San Diego Comic-Con 2016: 20th Century Fox Will Skip Expo To Avoid Trailer Leaks

Looks like some of the big name studios are quite tired of finding leaked content from their forthcoming projects on the Internet. According to Engadget and a plethora of other sites like TheWrap and LA Times, 20th Century Fox will be skipping San Diego Comic-Con 2016 to avoid leaked trailers. This means there will be no sneak peeks to upcoming projects from the studio like "Wolverine 3," "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" or "Assassin's Creed."

If you recall at last years expo a number of trailers leaked online including: "Deadpool," "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "Suicide Squad." Apparently teasers that go out ahead of time hurt the studios in a few different ways. The first is that these trailers or videos are uploaded in a lower resolution, which will soil viewer's perception of the film. Another way a leak can hurt the studio and project in question is that it breaks the studios perfectly planned marketing strategy. Again, this can taint the films impact on viewers.

As Engadget points out, there is a counterargument which says that any fan interest should be seen in a positive light. So if over a million people watch a leaked trailer, then that means a million people are aware of the project and potentially interested in the film.

A Comic-Con spokesperson told The Verge that with today's technology it makes stopping leaks hard to do. The spokesperson said:

"There are a great many things that go into making a great panel presentation. For TV networks and movie studios, sometimes that includes exclusive footage, and while we have been very diligent in trying to prevent footage from being leaked, the truth is today's technology makes any guarantee difficult. We are working with our friends at the different studios and networks in hopes of finding a remedy that will be beneficial to them, us and most importantly the fans."

This move that Fox is doing is similar to what Disney has done in recent years. If you recall, in 2015 Marvel skipped Comic-Con in favor of promoting its movies at Disney's own D23 Expo. By skipping such expo events like Comic-Con it ultimately leaves the power in the studios hands, but not all companies have their own D23 expo so skipping such things could potentially be harmful.