How Franchises Keep Their Secrets

Filmmaking is indeed an art form, but it also has a technical component, especially in these times of special effects. The cinema business has evolved a vast arsenal of tactics that make films magical and keep their secrets well hidden.

Large studio films have had to contend with spoilers, including plot leaks, for a long time. Companies like HBO and Amazon, are starting to realize what Disney or Marvel have understood for years: concealment often only increases attention, tightens storyline control, and reduces social media hostility.

With social media, it's more difficult than ever for film and television producers to avoid spoilers about their work in progress. Studios have had to get creative, coming up with novel ways to keep viewers and even the cast in the dark.

To see how directors managed to keep their blockbuster secrets…hold onto your socks, limber up your ol' gray matter, keep scrolling and consider the following wild but true scenarios:

26 Entry by Amyan Bridi

To ensure nothing came out about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, scripts were printed on dark red pages to prevent any photocopying. CRACKED

25 Entry by Anthony Paparo

CRROR In late 2007, John Cena tore his pectoral and was supposed to be out six months to a year. He returned three months later, winning the 2008 Roya

24 Entry by Cracked Plasticians

Game of Thrones directors shot fake scenes to keep the final season a secret. ol 1GE 5 1 Fans and paparazzi were so intent on getting Season 8 spoiler

23 Entry by Andrea Meno

J.J. Abrams kept paparazzi away from Star TREk: Into Darkness with a wall. NC2D 887834 4201 WAGR ME TIRE UET CAP Abrams's wall He barricaded the movie

22 Entry by Karen Jones

21 Entry by ShortUsername01

David Merkin, showrunner for Simpsons seasons 5 and 6, called up TV stations and comic book stores... ...to claim (anonymously) to know Who Shot Mr.

20 Entry by HamishIbuprofen

As a security measure during the 2005 series of Doctor Who, the production team renamed the preview tapes of the program Torchwood to trick any vide

19 Entry by Andrea Meno

Anti-air guns guarded the Game of Thrones set. 1XI DRONEKILLER' A not taken on the GOT set The studio had people with drone killer guns watching th

18 Entry by Lornie Aswila Jeffrey Lausin

The production team for EI Camino rented a replica of Breaking Bad's iconic RV from a tour company in Albuquerque tO film the diner flashback featurin

17 Entry by Chan Teik Onn

During the production of Twin Peaks (2017), the actors didn't even know what was going on with the plot. According to actor Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy Br

16 Entry by Amyan Bridi

CRACKEDOON Deadpool 2 director David Leitch kept everything related to the movie on paper and stayed away from storing things digitally to prevent any

15 Entry by Lornie Aswila Jeffrey Lausin

CRACKED.COM To keep Bruce Wayne's death under wraps when shooting the funeral scene in The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan had the prop team ma

14 Entry by Moses Armstrong

Miramax took a polite approach to keeping The Crying Gameis secret: They asked people to not spoil the Surprise. The approach focused on simply asking

13 Entry by Kristina Yong

During the making of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the production team would round up actors' scripts at the end of filming and shred them all -- every sin

12 Entry by Chan Teik Onn

IHDACY Quentin Tarantino kept his Once Upon A Time In Hollywood script secret by not making any copies of it. Before production began, Brad Pitt and L

11 Entry by PollyDarton

PUBaub CRACKED.COM RACE DRAG Rupaul's Drag Race films several different endings of their finale so that no one will be able to leak the winner. taping

10 Entry by PookieJones

Friends was filmed in front of a live studio audience that they asked to leave before shooting the cliffhangers.

9 Entry by Andrea Meno

British intelligence worked on preventing Harry Potter leaks. Harly Potter and th HY lood prince Before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came ou

8 Entry by PookieJones

Stranger Things uses code names for actors, and literally burns scripts after shooting.

7 Entry by Amyan Bridi

To prevent spoilers and leaks from spreading about Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios limited the amount of information the

6 Entry by Andrea Meno

Benicio del Toro got The Last Jedi script on an iPad customized by the studio, that a guy brought to his house. The guy had to take the iPad back when

5 Entry by Moses Armstrong

To keep Yondu's death in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 a secret, Marvel leaked photos of Michael Rooker around the set of Avengers: Infinity War. INF

4 Entry by Amyan Bridi

CRACKEDCON COM To prevent any leaks about the ending of No Time to Die, the crew filmed three different versions of it. Not even Daniel Craig knows wh

3 Entry by Markos Hasiotis

Most of the audience is removed before a singer's identity is revealed on The Masked Singer. This is to minimize the risk of leaks.

2 Entry by Amyan Bridi

In order to keep the scripts for Amazon's Lord Of The Rings show safe, tHE writers work in a safe room with taped windows and security guards. Only th

1 Entry by Lornie Aswila Jeffrey Lausin

In order to keep people from trying to take pictures of the Hands Across America scene in Us, the production team told onlookers they were making an

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