We've often heard concerns about how best to preserve digital media for the future (right down to the Motion Picture Academy), but film journalist Eric Kohn found out the hard way that the issue may be more pressing than we think. He went along to attend a press screening of The Avengers last week, but was made to wait after a projectionist "accidentally deleted the movie." Fellow critic Lisa Schwarzbaum later reported that the screening went ahead after a two-hour-plus download, but it's a worrying reminder of the potential pitfalls of digital files compared to their celluloid predecessors.
AVENGERS press screening delayed because they "accidentally deleted the movie." Welcome to the digital age.
— erickohn (@erickohn) April 25, 2012
The curse of Loki: Projectionist accidentally erases The Avengers before packed a.m. screening. 143 mins of download later, Earth is saved.
— lisaschwarzbaum (@lisaschwarzbaum) April 25, 2012