Film: Rushes

WHAT WAS claimed to be an early draft of the script to Stanley Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut surfaced last week on the Internet, when it was auctioned off to punters for a jaw-dropping $255. ("Rushes" was intrigued enough by the possibility of a printed sneak preview to stay in the bidding until the price hit $200.) The Los Angeles-based seller claimed to have acquired the script through a friend who worked on the production.

The mystery over the script's authenticity deepened after the auction when an unknown third party contacted the website through which the script was sold, saying the sale was "a breach of their intellectual property rights".

Bizarrely, however, Warner Brothers, who own the film, say it wasn't them. A Warner's spokesman said that as far as the company was concerned, scripts for the film were not for sale anywhere. He added: "The Internet ranks some way behind tea leaf reading as a guide to the truth."