Search
Partners
Anime News
|
'Wolverine,' A Swine Flu Casualty Mexican Opening in Jeopardy Date: 4/29/2009 |
|
Fox?s X-Men Origins: Wolverine may be another casualty of the swine flu outbreak that has gripped Mexico. The film was set to open on Thursday, but most of Mexico City?s theaters are closed because of the flu outbreak, which has sickened nearly two thousand and killed 149 in Mexico. Traffic in Mexico City is less than half of its normal volume, and according to Variety theater owners are responding to Mexico City mayor Marcelo Ebrard?s call for theaters, bars, and restaurants to ?close shop? in order to contain the spread of the virus. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has delayed the opening of the Wolverine movie in Mexico until May 14th, though even that date has not been finalized at this point. Given the problems with illegal distribution of movies on DVD around the world, the Hollywood studios have increasingly attempted to open a film simultaneously in as many countries as possible. Since a work print of X-Men Origins: Wolverine has already leaked via the Internet and been downloaded over a million times (see ?Over One Million Wolverine Downloads?), Fox is understandably attempting to get the finished film into theaters in over 100 markets around the world this week in order to minimize damage from the film?s premature and illegal release on the Net. The de facto delay in the film?s Mexican theatrical release created by the swine flu outbreak can?t be good news for the studio. Hollywood has managed to prove its countercyclical mettle in the face of the deepest recession in 80 years, but if the swine flu outbreak does go global, it will present a whole host of new challenges, both medical and economic. With a limited number of cases in New York City and in other U.S. locations, Fox doesn?t think that the opening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be affected, but there is little doubt that the studio moguls are on tenterhooks worrying about a potential outbreak in the U.S. or other key markets. Could the studios come up with a way to save the summer movie season in the face of a flu pandemic? Let?s hope we never have to find out. |
| Source: ICv2 |
