Made in Hollywood

Sitting on the high-back chair, Duke could not help but secretly relieved that things were not as serious as they thought.

The projector has been turned off, and others are still discussing relevant countermeasures. Duke put his chin on his left hand, thinking about the past, present, and future, all the events related to the leak of the film in his memory, and the related reports he had seen.

Perhaps it was too long in the past, and it was not easy to wake up those distant memories. After thinking hard for a few minutes, Duke's eyes gradually brightened.

Just like his concerns when he had just made full use of digital technology and formulated relevant confidentiality measures, the three films "Wolverine", "The Expendables 3" and "The Interview" flashed to Duke's mind.

Although to varying degrees, all three films suffered early leaks, and aside from the fact that The Expendables 3 was a hit, Wolverine and The Interview were relatively successful.

"The Expendables 3" can be thrown aside first, and there is nothing to learn from the success of "Interview". After all, what Duke does, it is impossible for "Iron Man" to be related to the third fat or the current second fat.

His thoughts turned to Wolverine.

Then, many related memories slowly entered my mind.

This prequel film produced by 20th Century Fox has received various negative news since the filming, which has led to a bad reputation in the trial screening. When it was nearing the release, there was another online leak incident, which can be said to be very unfortunate.

But, if Duke remembers correctly, the film grossed more than $85 million in its North American opening week, which was a success by any measure.

Gradually, more and more things came to Duke's mind. He had also seen the leaked version of "Wolverine". It was also the version without special effects, but it was different from "Iron Man". The version of "Wolverine" has no watermarks and timecodes that affect the viewing effect, and only some special effects, including the final battle, have not been added.

It's not like "Iron Man", it's just a dailies edited by Duke and Mike Dawson.

"We need to issue a joint statement calling on fans to resist online piracy..."

The person who spoke was Kevin Feige, CEO of Marvel Studios. "Then the contact deleted the post on the Internet."

"I have to call the police..." Another said, "Apply to MPAA for support."

"Everyone!"

Duke clapped his palm lightly. After attracting all the attention, he said, "I have seen the leaked version of the Internet that has just been broadcast. I think things are not as serious as expected, and if this is done well, it may bring benefits to the film."

"brings advantages?"

Doug Walter and others are obviously influenced by the past practice of early leaks equaling box office failures.

In fact, Duke is very clear. Even if he doesn't say it, it won't take too long for these people to figure it out, but now that the time is tight, the sooner you act, the better.

"I want to remind everyone. What's the main point of a superhero movie or Iron Man?"

Without waiting for someone to answer, Duke gave the answer, "One is special effects, and the other is Tony Stark's character charm."

As soon as the words came out. Doug Walter realized immediately, "In the leaked version. You haven't added any CGI effects."

"That's right." Duke talked about another aspect, "How does the film show Tony Stark's character, the main thing is to rely on Robert Downey Jr.'s performance and lines..."

Kevin Feige took the initiative to take Duke's words, "I remember you told me. Nearly 70% of Tony Stark's lines need to be passed through Robert Downey Jr. in post-production. Dubbing to make it happen.”

After saying these few words, the dignified atmosphere in the conference room was immediately relieved a lot.

But how to turn disadvantage into advantage is the key point in Duke's words.

He added, "The leaked version is missing the most important parts of the film. I don't think it will have an impact on the box office. As long as the operation is good enough, it can attract more people into the theater."

Doug Walter, Kevin Feige, Panney Kelly, Jamie Johnson, all eyes in the conference room were on Duke.

Duke didn't look at them, but turned to a little assistant in the corner who was in charge of adding coffee and other chores, and asked, "You just saw the leaked version on the Internet, what do you think after reading it? It doesn't matter, just say whatever comes to your mind. "

Probably Duke's last sentence gave him enough encouragement. After thinking about it, the assistant said, "Although I work at Warner Bros., I haven't seen the filming and production of the film. It was shot like this, and I'm very curious, how did the actors in gray tights and red tights become Iron Man, and what would they look like after becoming Iron Man and fighting..."

From the words spoken by the assistant, it was not difficult for those present to hear that the other party was aroused by curiosity.

