Embargo Breaker Casts Doubt On Supposed New Wolverine Footage

The retractable bone claws are out for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and fanboys and Fox execs are hurling accusations back and forth about the additional footage the studio claims to have integrated into the final cut. First, Fox head Tom Rothman promised there'd be ten minutes of new stuff that wasn't in the leaked workprint, a guarantee that HuffPo blogger Scott Mendelson found suspicious since the final running time hadn't changed a lick. A Fox source close to the film claimed that was because cuts had been made to the leaked version to accommodate the new footage, but an AICN spy who's seen the final cut begs to differ:

Well, having seen the finished film, the mystery is solved: the workprint version IS in fact identical to the release print, sans effect and some audio work. It's obvious that FOX is trying their darndest to keep this news from getting out, because it will eliminate most of the motivation for people who have seen the workprint to pay for a ticket.Some scenes from the trailer are not in the finished version, either.

The spy adds that in addition to the usual review embargo, he was ordered not to discuss the film in any way until two days before its opening (whoops!), presumably to keep comparisons to the leaked workprint to a minimum. We're waiting for Fox to respond to the allegations, though we hear that their original statement from Hugh Jackman -- "I haven't been this disappointed by someone's obvious axe to grind since Christina Crawford set pen to paper in 1978"-- has been quietly scuttled.

· UPDATED!! The Finished/Theatrical Version Of WOLVERINE Has Been Seen!! Just How Different Is It From That Workprint?? [AICN]