Is it in yet? No, not the words of a disappointed bed buddy, but words that were uttered by thousands of movie fans each month, as they ...
Is it in yet? No, not the words of a disappointed bed buddy, but words that were uttered by thousands of movie fans each month, as they eagerly awaited the arrival of their favourite movie magazine. Back in the day, that was really the only way to get your movie news. I lost count how many times I would take a trip to the local newsagent, scouting the shelves for the latest copy of Empire, only to be told, it won’t be in until tomorrow. And when tomorrow finally came, after another trip, I read the magazine cover to cover, reading movie news that was a month old.
These days, while Empire and other magazines of a similar ilk, still do a fantastic job, we consume our movie news predominantly online. Movie studios fire out a barrage of digital press releases every day and websites (like ourselves) pick them up and run various stories, from trailers to posters to god knows what else. Our thirst for movie news and gossip is quenched in just a few mouse clicks.
Then, we have the “dark side” of movie news. Where grainy pictures and shaky video fatten up site viewing figures like an all you can eat buffet. Shot by anyone and everyone for whatever reason. Some people might be passers by on the street and whip out their camera, others actively partake in ninja like, covert operations attempting to shoot something that will potentially gain them a few hundred bucks, from a few websites that specialise in this kind of thing. Be it celebs having a piss or the back of J.J. Abrams’ head on the set of Star Wars Episode VII, it could be worth some cash.
The other side of this is the whole fame obsession. People are obsessed with being famous. It’s a vicious circle in a way, as movies are one of the biggest fame pedestals in the world, and everybody want’s to be on that pedestal of fame and recognition. So when, johnnybantafodder_1982_xxx_4_life manages to shoot something, they plaster their “name” all over the video. And subsequently johnnybantafodder_1982_xxx_4_life gets credit online from websites and media outlets. But nobody knows who johnnybantafodder_1982_xxx_4_life really is. It could be some kid, an adult or a well trained chimpanzee. Granted, whoever writes the cheque for the footage knows, but nobody really cares. People are interested in seeing the footage and couldn’t give a Jar Jar Binks about who took it. Obviously, the trolls think otherwise and while they are knee deep in crinkly socks in their parents basement, they are far from the icons they see in the mirror.
The same can be said for script and plot leaks which flood the internet in Titanic sized “scoops” every day. Again, from a website’s perspective, these leaks can be huge traffic drivers and in return the site can make some daktari credits. Most recently, Kevin Smith was “outed” as a person that wrote a fake script for Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, in a digital sleight of hand attempt by Warner Bros. Of course everybody denies it happened, including Smith himself so you can make your own mind up on that. It’s a very sad state of affairs, if true, that a movie studio would go to such lengths to protect the very audience it wants to excite...and take money from.
The thing I don’t understand though, is where has the obsession in consuming these leaks has come from. I see them all, I read them all and decide alot of the time not to run them on the site. It’s always been a double edged ethical sword for me. I don’t want to be the one to run an article where somebody reading it gets incredibly disappointed with a movie that they were really looking forward to. And all from a “leak” that could be completely inaccurate. The same goes for leaked on set footage. Does seeing a bunch of green screens and a blurry shot of the back of some actor really get you excited? Really? It does? What the fuck is wrong with you????
A while back we ran a bunch of images from the set of Avengers 2 that included the likes of Chris Hemsworth wandering around in his Thor outfit. Yes, they pulled in shit loads of traffic for us (and no, we didn’t make a million bucks from adsense) but what else did those pictures do? They confirmed that Thor would be wearing his “outfit” in the Avengers sequel. What you thought he’d be wearing a fucking tu-tu? And that was it.
On the other side of the coin, what if those pictures hypothetically contained Thor holding the severed head of Captain America? A major plot point delivered in an instant and an entire movie destroyed for YOU in an instant.
The greatest thing a movie can do is evoke some kind of emotion out of an audience. Be it laughter, tears or a “Holy shit, I never saw that coming”. But, the potential to evoke can be very little if an audience knows what's coming, who dies or who turns up, because they read about it 12 months previous. And it’s hilarious to think that people constantly scream and shout about spoilers in reviews, but never anywhere else.
Leaks of all shapes and sizes will continue to dominate the movie webscape and as frustrating as they are for filmmakers (who after all are trying to entertain you), they can be even more frustrating for you! Imagine if you found out Agent Coulson got “killed” by Loki in The Avengers (Agents Of Shield fans, SIT DOWN!). You would have spent the entire movie waiting for it to happen and it would have ruined your enjoyment of Joss Whedon’s box office monster.
On a final note, we’re selective on what we run here when it comes to these leaks and always are conscious of ruining a movie. Like you, we love movies. We adore them.And when it comes to fucking them over, we’ll do it in a review.
