These days, going to the movies is almost incomplete without sharing some highlights of it on the internet. While most people would not call it piracy, it still falls under the illegal distribution of copyrighted content on social media, and it has not really helped movies in the long run. Sure, those little snippets from the theatre can get people excited about a film, but things can quickly go south if it is not handled the right way. A similar thing has happened with Ariana Grande’s much-anticipated musical, Wicked.

Now, an industry executive has jumped on the chance to blame this fan-driven piracy on Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine. 

Wicked hit theatres this month. And within just five days of its release, social media already knows way more than it should. Numerous clips of the musical have been circulating on the web, including the full four-minute ending of the first part. Recently, an anonymous top executive compared this situation to what happened with Deadpool & Wolverine in an interview with Variety. The executive pointed out that younger audiences have now become bolder about sharing these long clips from the theatre ever since Deadpool & Wolverine.

“Something really happened with that movie,” the expert said. During Deadpool & Wolverine's run in theatres, both Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy were seen interacting with pirated content online and did not seem to mind much. However, a source close to Levy said he never meant to encourage content from theatres and is strongly against piracy. Apart from pirated content sharing, Deadpool & Wolverine also had to deal with a lot of leaks. Ryan Reynolds once dropped his usual PG language in an interview when talking about it. 

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Reynolds resorted to cursing while discussing that one huge leak from the 2024 blockbuster that really pushed him to his breaking point.

Throughout Deadpool & Wolverine’s making, there were multiple leaks. From revealing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in his iconic suit to spoiling other cameos, the movie was plagued by intrusions. But the leak that really got under Ryan Reynolds’ skin was when the original movie title got out. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he revealed they had originally planned to call it Deadpool & Friend. 

The makers, however, had to change the title because of the "sons of ***ches on the Internet”- in Reynolds' words- who leaked the title just before the first trailer dropped. What made it even worse was that fans and insiders “hated it,” which forced the Deadpool & Wolverine team to rethink their title. That said, with every social media user now becoming their own content creator and constantly racing to post something fresh and attention-grabbing, it seems the piracy trend is only going to get bigger.

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What do you think about Wicked's piracy being compared to Deadpool & Wolverine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!