The press event for the film cost $10,000; it featured two camels, an elephant, and a python. Paramount supplied the film prints to theaters in a lead-sealed container to prevent tampering. They also wrote to theater managers advising them they were responsible for any misuse of the film. This letter inspired a whistleblower working at one theater to alert the studio of the planned theft of a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" print to make pirated copies. The 1,200 film prints cost an estimated $1.7million.