The pirated copy of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' is believed to be a screener sent ahead of Ben Stiller's appearance on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' last December.
- Jan 11, 2014
AceShowbiz - A copy of Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" illegally popped up online with a watermark bearing the name of Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres. A representative for 20th Century Fox, which distributed the dramedy, said the watermark appeared genuine.
It was initially reported that the copy which was created on November 23, 2013 might be an Oscar screener, but that didn't seem to be the case as Fox said they did create a copy for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" before Stiller's December 4 appearance on her show.
"Our show is sent advanced screeners of movies, sitcoms, reality shows, cds, etc. before guests appear on our show. We do everything we can to protect the content and in 11 seasons nothing has ever leaked online from our show," says executive producers of the "Ellen" show.
"We're not sure if this leaked from our show or not, but we are doing everything we can to find out and to make sure it never happens again," they add.
Screener copies of "Frozen (2013)", "Her" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" have also emerged online, as Academy voters around the globe were sent DVD and Blu-Ray screeners of the competing movies ahead of the nominee announcement on January 16 and the awards gala on March 2.
