Earlier this week, a copy of Quentin Tarantino's new film "The Hateful Eight" leaked online. Now, the leak is being traced back to a top Hollywood film executive, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Alcon Entertainment's co-CEO of production-finance Andrew Kosove was sent a "screener" copy of "The Hateful Eight" for awards consideration. An office assistant signed for the screener, and the copy was then shared online where it can be found on a handful of file-sharing websites. FBI sources, working with distributor The Weinstein Co., have identified Kosove's copy of the film as the originating source from a watermark on the DVD sent to him. Officials from the FBI are visiting Alcon's Century City, Calif., headquarters to determine who is directly responsible for sharing the film on the Internet.
"I've never seen this DVD," Kosove told THR. "It's never touched my hands. We're going to do more than cooperate with the FBI. We're going to conduct our own investigation to find out what happened."
THR notes that it is likely that Kosove is not the perpetrator of this crime.
When Tarantino first began working on "The Hateful Eight," an early version of his script was leaked online. The filmmaker was so distressed that he temporarily shelved the project. One can only imagine how he has responded to this latest breach.
Between 200,000 and 600,000 downloads of the film occurred on just the first day it was made available online. Illegal file sharing such as this has seen a rise in recent years and is a financial threat to films that are not in general release when screeners go out. "Hateful Eight," which has a reported budget of $70 million, falls into this category as does Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Revenant." Both films will see a limited release on Friday.
We'll keep you posted as more details begin to emerge.
