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"The Interview" Set To Become Most Pirated Movie Of 2014

Tyler Durden's picture




 

While some were surprise at the irrational exuberance of many Americans to declare their undying patriotism by going to see what otherwise would have been an epic flop, The Interview has hardly generated "patriotic profits" in the box office. According to CNN, "The Interview" banked $1 million at the box office on Christmas Day, and it could make a couple million more over the long holiday weekend. "The audience reaction was fantastic -- the limited release, in under 10% of the amount of theaters originally planned, featured numerous sellouts and a first-day gross over $1 million," Sony Pictures worldwide distribution president Rory Bruer said in a statement. So had the release proceeded according to schedule, the gross would have been $10 million? And that is with all the endless media euphoria surrounding it.

Bruer nodded to the "incredibly challenging circumstances" around the release and said "we are extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out to experience 'The Interview' on the first day" it was in theaters.

Recall, however, that the main distribution channel was not theaters but online streaming, and while the results are not yet known, if one million people rented it through YouTube, that would generate $6 million in proceeds for the $5.99 rental comedy. The movie was also made available on Google Play, Microsoft's Xbox video store and a special Sony web site called SeeTheInterview.com.

And yet, somehow we doubt that online distribution will be very profitable either. The reason: as BNO reported earlier today The Interview has been downloaded more than one million times on BitTorrent alone within 48 hours of its release.

Because while Americans were delighted at the optionality of not seeing The Interview, the rest of the world had no such (lack of) choice. So they too matters into their own hands:

Many people outside the United States were left disappointed when it turned out that on-demand services such as YouTube and Xbox Video would only cater to Americans, prompting those elsewhere to seek pirated copies.

 

“Unfortunately, this free speech can only be heard by the U.S. public for now. People outside of the States will have to wait for weeks or months to see a film that was ‘trending’ worldwide on Christmas eve,” said Ernesto, the founder of news website TorrentFreak. “And that’s where another group of self-proclaimed freedom fighters come in.”

 

The first copy of “The Interview” appeared on KickassTorrents about two hours after Wednesday’s digital release and was quickly downloaded thousands of times, surpassing more than 500,000 downloads on Christmas Day and reaching one million downloads by Friday morning.

Statistics collected by BNO News from KickassTorrents (KAT), which is now the world’s most popular website to download torrents, showed that the number of downloads for “The Interview” surpassed 1 million on early Friday. The tally includes copies which were later deleted due to copyright infringement claims but does not include downloads through other file-sharing services.

The figure puts “The Interview” on track to become one of the most pirated movies of the year.

Somehow we doubt that North Korea will be blamed for that as well.

 

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Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:03 | 5593451 pods
pods's picture

Did you ever have one of those days where you actually secretly wished that a gigantic asteroid would hit the planet and destroy everything?

pods 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:04 | 5593455 12ToothAssassin
12ToothAssassin's picture

So theyve got that going for them, which is nice.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:08 | 5593464 12ToothAssassin
12ToothAssassin's picture

BTW, ZH is really starting to blow now that it has changed ownership.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:14 | 5593495 maskone909
maskone909's picture

It did? Its still Abc entertainment

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:21 | 5593515 fuu
fuu's picture

ABC Media LTD actually. There is a group on ZH who thinks that the site was sold to mainstream ABC. Which is not actually true. ZH was party to a law suit a few years back and was listed as ABC Media LTD in the court filings before it was ever listed at the bottom of each page here. ZH.com D/B/A ABC Media LTD.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:54 | 5593645 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

I like ZH a lot but the original crew would have never run this story. It isn't news worthy at all.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:00 | 5593668 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Well there ain't much to run until the circus gets back to town after new year's bacchanale. So spackling is applied.....

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:12 | 5593726 Fish Gone Bad
Fish Gone Bad's picture

That movie was a scream.  "We're going to America where they don't eat dogs!"

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:58 | 5593877 mccvilb
mccvilb's picture

I'd downvote you if it didn't mean admitting I watched it.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 16:56 | 5594215 svayambhu108
svayambhu108's picture

The film seems to be exactly scripted from the Romanian Revolution which makes me wander if there is a Gospel Q of revolutions outthere.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:02 | 5593683 fuu
fuu's picture

Holiday season has always been a slow news period around here. Soon we will be getting the top 10 articles of the year, predictions, recaps, etc.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:09 | 5593711 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Not just holiday season. The change in Tylership has significantly changed the nature of the content this website presents.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:19 | 5593744 fuu
fuu's picture

Damn you Gandalf, you ollie'd over my edit.

