Pushing open the door, Drake walked into the rented house, took off his coat, and hung it on the coat rack by the door. He gently pinched his brow—another extremely busy day. After staring at the computer for a long time, his eyes didn't feel very comfortable. He couldn't help but stand by the window and gaze into the distance.
This place was in a prime location. Looking out from the window, one could see most of the San Francisco Bay, especially the famous Alcatraz Island, which was directly in front of him.
Seeing this well-known little island, Drake immediately thought of the most famous movie about it The Rock. It was one of his favorite films.
"Duke Rosenberg's new film is about to be released."
With his gaze withdrawn from the San Francisco Bay, Drake turned back toward the room. Like most young people in North America, there were plenty of movie posters on his wall. In the most prominent spot was a poster of a red and gold armored man flying—Iron Man, which was about to be released.
These were the latest posters distributed by Warner Bros. Those who could collect them before the film's release were either Duke's fans or Iron Man enthusiasts.
Drake happened to be both. Ever since Iron Man was approved for production, he had been following its progress.
After resting for a while, Drake sat down at his desk, turned on the computer, and checked Duke's official website and Instant Share account. The promotion and content about Iron Man were still the same as yesterday's no updates. Even the trailer released so far was only the first one; Warner Bros. didn't seem to have plans to release a second one.
"It's really making people anxious."
Just like last year, Drake was hoping the summer movie season would come sooner.
After browsing several official websites, he switched to a film forum. As soon as he opened the movie section, he spotted a thread pinned at the top.
"Full Version of Iron Man – For Those Who Want to Watch the Movie Early, Come In!"
How could the film be posted online?
Drake frowned slightly. He clicked on the thread and found that it had already surpassed a hundred thousand views, with over ten thousand replies...
Could it be that the movie had leaked?
As a seasoned movie fan, Drake naturally understood what this meant. Although a voice in his head was telling him not to click the link above warning it might lead to a virus site he ultimately couldn't resist the curiosity and desire to see Iron Man early. He lightly clicked the mouse.
It was a link to an external site. Since he had already opened it, Drake put aside all other concerns and chose to download it.
The waiting time was long. Sitting at his computer, bored, he browsed a few other movie forums and found the same post nearly everywhere. The spread of content on the internet was unbelievably fast.
If what was online was real, then Duke Rosenberg would be in serious trouble.
There had been previous cases in Hollywood of film copies leaking before release, even when the internet wasn't as developed. Those films had suffered heavy losses.
Hopefully, Duke would be strong enough to weather this. Besides, the resources online might not even be real.
Just as Drake was thinking this, the download finished. Even though he knew this was unethical, curiosity and human nature's tendency to take advantage overpowered him. He still dragged the downloaded file into the video player.
"This… this is really Iron Man!"
Although there were no opening logos from Warner Bros., Marvel Comics, or Duke Studios, the title Iron Man was unmistakable. Not long after the video started, Robert Downey Jr. appeared onscreen—he looked exactly like Tony Stark in the comics.
This version was also very clear, totally comparable to the quality of Warner Bros.' previously released DVDs. The only drawback was that there were timecodes and a Warner Bros. watermark on the image—obviously a pirated resource stolen somehow.
Even so, it was still watchable, especially the opening explosion scenes, which had the same flair as Duke's early style.
Pressing pause, Drake poured himself a cup of coffee and returned to the computer to continue watching. But this time, it didn't take long before his brows furrowed deeply. This version wasn't even finished.
Tony Stark was supposed to appear in the Mark I armor, but in the footage, Robert Downey Jr. was wearing a tight gray suit and standing in front of a blue screen—what the heck?
Well, Drake thought for a second and guessed that Robert Downey Jr. was wearing a motion-capture suit, and the blue screen was meant to be replaced with background visuals in post-production. The special effects clearly hadn't been added yet.
Sighing, Drake decided to bear with it for now. Maybe the effects just weren't done in this part there should be more to see later.
However, the more he watched, the deeper his frown became. This film was simply unwatchable.
The editing had been completed, sure, but none of the special effects were added. Apart from a few scenes where Robert Downey Jr. walked around in props, where was Iron Man? Drake didn't see him at all.
