Just like the worst suggestion for a contraceptive, Fox has decided to pull out of Comic-Con this year. Reported by The Wrap, the decision basically comes down to the fact that a lot of piracy has come out of Comic-Con throughout the past events. Someone always seems to find a way to record and then distribute the exclusive clips that they showcase in Hall H for the convention guests.
The general public may feel that these leaks only help the studio, which might be true, but the studios do invest a lot of time and money into their marketing campaigns to get the ball rolling for their upcoming titles. This isn’t just isolated to 20th Century Fox since it also happens to the other major studios like Warner Bros and Marvel Studios. Hutch Parker, the producer of X-Men for 20th Century Fox, laid out a pretty interesting thought on this whole scenario.
The problem with the theory about the marketing is, I don’t actually think it’s good marketing. Leaking footage a year in advance of a movie’s release is not such a good thing. The reason you don’t see footage out that far is you run the risk of it getting stale. Generally speaking, and I can’t speak for other studios — I can’t even speak for Fox any more — but I don’t believe their intention is [for footage to be leaked]. I think their intention is to get the most important opinions and opinion-makers in this community engaged in the promise of what’s coming.
San Diego Comic-Con’s attendance has spiked so much through the years that it’s fairly difficult to stop someone if they decide to record at an exclusive Hall H preview. Cell phone cameras, Go Pros, and mini cameras are so easily attainable in this day and age, that it only increases the dilemma of stopping this type of “preview piracy” behaviour. Since Fox has left, only time will tell if other studios follow suit.