The Hollywood Reporter brings word via data obtained by TorrentFreak that Paramount’s Star Trek was the most pirated film of 2009. The film went on to make $385 million at the worldwide box-office and is currently the #6 domestic earner for 2009 with Avatar poised to take it over by next Friday. So some may say pirating didn’t really effect it that much. However, there’s a curious statistic I noticed earlier this year that may paint a different picture.
Terminator Salvation made $125 million domestically, $132 million less than Star Trek. However, if you compare their international numbers things quickly even out. Worldwide, Star Trek made $385 million while Terminator Salvation cut the domestic gap dramatically by pulling in $246 million for a total of $372 million worldwide. Even more curious is the fact Terminator Salvation doesn’t even show up on TorrentFreak’s numbers.
The top ten is as follows. (All numbers are estimates)
- Star Trek – 10.9m downloads ($385.4m worldwide box-office)
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – 10.6m downloads ($834.9m worldwide box-office)
- RocknRolla – 9.4m downloads ($25.7m worldwide box-office)
- The Hangover – 9.1m downloads ($459.4m worldwide box-office)
- Twilight – 8.7m downloads ($384.9m worldwide box-office)
- District 9 – 8.2m downloads ($204.5m worldwide box-office)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – 7.9m downloads ($929.3m worldwide box-office)
- State of Play – 7.44m downloads ($87.7m worldwide box-office)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine – 7.2m downloads ($373.0m worldwide box-office)
- Knowing – 6.9m downloads ($183.2m worldwide box-office)
I can only wonder how these numbers may have affected the foreign and/or box-office return for these films, but I have to assume it played some role.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Eriq Gardner thinks the reason for piracy is due to the problematic release schedule:
If you don’t want your stuff pirated, think of the CONSUMER, not your pocketbook. Not everyone is going to see this in theaters, NOT everyone lives in the U.S. and NOT everyone owns a Blu Ray Player.
Of course, they’re going to try to pad your pocketbook, but the way releases are done now is horrific. Put the movie out on DVD/BR the same day it’s in theaters, and release EVERYWHERE universally, not staggered out like most companies do.
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I can’t tell you how much I hate the idea of day-and-date theatrical and home video releases. Gardner says, “What do I know though, I’m just a consumer that refuses to pay massive $$$ to see movies in the theater multiple times just because the prod. company doesn’t want to adhere to some pretty basic consumer principles.” He may have a point, but his solution cheapens the entire process. Movies would no longer be special, they would simply be a product. I obviously have something of a glorified view of movies and believe there’s anything better than watching a great movie for the first time on the big screen, and recommending others do the same in hopes of enjoying the experience as much as I did.
If movies were released simultaneously at home and in theaters the theatrical market would dry up completely. Humans like things easy and cheap. It would obviously be easier and cheaper to rent/buy a movie rather than pack up the friends and family and head to the theater, but if anyone thinks they get the same experience at home as they did in the theater is lying to themselves. Just my two cents.