 

Holiday season has always been a slow news period around here. Soon we will be getting the top 10 articles of the year, predictions, recaps, etc.

 

Here was ZH on:

12/26/13: https://web.archive.org/web/20131226201724/http://www.zerohedge.com/

12/26/12: https://web.archive.org/web/20120826203054/http://www.zerohedge.com/

12/26/11: https://web.archive.org/web/20111226043553/http://www.zerohedge.com/

12/27/10: https://web.archive.org/web/20101227074926/http://www.zerohedge.com/

12/28/09: https://web.archive.org/web/20091228194201/http://www.zerohedge.com/

 

Some hard news for sure, much slower post rate by the admins.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:24 | 5593761 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

Gold is going ballistic in 5...4...3...2...

Simon Black suggests you diversify assets to [insert country of choice here]

 

What's so different?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:26 | 5593768 fuu
fuu's picture

Nothing is really all that different, which is sort of my point?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:28 | 5593782 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

I'm just having fun.

 

In any case, I've found that if you go digging you can usually find a gem of a comment no matter what the article.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:06 | 5593896 Usurious
Usurious's picture

 

 

I spend more time in the archive section than I do on the front page.......

 

I think 2010 was the best year........so much to learn from so many comments........

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:36 | 5593815 Roscoe
Roscoe's picture

I still miss Marla.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:08 | 5593714 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

The things is, ZH made it's CRED on digging up the 'goods' which turned CONSPIRACY THEORY into CONSPIRACY FACT.

 

From that perspective, it essentially 'JUMPED THE SHARK'.

 

That's NOT a criticism of ZH. It's only a way of describing the dynamic. IOW ~ It's not the fault of ZH if the headline of the day has to do with "The Interview" on a day that markets (which are not real), are closed or that cops aren't shooting AA teens.

 

It is what it is. (Until the asteroid actually does actually come visiting & Morgan Freeman gets on the blower to summarize "But the waters.......... Receeded" ~ LOL).

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:27 | 5593747 fuu
fuu's picture

~Ah now I see. Cheers mate and tell Madonna I said hi.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:30 | 5593785 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

She HATE me :-)

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:48 | 5593850 fuu
fuu's picture

Should have choreographed her better dude.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:12 | 5593898 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

Not my fault she insisted on the MJ wannabe midget.

 

Anyway ~ none of that matters anymore. It's all 'packaging' nowadays. Do the SOS but come up with a catchy name like 'ZUMBA' & your gold. Piss in a bottle & call it J'DOr. As Bill Murray said "Chicks in NY are paying top dollar for this garbage".

 

It's all about the fantasy.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:44 | 5594007 apocalypticbrother
apocalypticbrother's picture

A report on a new zionist false flag is definitly worth reporting on. Get your head out of my ass...

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:13 | 5593652 Ahoy Polloi
Ahoy Polloi's picture

 

<=== click here for no reason at all but to object to my Dick Cavett hat

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 18:14 | 5594411 Motorhead
Motorhead's picture

Thought that was the Captain and Tenille.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:09 | 5593475 jbvtme
jbvtme's picture

pods...every day i look for it on the weather channel

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:10 | 5593479 Mr.Sono
Mr.Sono's picture

Even if its free, its not worth my time.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:06 | 5593699 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Who steals dog shit?

Enquiring minds want to know.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:17 | 5593931 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

If you remember Francis_sawyer you know this is not the same zerohedge.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:30 | 5593783 loregnum
loregnum's picture

haha every day but I hope that the asteroid can somehow just selectively destroy the humans. 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 16:15 | 5594091 Deathstar
Deathstar's picture

It would be awesome if asteroids would hit mecca, city of london, washington dc, holly-wood, jeruselm, the vatican, all alphabet agenices worldwide, and the alsharptonjessiejacksonfaracon axis of weasels... all simultaneously.

 

Now that would be kick fuckin' ass awesome.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:03 | 5593452 fuu
fuu's picture

Long live TPB!

