'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' Pirate Sentenced To A Year In Prison, Film's Director Gavin Hood Still Goes Unpunished

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by Oliver Lyttelton
December 20, 2011 1:00 PM
8 Comments

Piracy and bootlegging is, obviously, a major problem for the film industry, as it has been since the invention of the VHS. But in a day and age when everyone and their mom knows how to torrent, and seemingly don't mind watching terrible-quality DivXs shot on a constantly-shaking camera phone, it's more prevalent than ever. The absolute nightmare scenario, however, would be a film leaking weeks ahead of its release, and in a relatively pristine copy ripped from a DVD. And that's exactly what happened two years ago with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," in the worst blow to hit 20th Century Fox's superhero franchise since someone greenlit "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

The mutant sequel was still a month away from release when a near-finished workprint, differing slightly from the final cut and missing a few effects, spread around the internet, allowing fans to be disappointed by the terrible film a full month in advance. It might not have seemed to have hurt the box office too much (the film took nearly $400 million worldwide, making it the third-biggest-grossing in the series), but Fox were out for blood, and 49-year-old Bronx resident Gilberto Sanchez was arrested by the FBI for having been the man who uploaded the workprint to the web. Causing the investigating officers to watch "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" probably didn't put them in a better mood, to be honest.

It's still unclear exactly how he obtained the copy (which must have been leaked/lost/stolen by or from someone working on the project), but we're not sure it matters; Sanchez, who had a previous conviction for a similar crime, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Margaret M. Morrow to a year in federal prison. Although we suppose there's a bright side to this; being in federal prison means there's very little chance of Sanchez having to watch "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" again for a whole year.

This is clearly meant to set an example, although whether it has any luck at that is questionable; really, Fox should have looked at their own leaky ship as to how the print ended up on the outside, and there's not a lot of sign of them doing that. The most depressing thing out of this whole story? "The Wolverine" hits theaters in 2013. [Deadline]

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More: The Wolverine, X-Men: First Class

8 Comments

| Reply
Brandon | December 21, 2011 12:49 PMReply

Please sir..... Can I have some more?
Scribe | December 20, 2011 3:54 PMReply

Hood unpunished!!! Holy shit i almost fell over in my chair when i read that. Nice one oli
Wash | December 20, 2011 2:26 PMReply

Well, no wonder Playlist didn't like X-Men Origins: Wolverine; it didn't have Ryan Gosling in it.
Brandon | December 20, 2011 1:46 PMReply

Jesus Christ. Was this an article about someone going to prison or how much you hate this movie. Granted it wasn't that good but terrible? Come on, that's a little extreme. There is a lot worse out there. B- or maybe even a C but a F. At least this movie had good actors and decent acting in it. Why don't you keep the movie bashing to a minimum when your writing an article about someone going to jail for ripping off the film.
James | December 20, 2011 1:21 PMReply

Better watch your back Fish! Squirrel Master ain't gonna be there for you all the time. Next time I come for you, I'm gonna want some cocktail... FRUIT!
caro | December 20, 2011 1:17 PMReply

the guy also uploaded the Miley Cyrus
Rob Newhouse | December 20, 2011 1:13 PMReply

The trick is, kick someone's ass the first day, or become someone's bi*ch.
James Logan Howlett | December 20, 2011 1:10 PMReply

OK, we get it. You don't like the Wolverine franchise.