Super 8 screener links to the internet and the source is…Howard Stern?

Internet leaks of a studio copy of a film are, to put it bluntly, not a good thing. Luckily for SUPER 8, the bootlegged copy that showed up on torrent sites this weekend came well after the film’s release (unlike X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, which hit a few weeks before the film even hit theaters). But what is most shocking about the SUPER 8 leak is where it came from: Howard Stern.

The version that currently is being passed around the web is watermarked “H. Stern” on the top and was created by Paramount for Stern prior to director JJ Abrams’ appearance on the show in June. Deadline is reporting that Paramount launched their own internal investigation and other than confirming the leaked copy was indeed the version created for Stern (duh), they haven’t yet confirmed how the copy got online.

Stern took to the radio this morning and was confident the leak didn’t come from his team with his theory being a disgruntled intern for Paramount got their hands on it and leaked it to the web.

DVD-quality screeners of theatrical release movies are notoriously difficult to get, even for Stern. Just recently he was complaining on-air to Jon Favreau after Universal refused to send him a screener of COWBOYS & ALIENS (Stern had yet to see the flim when interviewing Favreau). How this hurts both Stern and the mailing of other screeners to members of the media remains to be seen.

And while they haven’t tracked down the source yet, expect both parties to move quickly to find the perp and bring him to justice. The NYC man who uploaded WOLVERINE to the web was convicted and faces three-years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentencing is handed down next month.