'Wolverine' Director Upset With Fan Sites That Said He Fought With Fox's Tom Rothman

Usually all press is good press. Look at what just happened "Brüno." The film got slapped with an NC17 rating by the MPAA, but it just boosted its awareness quota and cutting it down to an R in time for July should be no big thing (in fact, many suspect Universal leaked that info out to get that good press).

But a leaked film that has already suffered some drama via semi-critical buzz, plus reshoots earlier this year (which generally never generates positive buzz, no matter how harmless and normal the reshoots are) is another story. 20th Century Fox has had a hell of bad week with the unfinished work-print leak of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" starring Hugh Jackman.

Fox seems to be in full-blown damage control mode and frankly, we don't blame them. Now THR's Summer preview (via Splashpage) has a video interview with 'Wolverine' director Gavin Hood who has takes umbrage with fanboys that reported rumors that he and Fox Chairman Tom Rothman got into blown-out arguments over the film and he's refuting that they didn't get along.

“I am very fond of Tom. We didn’t always agree, [but] we certainly never yelled at each other. Some of these fan sites have really been upsetting in that way.I have never had a stand-up fight with Tom Rothman. Never, ever in all his time with me — never. And that is a fact. It’s quite upsetting to see how these things spiral.”

Rothman said it was a “stupid notion” to believe that Rothman was trying to destroy the franchise. “This [movie] is a huge thing for the studio. Of course he doesn’t want to ruin the franchise. What, he’s gonna put a gun to his head? He has a huge amount riding on this movie, as do I.”

“When he and I are in a room together debating, he’s a very forceful personality — Tom Rothman — and I’m a fairly forceful personality. Did we discuss and debate what stylistically I was going to bring to the movie, and his expectations and mine? Of course. Of course you do that. And I hope it makes the movie better.”

We wonder how recent this interview is and how this helps at all. It doesn't but Risky Biz, had a recent interview with Hood and figured: perfect timing. How can you tell it's a little old? No quotes about the leak. Everyone needs to leverage an angle.

Meanwhile in other 'Wolverine' related leak news.
- An Australian effect house has denied that the leak came from them. Rising Sun Pictures evidently appears in a caption dated March 2 a few minutes into the high-quality leak, but their chairman and co-founder wrote on their website today, "As we worked on individual sequences within the film, neither Rising Sun Pictures or its staff members have ever been in possession of a full-length version, so it would have been impossible for the movie to have been leaked from here."
- Dallas Observer writer Robert Wilonsky may have found a connection. He says, "there was an FBI raid at a 'huge internet hub' in Dallas this morning. The owner released a statement saying it has something to do with a customer of theirs, and that the FBI needed access to their information." Or at least it's a rumored connection.