A superhero movie without special effects—was it even still a superhero movie?
Worse yet, apart from a few scenes with live audio recording, many parts of the film had no sound at all. The soundtrack was completely absent from beginning to end...
In the end, Drake didn't even finish watching. He shut it off, looked at the time, and decided to go to bed. But once he lay down, all he could think about was Iron Man. Before seeing the pirated version, he just really wanted to watch the movie. But after seeing it, his desire only intensified—it made him unbearably impatient.
What he just watched didn't satisfy his craving. It was like a traveler in the desert getting a drop of water—only making the thirst worse.
Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, Drake simply got up and reopened his computer. He checked Google and found out that starting next week, Iron Man tickets could be pre-ordered via phone and online.
Let next week come quickly. Let the summer movie season begin soon…
Drake wasn't the only one with such thoughts many others who had watched the leaked Iron Man resource online felt the same way.
It wasn't just regular movie fans who noticed the online information and leaked material—many media outlets, especially online media, reacted with astonishing speed.
Yahoo Entertainment responded almost immediately.
"Iron Man Footage Leaked on the internet"
"The summer season opener, the new film Iron Man by renowned director Duke Rosenberg, will be released in North America on May 5. Unfortunately, this major production has had its source footage leaked online today, and it is currently spreading quietly across various movie forums and websites."
"The leaked footage is of full DVD quality and reportedly contains the full-length version of the film, though visual effects, voice dubbing, and soundtrack have yet to be added. Moreover, the footage contains visible timecodes and watermarks, which seriously affect the visual quality. Still, this might be the biggest early leak incident of a blockbuster in Hollywood history. What kind of impact this will have on Iron Man remains uncertain..."
In a conference room at Warner Bros., Tina Fey turned off the projector, and the Yahoo Entertainment report disappeared. Though it was already nighttime, everyone from Duke's side, Marvel Studios, and Warner Bros. was seated in the room.
Everyone's expression was serious—this was undoubtedly an extremely grave incident.
The meeting had been going on for over half an hour, and there was still no clue as to which part of the production chain the problem had come from.
"Whether the source footage came from Duke's team, Marvel Studios, or Warner Bros., we'll have time to investigate later."
Panny Kallis, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. As a public relations expert, she specialized in dealing with all kinds of emergencies. "Everyone, there's no point in arguing over where the leak came from now!"
When something like this happens, it's inevitable that mutual suspicion arises among the involved parties—it's only human nature.
"Doug, Kevin..."
Looking up, Duke glanced at Warner Bros. CEO Doug Walter and Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige and said, "I'm sure you're both aware that Rob Zombie's Halloween and Eli Roth's Hostel both had early leaks, which clearly affected their box office performance."
He slightly raised his voice, "But none of the past leak incidents were as serious as this. Don't forget Iron Man's budget—we must do everything possible to minimize the negative impact."
During post-production, due to raised standards for visual effects, Iron Man's final production cost was increased to $150 million. If a project of this scale suffered heavy losses, Duke, Marvel Studios, and Warner Bros. would all face serious consequences.
Especially Marvel Studios—if Iron Man failed, the entire subsequent series wouldn't necessarily collapse, but it would undoubtedly face indefinite delays.
However, dealing with a crisis like this was no easy task. There was no precedent for success in similar cases in Hollywood. Even a seasoned veteran like Panny Kallis, who had been navigating Hollywood and the entertainment industry for decades, couldn't think of any viable solution for the moment.
"If I find out who did this..."
Sitting beside Duke, Doug Walter's expression was calm, but veins bulged on his forehead. "They're as good as dead!"
Duke gave him a glance but said nothing. Since rushing to the Warner building after receiving the news, he hadn't yet seen the leaked version. If it turned out to be a nearly finished digital copy, Iron Man's box office wouldn't necessarily collapse, but it would surely fall far short of expectations.
There was a knock on the door. An assistant entered the meeting room and handed a disk to Tina Fey. Tina Fey turned the projector back on.
On the screen appeared the leaked online version of Iron Man. But after watching for a short while, the furrow in Duke's brow gradually relaxed.
This was the version stored on Warner Bros' internal server.