Dylan O’Brien had a message for those who leaked footage – including a crucial sex scene – from his upcoming film Twinless.
The controversy erupted earlier this year after scenes from the movie emerged online, prompting Sundance to remove the flick from their online screening portal.
Twinless stars O’Brien, 34, and James Sweeney, 35, as two men who forge a friendship after connecting over the deaths of their twin brothers – and one of the leaked moments included a NSFW moment that was a spoiler to the dramedy.
The movie is now set to be released in less than 24 hours, and the co-stars made their feelings known about the scandal.
‘That sucked. I don’t know, it’s nice to finally have the movie out in the world — but stop doing that, it affects us,’ O’Brien told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s premiere.
Similarly, Sweeney, who also wrote and directed the film, called the piracy ‘demoralizing and uncomfortable.’
Dylan O’Brien had a message for those who leaked footage – including a crucial sex scene – from his upcoming film Twinless; O’Brien pictured with co-star James Sweeney in Twinless
‘The entitlement that people have to put things on the internet when they’re not released and not ready for consumption — that’s not how I wanted the film to be introduced,’ he said.
‘Obviously we hope that it’s a net positive that it invigorates interest and try to look at the bright side that way, but I can’t really personally condone piracy,’ he added.
Twinless received acclaim after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, with the film winning the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and O’Brien earning the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting.
But the joy was soured after the film became the center of a leaking scandal.
Sundance, which has been making featured films available online to festival goers since the pandemic, removed the movie from their platform as a result of the incident.
‘The film Twinless was a victim of some copyright infringement on various social media platforms, therefore the festival in partnership with the filmmakers have made the decision to remove the film from the Sundance Film Festival online platform. We regret that online ticket holders will no longer be able to access the film,’ Sundance said in a statement.
‘We acknowledge and regret the disappointment this may cause. However, part of our commitment to advocating for independent filmmakers is ensuring that they can protect the art that they have created — now and in the future.
‘We take copyright infringement extremely seriously and intend to fully cooperate with local, state, and federal law enforcement on all piracy-related issues.’
The pair addressed the controversy when speaking with THR at their film’s premiere in West Hollywood on Tuesday
The film is about two men who forge a friendship after connecting over the deaths of their twin brothers
It’s not the first time the pair have addressed the controversy.
‘I think [Dylan] got more respect out of the situation than I did. [Laughs.] I wasn’t even getting named half the time,’ Sweeney they told Pride Source during a joint interview with O’Brien last month.
While disappointing, they acknowledged it did raise awareness about their project.
‘On behalf of James, I think he shared a lot of feelings with me about it that I was sensitive to. I’m not really online, but it obviously saddens me,’ O’Brien said. ‘There were so many people too who were like, “Oh, I wanted to see your movie at Sundance, but they pulled it off.”
Dylan told THR the leaked scandal impacted the Twinless team
The movie was the winner of the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting as well as the Audience Award at Sundance
‘I was like, damn, I really wish people understood, even just outside preserving the integrity of our film and the fact that it’s a spoiler and that it’s the best to go in completely blind. And that was tough. You try to look on the bright side and maybe, at least, it points people in the direction of our film,’ he said.
‘It creates a liminal awareness,’ Sweeney said.
Twinless will be released on September 5.
