How is it possible that Episode 2 is making the rounds on er, certain places…already? Same thing with Eminem’s new album. If they haven’t released it yet, how can it possible already be available on the net?
I can see how a cd could get leaked out through the distributoin chain somewhere, but an entire movie? Especially one like Star Wars:Episode 2? You’d think that they’d have some type of security or something 
Well, I’ve heard that during some special screening someone brought in a camcorder. I heard they went so far as to set up a tripod. I don’t see the point as you end up watching a 1 square inch blurry picture that’s compressed to hell and has no sound.
At least with leaked music, it’s usually high bit rate mp3.
And I agree, I don’t understand why they didn’t check for camcorders. I suppose it’s not really gonna effect their bottom line.
Having seen some of it, (I stumbled across it and, just to see what it looked like, I dl’d the sample scene that preceeded the whole whopping megahuge movie), burned the 4 minute scene to a VCD and played it on my TV: it’s not a “1 inch square picture”, it’s a full-sized letterbox. Slightly blurry, but not worse than a second generation video-tape. The sound was fine.
I can’t figure out how the taper managed it: if he used a camcorder on a freaking tripod, you’d think someone would have noticed.
Fenris
Movie theaters get movies a few day early. When EpI came out I saw it a few days before everyone else. The theaters usually do a “midnight movie” where they put the film togehter and run it to make sure everything is ok with it. More than likely someone at a theater did this and took a camcorder in.
These type of screenings are sometimes called tech screenings. Just run the film throught to make the soundtrack works and the reels are in the right order. It makes for a nice fun perk for working in a movie theatre. Just like getting free posters and such.
But anyone of those guys could have brought in a camcorder. Heck you could set up in the booth and most of your staff would never know.
Agreed. George Lucas was asked about this, and he said he’d be prosecuting bootleggers. He didn’t think it’d dig into box office receipts at all, but worries that when Episode 2 is released on to VHS and DVD, bootlegged versions of those higher quality source materials could have a significant negative effect on at-home sales.
A bit off-topic, but I thought y’all might enjoy this story:
Movie theaters do indeed come several days in advance of their release. The theater receives one or two canisters filled with 20-minute reels, however many it takes to make the full movie (a 100 minute movie takes 5 reels). The manager/projectionist/whoever will then splice the film together on the “platter”, the huge horizontal reels that hold the film for the projector. And, because this process is usually easily completed well before the release, the managers will indeed “preview” the movies themselves, to make sure everything’s okay. Usually it’s just the managers, but sometimes they’ll bring family members or invite other employees.
One such screening occurred at the theater where I worked before the premiere of Gremlins 2: The New Batch*. The managers were relaxing, having a fine time watching the movie, when it reached that point where, you’ll recall, there’s a rather realistic depiction of movie film snagging in a projector, getting trapped against the lens, and burning. The manager for that theater hollered, “Oh SHIT!” and bounded up the aisle to the projection booth to save the film. Before he made the door, though, the shadows of gremlins appeared on the screen, and he figured out he’d been tricked.
If I’m not mistaken, don’t production companies send movies to critics on DVD? All you need is one unscrupulous person to get a hold of it, copy it and distribute it.
My cousin has a DVD that she purchased prior to release. Every few minutes, words scroll by at the bottom of the screen advising the viewer to call a hotline for New Line Cinema if they are viewing stolen material. I can’t remember what movie it was, though.