There were rumblings over the weekend that Disney had been hacked and that's now been confirmed by The Wall Street Journal.
The site has viewed the files, revealing they contain internal Slack discussions about ad campaigns, studio technology and interview candidates. So, probably not the Marvel Studios slate many of you were hoping for!
An anonymous hacking group named "Nullbulge" is claiming to be responsible for the hack; while they've alluded to obtaining details on unreleased projects, the Journal has only seen, "Conversations about maintaining Disney’s corporate website, software development, assessments of candidates for employment, programs for emerging leaders within ESPN and photos of employees' dogs."
A Disney spokesman has finally broken the studio's silence on the matter, saying, "Disney is investigating this matter."
It sounds like the hack was orchestrated by one person and that a Disney manager of software development's computer was compromised by hiding malicious software within a video game add-on.
Nullbulge is a hacktivist group that advocates for artist rights and chooses targets based on their social, economic and political values. As for why Disney came under fire, it's supposedly "due to how it handles artist contracts, its approach to AI, and it’s [sic] pretty blatant disregard for the consumer."
Asked about the decision to release the date instead of making any demands of the House of Mouse, they add, "If we said ‘Hello Disney, we have all your slack data’ they would instantly lock down and try to take us out. In a duel, you better fire first."
We have to believe that, if there were any major revelations about Disney's future movie and TV plans, they'd have found their way online by now. While the severity of this hack can't be understated, it currently doesn't look to be as impactful as what happened during 2014's now-infamous "Sony Hack."
That sent shockwaves through Hollywood and even included details about Sony's plans for Spider-Man. In fact, it was the mention of a potential deal with Marvel Studios to share the wall-crawler that piled pressure on the studio to eventually do just that starting with 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
We'll see what happens in the coming days, but with the San Diego Comic-Con fast approaching, Marvel Studios at least will be able to beat these hackers to the punch by revealing its Multiverse Saga slate.
As always, keep checking back here for updates as we have them.