Fox News Reviewer Fired Over “Wolverine” Download

A Fox News reviewer downloaded an early workprint version of the upcoming 20th Century Fox film “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” – in order to review the film. Fox retaliated by forcing the writer to resign under what this article reports as “mutually parting ways”.

Friedman had been an entertainment writer who has contributed to FoxNews.com for 10 years. He wrote in his Fox 411 column Thursday that downloading the 20th Century Fox superhero prequel was “so much easier than going out in the rain” and that the movie “exceeds expectations at every turn.”

The early review of the film, which 20th Century Fox described as a “stolen, incomplete and early version,” was later removed from the Web site Friday. Fox News and 20th Century Fox are both units of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Some might say the reviewer was just being lazy, but I feel that this example shows the benefits of VOD and online video. How many of you would rather watch the film in the comfort of your home instead of going to a theater?