'Avengers' accidentally deleted at press screening
The movie apparently ran into a foe more dangerous than your average supervillain, namely the perils of the digital age.
It wasn't the evil god Loki who defeated the Avengers last week; it was the slippery fingers of a projectionist.
The new film "The Avengers" ran into a glitch at a recent press screening, according to The Verge. The digital file of the movie being readied for the press was accidentally deleted by the projectionist. Though one would hope certain safeguards would be in place to prevent such a hiccup, apparently deleting a digital copy of a film is no different than deleting any other type of file.
No word on why the file couldn't be recovered or why there was no backup. But the press had to wait more than two hours for the film to be downloaded again.
Film critic Eric Kohn tweeted about the incident, while film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum confirmed the more than two-hour wait for a fresh digital copy to be downloaded.
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, "The Avengers" teams up famed Marvel heroes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye as they battle the forces of Thor's evil half-brother Loki. The film, which has already drawn rave reviews overseas, will hit theaters in the U.S. this Friday, where hopefully the projectionists will keep their fingers away from the delete key.