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:04 | 5593454 Latitude25
Latitude25's picture

I don't know about now but a few years ago torrent traffic was estimated to be 2/3 of all web traffic worldwide.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:10 | 5593478 Agent P
Agent P's picture

It's now a must-see for all the hipster doofuses who don't want to be left out at the water cooler.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:14 | 5593500 pods
pods's picture

My wife got me to watch another Seth Rogan masterpiece (Neighbors) a while back.  I still have not recovered.

pods

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:30 | 5593543 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

I'd have to halve my IQ, smack myself in the head with a lead pipe a few times and have a nailgun at hand before watching this pile of feces. Odds of the TV:me surviving to the end of the film are 1.5:1.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:28 | 5593538 Motorhead
Motorhead's picture

Exactly, like it's "cool" to have seen this rubbish disguised as a film.  What gah-bage.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:14 | 5593484 GOSPLAN HERO
GOSPLAN HERO's picture

This flick is a real POS?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:14 | 5593490 DavidC
DavidC's picture

I can hardly wait to see it...so I won't.

DavidC

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:17 | 5593504 Ariadne
Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:19 | 5593510 Counterpunch
Counterpunch's picture

Honestly, who really gives a fuck?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:24 | 5593529 Motorhead
Motorhead's picture

You couldn't pay me to watch this flick.  I hope the fucking bull shit "hype" ceases, the sooner the better.  What rubbish.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 16:20 | 5594105 yellowsub
yellowsub's picture

Have you underestimated how dumb the majority of Americans are?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 18:13 | 5594409 Motorhead
Motorhead's picture

Oh, not at all...lot of f'in retards out there, for sure. 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:25 | 5593532 goldhedge
goldhedge's picture

The bastards are going to use this to ban kickass site.

 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:33 | 5593551 q99x2
q99x2's picture

I pirated it last night. It sucks. I deleted it.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 13:45 | 5593603 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

Cooked numbers.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:14 | 5593736 Infinite QE
Infinite QE's picture

I'm starting to think the whole Sony "hack" was a fraud, used to virally promote another failed hollyweird shite film. I thought the hackers were supposed to drop some huge bombshell on Christmas?? All BS IMO.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:27 | 5593743 1Inthebeginning
1Inthebeginning's picture

thread jack, bc this article is unimportant.

http://arcticbeacon.com/books/David_Astle_The_Babylonian_Woe.pdf

what do you make of the book  The Babylonian Woe.  I am reading it and it is new territory to me.  The concept is that banking manipulation of society goes back to the creation of pm's as money.  

If this is correct it would mean that this type of manipulation is endemic to money usage.  It would also lend itself to the idea that this illusory system is more stable than i had thought.

anyone have any ideas.

o and miffed.  thanks for the post about the fungus.  i'm about to clean my whole house.  thanks.

 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:43 | 5593836 LukeWorm
LukeWorm's picture

Downloaded, watched 20 minutes, forced myself to watch another 10 minutes. Clicked Stop.
Teenage humour, and lousy at that. Would vote 0/10 on imdb.com

 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:53 | 5593865 Counterpunch
Counterpunch's picture

seems to be the consensus.

 

Critics hate 'The Interview'

 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:51 | 5593854 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture

O/C it would be, gee let me just stream a copy of the movie online in HD for 3$, no one is going to rip the video and upload it to sites like movie4k.to/movie25.cm ^^ . . . why would they. . .? 

Predictable is predictable.

There is no such thing as intellectual property anymore, all intellectual and digital material belongs to the planet earth and its inhabitants due to the simple fact you can't censor the internet without destroying what it stands for . . . freedom of thought, and speech.

If you think you can shout an idea in a crowded street and then sue everyone for hearing you . . . you are living in your own world, posting a movie online is no different.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 14:55 | 5593866 22winmag
22winmag's picture

I may just have to watch this movie... years from now when I'm drunk and nothing else is on.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:10 | 5593909 apocalypticbrother
apocalypticbrother's picture

Are you dumb enough to believe this nonsense for 1 second? WAKE THE FUCK UP!

Sat, 12/27/2014 - 12:38 | 5596318 Counterpunch
Counterpunch's picture

I'm smart enough to know you didn't read either link before dispensing your idiotic rejoinder.

