Wolverine’s Mutant Abilities Powerless Against Swine Flu
Forced to wear surgical masks in Mexico City (Gregory Bull/Associated Press)
Hugh Jackman and 20th Century Fox are certainly having a rough time when it comes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As if the leak of the workprint of the film wasn’t damaging enough, now they’ve been forced to postpone this Thursday’s release of the film in Mexico due to the deadly outbreak of Swine Flu.
Mexico has so far been the hardest hit nation on Earth, with some reports indicating the outbreak has claimed more than 150 lives there so far. As a result, Mexico City has been forced to close its theaters until further notice, as well as many other public places including bars, schools and public transport.
Scores of screens owned by exhibitors Cinepolis, Cinemex, Cinemas Lumiere and Cinemark have gone dark, and the remaining chains and indies are expected to follow suit. Cinepolis is also shutting theaters in the states of Mexico and San Luis Potosi, according to Variety.
A 20th Century Fox studio spokesman said a new launch date would be announced once Fox gets a better sense of when theaters will re-open. As it stands, no one really knows how long this will be, except to say that it will be a minimum of nine more days given public schools have been shut down until at least May 6th.
You have to feel for the films, filmmakers and distributors who will suffer as a result of this, but then not nearly as bad as you have to feel for the Mexican populace itself. The impact on their already struggling economy is proving significant, and is only going to get worse.
