'Wolverine' Fights Piracy with Multiple Endings Gimmick
Filed under: Action, RumorMonger, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
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At an advanced screening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night in Los Angeles, director Gavin Hood introduced the film by announcing that they've included multiple after-the-credits endings spread across several prints of the film, meaning folks will have to visit multiple theaters in order to watch them all. Hood did not reveal exactly how many endings there were; the one at last night's screening apparently included Deadpool, according to First Showing.
Some of you might remember a similar stunt taking place for the film adaptation of Clue, which seemed like a more obvious choice to include multiple endings since the board game plays out the same exact way. But this move by 20th Century Fox has not only become a signature of the new big-screen Marvel universe -- it's also a fairly smart way to entice folks to theaters after an almost-but-not-quite-there version of Wolverine leaked online last month. Last night's after-the-credits ending lasted roughly 25-30 seconds; the rest of them (however many there are -- I'm guessing 3-6) probably run about the same.
Even though all the different endings will most likely find their way onto YouTube the weekend this film hits theaters, do you think it's enough to win back at least some of the money lost to piracy? Was something like this even needed in the first place?
X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters on May 1.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-25-2009 @ 11:37AM
Mr.R said...
I still think this movie did not turn out to be what its investors wanted it to, so they leaked it onto the Internet to blame it on file sharers that they killed it by spreading it around. This multiple endings only show what a disaster this movie was from day one. Ryan Reynolds is so Blade 3, his presence in the trailer alone gives the movie a big thumbs down. Desperate times call for desperate measures and perhaps, when you are Hollywood, good directors and good scripts, maybe, just maybe, a fresh idea? How about something written for the movies and let the old comics take a break? This movie looks like shait.
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4-25-2009 @ 11:52AM
Scott K said...
I'm not betting this will be a great movie, but having multiple after-credits endings doesn't show it's a disaster.
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4-25-2009 @ 11:53AM
Cyhort said...
I completely disagree with that guy ^
The movie looks great but I doubt that anyone who downloaded the unfinished version and was happy with it would have gone to see the movie anyway so this is probably a useless guesture, especially since they'll all be up on YouTube within a month anyway. I just hope that they put them all in the movie for the DVD release instead of on seperate DVD's or in the special features section.
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4-25-2009 @ 12:57PM
Justin said...
So let me get this straight, I DIDN'T download the movie, but if I want the whole experience, I'll have to watch it in theaters multiple times and at different theaters? I don't really see how that's going to help as I wasn't sure I wanted to see this in theaters to begin with, and now this sort of gimmick irks me to the point where maybe I shouldn't go see it on principle.
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4-25-2009 @ 6:11PM
Robin said...
Agreed, that is just irritating. It's hard enough to justify a $30 trip to the theaters these days... much less 3 or 4 times for the same movie.
4-25-2009 @ 5:36PM
Greg said...
Multiple endings in different theaters? That's just stupid but not surprising given the studio distributing it is Fox
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4-25-2009 @ 9:46PM
CR said...
It's hard to be excited, much less remain optimistic about the quality of this movie after Fox's lies about the workprint (additional footage...sure) and now this B-level stunt.
I had hopes for it once upon a time, Hugh Jackman really seemed sincere in his attempts to get this thing done right.
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4-26-2009 @ 3:08PM
LBear said...
Desperate, gimmicky measure that will scare away viewers.
I'm sorry but after the WB/Watchmen leeching Fox is again showing why they deserve nothing but hell.
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4-27-2009 @ 10:43AM
Bob Jones said...
I watched this movie already, yeah watched the stolen copy. The film is garbage and instantly forgettable. The buzz that this movie is crap is about right, not as bad as X-Men 3, but man it's bad.
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4-27-2009 @ 10:47AM
Bob Jones said...
If you're thinking about giving me crap, I only steal from 20th Century Fox since the crap they pulled on WB regarding Watchmen. They are a pathetic company and their whole business plan seems to be "let's piss off the movie going public and give them the finger!"
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4-27-2009 @ 2:57PM
Lewis said...
Mr. Jones. It seems to me that you do not really know the full details regarding the Watchmen thing. Fox, in fact, was right in suing. WB didn't screw them over, the producer Lawrence Gordon screwed them over because it was agreed that if Lawrence was to shop the project around to other studios, then he'd have to reimburse the studio for development and whatnot. And surprise! He didn't. They were wrong. So, when they go after what was rightfully theirs, they get the fanboy hate for a movie that wasn't even all that good to begin with (Watchmen was a mess).
Now, I ain't defending Fox, but know what you're talking about.
5-03-2009 @ 4:48PM
Sebastian Blue said...
I heard there were 2 versions of the 'Japanese Secret Ending'. My buddy saw one with this hot geisha waitress (local girl, I hear - GO CANUCKS!!!). Anyways - can anyone confirm this?
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