to trace, but The Wrap is reporting that the studio's investigators and the MPAA are "chasing at least a half-dozen leads." The FBI is also on the case.

Given the quality of the leaked print, the focus of the investigation is reportedly on the third-party vendors (special effects firms, reproduction houses, trailer companies) that the studios send their movies to for post-production work, although it hasn't been determined yet how many vendors had access to a full digital copy of the film.

A stamp for special effects company Rising Sun Pictures was on the leaked print, but the company's chairman issued a statement saying "neither RSP or its staff members have ever been in possession of a full-length version, so it would have been impossible for the movie to have been leaked from here."

Twentieth Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman told Entertainment Weekly [via IGN]: "We, like everybody, thought our system was secure. ... Just like I'm sure there are lots of banks that get robbed that thought their vault was safe. We thought the post-production pipeline was secure at every juncture. But, obviously, it's self-evident that it wasn't. I have a high level of confidence we'll find out where the lapse in security was and we'll bring the perpetrators to justice."

Fanboys Boycotting Wolverine in the Wild

From: E! Online.

Forget Magneto, Sabretooth and Mystique. Wolverine's real nemesis is a bit geekier and harder to track down.

The FBI, Motion Picture Association of American and 20th Century Fox are continuing their probes into who exactly leaked a rough cut of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, vowing to go all out to find the perp and prosecute that person "to the fullest extent of the law."

The unfinished version of the prequel, dated March 2 and imprinted with the name Rising Sun Pictures, an Australian visual effects company doing work on the film, surfaced earlier this week, sending Fox into damage-control mode to minimize the leak's impact on the film's box office. Wolverine is set to open May 1.

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Australian Effects Company Denies Wolverine Leak

From: IMDB.com

Officials at an Australian visual effects company have denied responsibility for the leak of the new X-men prequel, which found its way onto the Internet this week (beg30Mar09) - a month before it is due to hit cinemas.

Bosses at the 20th Century Fox film studio were furious when a full-length print of X-Men Origins: Wolverine began appearing illegally on websites on Tuesday night.

Studio executives took immediate action to remove the Hugh Jackman picture from the web, vowing to force prosecution on the culprit.

And attention subsequently turned to Aussie special effects firm Rising Sun Pictures, whose company logo appears in a caption a few minutes into the leaked copy.

But Rising Sun chairman and co-founder Tony Clark has now come forward to distance his company from the Internet mishap, insisting that although his employees did work on the picture, it is not possible for them to put the entire content online.

He says in a statement, "As we worked on individual sequences within the film, neither Rising Sun Pictures or its staff members have ever been in possession of a full-length version, so it would have been impossible for the movie to have been leaked from here."

Detectives at America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are currently looking into the case.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is due for release in May.