Leaning back in the high-backed chair, Duke couldn’t help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief—things were not nearly as bad as imagined.
The projector had been turned off. The others were still discussing counterasures. With his left hand supporting his chin, Duke thought about the past, present, and future all the incidents related to film leaks that he could rember, as well as the reports he had read.
Perhaps too much ti had passed, and it wasn’t easy to awaken those distant mories. After pondering hard for several minutes, Duke’s eyes gradually lit up.
Just like when he had first adopted digital technology and established security asures, the films that flashed through Duke’s mind were Wolverine, The Expendables 3, and The Interview.
Though the severity differed, all three of these films had suffered early leaks. And aside from The Expendables 3, which was a flop, Wolverine and The Interview were relatively successful.
The Expendables 3 could be set aside first. There was nothing to learn from the success of The Interview either after all, no matter what Duke did, he couldn’t associate Iron Man with Kim Jong-un, or rather, Kim Jong-il’s son.
His thoughts shifted to Wolverine.
Then, many related mories slowly resurfaced in his mind.
This prequel film produced by 20th Century Fox had faced constant negative news since filming began, resulting in poor test screening feedback. Near its release, it also suffered an online leak, making the whole process quite bumpy.
However, if Duke rembered correctly, the film grossed over $85 million during its North Arican opening weekend by any standard, that was a success.
Gradually, more and more details ca to Duke’s mind. He had also seen the leaked version of Wolverine it too was an unfinished cut without added effects, but unlike Iron Man, the Wolverine version didn’t have distracting watermarks or ticodes, and only a portion, including the final battle, lacked CGI.
It wasn’t like Iron Man, which was rely a rough cut edited by Duke and Mike Dawson.
"We need to issue a joint statent calling on fans to boycott online piracy..."
The speaker was Kevin Feige, CEO of Marvel Studios. "Then contact platforms to take down the online posts."
"We also need to report it to the police..." another person added. "And request support from the MPAA."
"Everyone!"
Duke clapped his hands softly. After capturing everyone’s attention, he said, "After watching the leaked version that was just played, I believe the situation isn’t as bad as expected. In fact, if handled well, this could even benefit the film."
"Benefit?"
Doug Walter and others were clearly influenced by the usual belief that early leaks equaled box office failure.
Actually, Duke understood clearly. Even if he didn’t say anything, these people would figure it out soon enough. But ti was tight, and acting early would be more advantageous.
"I’d like to remind everyone of one thing. What are the main attractions of superhero movies, or specifically Iron Man?"
Without waiting for anyone to answer, Duke gave the response. "First, the visual effects. Second, the charisma of Tony Stark’s character."
Upon hearing this, Doug Walter imdiately ca to a realization. "The leaked version didn’t have any CGI effects added yet."
"Exactly." Duke brought up another aspect. "And how does the film showcase Tony Stark’s personality? Mainly through Robert Downey Jr.’s performance and lines..."
Kevin Feige took the initiative to follow up Duke’s point. "I rember you telling that around seventy percent of Tony Stark’s lines would be dubbed by Robert Downey Jr. during post-production."
After these few statents, the heavy atmosphere in the conference room imdiately lightened.
But how to turn the disadvantage into an advantage that was the real focus of Duke’s ssage.
He continued, "The leaked version is missing several of the film’s most important elents. I believe it won’t hurt the box office, and if we play it right, it could even entice more people into theaters."
Doug Walter, Kevin Feige, Panny Kallis, Jamie Johnson everyone in the room fixed their eyes on Duke.
But Duke didn’t look back at them. Instead, he turned toward a small assistant in the corner responsible for making coffee and other nial tasks and asked, "You also watched the leaked version just now. What are your thoughts? It’s okay, just say whatever cos to mind."
Perhaps it was Duke’s last sentence that gave him enough encouragent. After thinking for a mont, the assistant said, "I work at Warner, but I’ve never seen the filming or production process. After watching it, I realized that’s how movies are shot. I was really curious those actors in gray and red bodysuits, how do they beco Iron Man? And after becoming Iron Man, what do the battle scenes look like..."
From what the assistant said, it wasn’t hard for everyone present to hear that his curiosity had been piqued.
The conference room fell into a brief silence, which was broken by Jamie Johnson, head of Warner’s distribution departnt. "I get what Duke ans. Many people who watch the leaked version out of curiosity may also beco potential theatergoers for Iron Man for the sa reason."