 

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:09 | 5593903 apocalypticbrother
apocalypticbrother's picture

What mindless idiots would support this false flage release of the lastest filth from the JWO? Oh right...Americans

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:13 | 5593917 apocalypticbrother
apocalypticbrother's picture

Seth Rogan is a pig

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:16 | 5593930 Deathstar
Deathstar's picture

LOL The ameriKan breed of the totally clueless are nothing more than hapless fucks.

...as it has been said, There's a sucker born every moment.

Bottom line, the trash pumped out by holly-wood has become so idiotic that their bottom line has suffered miserably
....because their movies are complete turds full of social programming and liberal(communist) propaganda and maybe more ameriKans are recognizing it for what it is.

The jews (who DO own) holly-wood have now learned how to polish a turd using taxpayer money.

Use black ops/mossad to perp a false flag hacking..
Use our GOV to investigate and retaliate... (our tax payer money)
Use their lamestream media to advertise the entire farce and shroud the story in a patriotic blanket....

PROFIT FROM THE SHEEPLEs' UTTER STUPIDITY!!!!!

Wash and repeat.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:23 | 5593943 apocalypticbrother
apocalypticbrother's picture

yes.. if they buy boston marathon bombing they will buy anything...

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:54 | 5594035 ebear
ebear's picture

"Bottom line, the trash pumped out by holly-wood has become so idiotic that their bottom line has suffered miserably"

This has been going on for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwbHywyHyOU

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 16:41 | 5594073 Deathstar
Deathstar's picture

Does it tickle anyone's "spidey sense" (have to employ a term that the adolescent understand because the majority of ameriKan sheeple are nothing but adult adolescents when it comes to issues of importance) that the lamestream media, holly-wood, 1/3rd of the supreme court, our foreign policy almost all influential websites (google, facebook, wikipedia, ebay, yahoo, myspace) and the CENTRAL BANK are all controlled and owned by ~2% of the population?

 

No, they are not smarter...

You need not look any further as to why this country is not the country you remember not 15 years ago and is full of social distortion, family confusion, destruction of the Constitution, unprosecuted market manipulation etc etc etc..

Zionist divide and conquor strategm. It is Moral Relitivity

Follow the names and connect the dots. It's not a theory, it IS a conspiracy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr5RXMs45Wg

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 15:53 | 5594028 Amerikan Patriot
Amerikan Patriot's picture

I'd rather The Interview's focus was Putin, but we can't have everything we want, can we?

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 16:02 | 5594056 JPMorgan
JPMorgan's picture

Wouldn't grace my harddrive space with that shite.

That kind of movie does not appeal to me in the slightest.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 18:08 | 5594395 Silver Sativa
Silver Sativa's picture

Few things suck more realizing I wasted bandwidth illegally downloading shi'ite movies to my comp.

 

I'm looking at you, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 19:43 | 5594595 BidnessMan
BidnessMan's picture

All the rough language detracted from the amusing lines.  I was reminded of the movie "Dr. Strangelove", although that movie and Peter Sellers were a lot more subtle about poking fun at both sides.  

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 17:38 | 5594328 fibonacci's claus
fibonacci&#039;s claus's picture

WAG THE DOG.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 18:05 | 5594389 Silver Sativa
Silver Sativa's picture

*sigh*

 

It is impossible to pirate a movie that is released, for free, on the internet/Youtube.

Fri, 12/26/2014 - 18:12 | 5594407 IronForge
IronForge's picture

Nothing special.

Marketing Hype-Damage Control for a Movie made in Bad Taste, with POTUS and the FBI joining in on the "Wag the Dog vs PRK" shtick.

Can't fix stupid...

Sat, 12/27/2014 - 03:43 | 5595564 OZZIDOWNUNDER
OZZIDOWNUNDER's picture

What sort of F%$#ed up Studio would make Film about the assination of a Living Countries Leader (even if it was N.Korea ?

Imagine for a minute that someone some where made a Movie about the Assination of a Living American Leader (even if it was bama)

- the crazies would be calling out for a good old Nuking - -yo'd think this shit could only happen in a 3rd World backwards country  -- like the USA. 

Sun, 12/28/2014 - 13:40 | 5599018 loub215
loub215's picture

Worst. Movie. Ever....

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!