There was a brief silence in the conference room, and Jamie Johnson, who was in charge of Warner's distribution department, broke the calm, "I understand what Duke meant, and a considerable number of people who watched the leaked version on the Internet out of curiosity will also be out of curiosity. And become Iron Man's theater audience."

"But these people watching the leaked version online," Kevin Feige offered a different opinion, "most of them should have planned to go to the theater to watch Iron Man."

Doug Walter laughed, "As long as the potential audience doesn't pass away, we can totally accept it."

"It's not just that." Duke gently pulled the armrest of the chair, "The early release of a big production like "Iron Man" is definitely big news, even those who are not interested in superhero movies will also pay attention. It's something we can use."

"And, the more restricted viewing of something, the more interested the public tends to be."

After finishing speaking, Duke looked at his public relations manager, Panney Kelly, who has worked with him for many years, was reminded by Duke, and immediately understood, "Since there is no problem with the leaked version, we can completely mobilize the media to put this The event hype has become a hot spot of public concern.”

Jamie Johnson interjected, "It's totally possible."

"And, to draw up a stern public statement," added Doug Walter.

Duke nodded lightly, and then said, "We have reported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the FBI. All reprinted and rebroadcasted websites are subject to investigation. We should launch our relationship and try to make the FBI investigate with great fanfare, so that our The media is watching the actions of the FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and reporting on it in a timely manner."

This matter is definitely not so simple, Duke is well aware of this, but those websites can only consider themselves unlucky.

No matter who is behind the scenes and wants the FBI to cooperate with the news report to a certain extent, the case will inevitably be solved by them in the end.

Duke understands that this can't involve some people, but in its current form, it doesn't matter who the real man behind the scenes is for the time being. focus of discussion.

Next, the two sides discussed the details. What Duke needs to grasp is the general direction, and how to implement it. Of course, more professional people will operate it.

The meeting didn't end until near midnight. When he walked out of the Warner Building, Duke suddenly remembered a possibility.

The filming of "Wolverine" was riddled with negative news, and the audience's reputation was not good during the trial screening. After the leak, the public screening achieved relatively good results. This is not a coincidence, but it looks like a scene. Well-planned promotional and marketing strategies.

However, this is just Duke's guess. Now that "Iron Man" is ahead, "Wolverine" will not enjoy the treatment it used to be.

One night passed, and early the next morning, Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios jointly convened a press conference, and issued a public statement through various media in the name of Duke, Warner, and Marvel.

"Yesterday, a stolen, incomplete, early version of Iron Man was illegally placed on certain websites."

“A lot of the special effects shots, the voiceovers and the soundtrack were not in this version, and some scenes have not been edited. We immediately contacted the legal department for copyright protection and had these sites take down the content. We marked the film, so We can find the person who leaked the source and offered to download it."

"Whether it is the person who first leaked or the person who spread it later, we will prosecute according to the law, and the court has decided similar cases in the past. In addition, the FBI and MPAA have also been involved in the investigation. Many fan websites expressed their support for us, and they have We are encouraged by the accusations of this criminal act, which not only harms the producers who have worked so hard to make the film, but also the fans."

At the same time, the media closely related to Warner also began to frantically hype the incident.

"The unfinished special effects version of famous Hollywood director Duke Rosenberg's new work "Iron Man" was leaked online, which can be called the most serious early leak of a Hollywood blockbuster in history! Warner Bros. has officially reported to the FBI and said that the company will pursue legal responsibility for the leaked broadcast. To be honest, it is impossible to predict what consequences this incident will have.”

Obviously, these media are trying to make this hype a hot spot.

And CNN, a subsidiary of Time Warner, specially dispatched a team to follow the FBI agents who handled the case.

There is also the famous gossip website TMZ, which Warner belongs to, and has launched many paparazzi to dig into every concern of the incident.

Due to the impact of the leak, Warner Bros. directly canceled the trial screening in late April after consulting with Duke. Judging from the current situation, the trial screening is no longer necessary.

In the days that followed, initially only those who followed entertainment news cared about it, and as the media tracked reports, more and more people were talking about how the event was going.

Especially after several actions by the FBI, the "Iron Man" leak has almost become the focus of attention in the United States. (To be continued ~^~)

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