"But the people who watched the leaked version," Kevin Feige expressed a different opinion, "were, for the most part, already planning to watch Iron Man in theaters."
Doug Walter, however, laughed. "As long as we don’t lose a large portion of our potential audience, we can totally accept that."
"Not just that." Duke gently tapped the armrest of his chair. "Iron Man is such a big-budget production—if it gets leaked in advance, it’s absolutely major news. Even those who aren’t interested in superhero films will still pay attention. That’s sothing we can take advantage of."
"Besides, the more sothing is restricted from being seen, the more interested the public tends to beco."
After saying this, Duke turned to his PR manager. Panny Kallis had worked with him for many years, and with Duke’s reminder, she imdiately understood. "Since the leaked version doesn’t have any issues, we can totally leverage the dia to hype this incident into a public hotspot."
Jamie Johnson chid in, "Totally doable."
"Also, draft a strongly worded public statent," Doug Walter added.
Duke gently nodded, then said, "We’ll report it to the Los Angeles County Police Departnt and the FBI. Any websites that reposted or rebroadcast it will be investigated. Use our connections to get the FBI to conduct a high-profile investigation. Have our dia monitor the FBI and LAPD’s actions and provide tily coverage."
This incident definitely isn’t that simple—Duke knew that clearly. But those websites could only consider themselves unlucky.
No matter who was truly behind this, if we can get the FBI to coordinate sowhat with the news coverage, then this case will inevitably be solved.
Duke understood it would be impossible to implicate certain people. But under the current circumstances, who the real mastermind was wasn’t all that important. What mattered was how to turn this into a social hotspot, thereby making Iron Man the focus of public discussion.
After that, both sides began discussing the details. Duke only needed to grasp the overall direction how to implent things would, of course, be handled by more professional personnel.
The eting went on until near midnight. Walking out of the Warner Building, Duke suddenly recalled a possibility.
Back then, X-n Origins: Wolverine was plagued by negative news during filming, and its test screenings received poor audience feedback. But after the leak incident, its public release achieved relatively decent results. That didn’t look like a coincidence more like a carefully planned promotional and marketing strategy.
However, this was just Duke’s guess. Now that Iron Man ca first, Wolverine definitely wouldn’t enjoy the sa treatnt it once did.
After a full night, early the next morning, Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios jointly held a press conference, and under the nas of Duke, Warner, and Marvel, issued a public statent through various dia channels.
"Yesterday, a stolen, incomplete, early version of Iron Man was illegally uploaded to certain websites."
"Many visual effects, voiceovers, and music are not included in this version, and so scenes haven’t even been edited. We imdiately contacted copyright protection legal departnts and had those websites delete the content. We marked the film, so we can identify the source of the leak and the people who provided the download."
"Whether it’s the original leaker or those who later distributed it, we will take legal action. Courts have ruled on similar cases in the past. Moreover, the FBI and MPAA are already investigating. Many fan sites have shown support and condemned this criminal behavior. We’re deeply encouraged by that. Such acts not only harm the hardworking production staff behind the film, but also hurt the fans."
At the sa ti, dia outlets closely connected to Warner also began furiously hyping up the incident.
"Hollywood’s famous director Duke Rosenberg’s new film Iron Man had its unfinished version leaked online the most serious early leak of a Hollywood blockbuster in history! This leak incident is no small matter. Its scope is vast. Warner Bros. has officially reported it to the FBI and stated the company will pursue legal responsibility for any rebroadcasts of the leaked version. Honestly, it’s impossible to predict what consequences this incident might bring."
Clearly, these dia outlets were aiming to turn the incident into a trending topic.
Moreover, CNN, under Ti Warner, sent a dedicated team to follow the FBI agents handling the case.
TMZ, the well-known gossip site also under Warner, mobilized nurous paparazzi to dig into every possible angle of the incident.
Due to the impact of the leak, Warner Bros., after discussion with Duke, directly canceled the late-April test screenings. Under the current circumstances, test screenings were no longer necessary.
Over the next few days, at first only those following entertainnt news paid attention to the matter. But as dia coverage continued, more and more people began discussing the developnt of the incident.
Especially after several actions by the FBI, the Iron Man leak incident nearly beca the focus of national attention.
....
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