Gawker is offering a bounty for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens script
Website Gawker has put out a bounty for a copy of the script from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Yes, you read that correctly. The website is paying cash for a copy, partial or otherwise, presumably so they can be the first ones to leak the top-secret story, closely guarded by the master of tight security himself, J.J. Abrams. Here’s the statement from Gawker:
"“So you have the Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens script (from any draft stage!), a portion of the script, or know someone who does have the script, we want to hear from you. And depending on what you have, we’re willing to pay cold, hard cash. Or we can warm it up first! Whatever your preference—we’re here to serve.”"
The site goes on to clarify that they are in no way endorsing any illegal actions, in the acquiring of said script, but are willing to take a legally obtained version off your hands, providing the monetary enticement is sufficient for you to break J.J.’s trust.
Personally, while I don’t blame Gawker for wanting to get their eyes on The Force Awakens script, I do however, take a bit of umbrage with how they are going about it, and what they will do once they inevitably get it. This kind of grandstanding falls into that grey area of spoilers that are now so prevalent in today’s society. With the instant access of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, photos from the set, camera phone captured video, and even drone flyovers are the norm.
J.J. Abrams and Disney/Lucasfilm have gone to great lengths to keep the movie’s script as secret as possible, and for a website like Gawker to try and supersede all those top secret measures, undermines everything Abrams has been working so hard to prevent. Although, Gawker did offer J.J. the opportunity first, so there’s that.