When it comes to acting like pirates, everybody is on board–unless of course it involves film piracy. Some of the most highly anticipated box office films that have leaked before or during their release have greatly suffered–close to 20 percent of their projected sales. Of course, some movies were plum crap to begin with and used piracy as a scapegoat. Either way, here are ten of these film victims. We’ll be back to read your comments, just as soon as we finish downloading “Annie” illegally.
Gross Domestic: $39 million
Production Budget: $90 million
Even with the additions of Harrison Ford and Wesley Snipes, the film still struggled to reach past what many refer to as a “dismal” opening of $15 million. And this was with a PG-13 rating after two R-rated films. However, aside from a flood of online pirating, part of the lacking sales is blamed on the film’s timing, as it showed up next to two other male-driven action films: “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the rebooted “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Gross Domestic: $132 million
Production Budget: $137 million
The jolly green giant started strong its opening weekend with $62 million, but plummeted more than 70 percent the following week, both due to critics and the leak. To this day, Ang Lee’s “Hulk” is considered an abomination compared to the Edward Norton-led “Incredible Hulk” that came a handful of years later. Gilberto Sanchez was arrested for uploading an unfinished copy, paying fines and sentenced to house arrest by the courts, which is probably where he spent more time pirating.
Gross Domestic: $179 million
Production Budget: $150 million
Hero Complex made a conservative estimate that more than one million people illegally downloaded the Wolverine-focused film in the first week it was leaked. Projections for opening weekend were close to $92 million but instead came in around $55 million. Despite decent staying power, it performed worse than the three previous X-Men franchise films and is overall rated the worst too, including the awful “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
Gross Domestic: $82 million
Production Budget: $68 million
“Fury” was already lacking rave reviews, but the recent multi-picture Sony leak didn’t help the film in the box office either. Five films were leaked – “Fury” arguably with the most potential – and now the studios are convinced that that is what’s to blame for its lackluster performance, and not the fact that it’s another American war film with a few familiar faces.
Gross Domestic: $17 million
Production Budget: $15 million
One of the worst cases of piracy in Hollywood’s eyes is the small budget war flick that cleared more than triple its investment after home sales, in addition to all the awards it won. Although that’s considered a big accomplishment for a small-time American war film, producers are convinced that piracy is what held the film back from its true monetary potential.
Gross Domestic: $64.5 million
Production Budget: $48 million
The return of M. Night Shymalan with Mark Wahlberg had a lot of people excited, but the movie was quickly considered one of M. Night’s worst. Guess the joke was on those film pirates who most likely didn’t know what was going on either, but the film did barely break past its budget. It’s lucky for Mr. Shymalan that tickets are not refundable.
Gross Domestic: $380 million
Production Budget: $113 million
Hours after opening in theaters, a time-stamped copy was uploaded online. A post-production employee was charged with stealing the copy from the office and was prosecuted in court. The seven people who were given the same copy by that person were also charged with copyright infringement and illegal distribution. Soon after, a bootleg copy showed up in China and filled the online space with misinterpretations and hilariously misleading subtitles.
Gross Domestic: $75 million
Production Budget: $24 million
Despite being considered a great success earning four times its budget, the studio behind “Zombieland” used film piracy as the excuse as to why there wouldn’t be a sequel. At one point, the film was one of the most heavily pirated films with more than a million file sharing site downloads, but even with a cult following, a great cast and a successful first run, “Zombieland 2” is more than likely walking dead.
Gross Domestic: $95 million
Production Budget: $40 million
Amid Oscar season, screeners went out with the likes of “Django Unchained,” “The Hobbit” and Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” but the big hit came to Kathryn Bigelow’s heavy contender “Zero Dark Thirty,” as screeners helped to flood the online space with downloads two weeks before its slated release. In addition, Bigelow managed to get snubbed for Best Director, despite the film getting nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress.
Gross Domestic: $130 million
Production Budget: $100 million
Ridley Scott’s true crime thriller sprang a leak less than two weeks before its theatrical release. The studio claims that the online splurge of downloads was that of an Oscar nominee screener, meaning that someone of privilege decided to share it with the rest of the world. There was a closed forum on who was specifically responsible, but given that the film had a better run than most 150 plus-minute R-rated dramas, little action was taken other than a solid firing perhaps.
