Corona | Coming Attractions

In the last 48 hours there has been many news stories about the illegally released, high-quality workprint of X-Men Origins: Wolverine dumped on the internet. 20th Century Fox, the FBI and the MPAA all have launched their own internal investigations into how the file got dumped online, and Fox has even gone so far as to commend the online fansite community for not condoning the release of the Wolverine print.

Which makes what Fox columnist Roger Friedman did all the more unbelievable. In his column published yesterday the Fox News film journalist actually comes right out and reviews X-Men Origins: Wolverine based on the leaked workprint copy available on the net. "Yes, I’ve seen X Men Origins: Wolverine, Friedman starts off his column saying. "It wasn’t at a screening, either. I found a work in progress print of it, 95 percent completed, on the internet last night." And as if to show how much his understanding of how the internet works, Friedman adds at the end of his first paragraph, "Let’s hope by now it’s gone."

Friedman continues, "Right now, my 'cousins' at 20th Century Fox are probably having apoplexy. I doubt anyone else has seen this film. But everyone can relax. I am, in fact, amazed about how great Wolverine turned out. It exceeds expectations at every turn. I was completely riveted to my desk chair in front of my computer."

He then spends the next couple of paragraphs praising the performances of the film's stars as well as the direction of Gavin Hood. "This may be the big blockbuster film of 2009, and one we really need right now," Friedman states. "It’s miles easier to understand than The Dark Knight, and tremendously more emotional. Hood simply did an excellent job bringing Wolverine’s early life to the screen."

Fair warning kids -- this story now veers off into editorial content. What's astounding to me is that this is a paid employee of News Corporation, the company that owns 20th Century Fox, and he's reviewing a stolen workprint of a film owned by one of News Corp's companies -- after that same company had just praised "fansites" for not supporting this action. I understand that my site, Coming Attractions adds to the grey, undefined area of what constitutes fair game for review or news purposes when it comes to reporting movies, but still, having an employee of Fox create the impression that there are two standards of reporting only exacerbates the problems that online journalists and so-called fansites face. What would Fox be doing right now if this website had published a review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine based on the workprint? Would Friedman's superiors be having the same reaction to his appraisal of X-Men Origins: Wolverine if it had been a negative one? Finally, I'll add to those questions with this statement: the actions -- or inactions -- of Fox from this point forward are being watched very closely by myself and other webmasters.