US studio Warner Bros is "vigorously investigating" who leaked the first 36 minutes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, due to open this weekend.The water-marked, "screen quality" footage has appeared on rogue file sharing
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US studio Warner Bros is "vigorously investigating" who leaked the first 36 minutes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, due to open this weekend.
The water-marked, "screen quality" footage has appeared on rogue file sharing services yesterday.
The news was first reported on the TorrentFreak blog.
Warner subsequently sent a statement to Wired.com that reads, in part:
“Last night a portion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was stolen and illegally posted on the internet. This constitutes a serious breach of copyright violation and theft of Warner Bros. property. We are working actively to restrict and/or remove copies that may be available. Also, we are vigorously investigating this matter and will prosecute those involved to the full extent of the law.”
The entertainment press is speculating that the penultimate Potter film may have one of the biggest openings of all time, and go on to haul more than $US1 billion at the box office.
Unless any fans are content to see the first 26 minutes only, last night's leak probably did not do its chances of reaching the billion-dollar mark any harm.
Watch the official, 58-second trailer here.
