While the focus at CinemaCon has been on getting studios to put movies in theaters only again, Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin says his organization is also working to combat another side effect of the COVID pandemic- 19: an increase in movie piracy.
As movies skipped theaters or were released simultaneously in theaters and on online streaming services in response to the pandemic, they have appeared on pirate sites faster than ever thanks to rapidly improving torrent technology. A report from The Wall Street Journal showed that movies like Warner Bros. "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" and "The Suicide Squad", along with Disney's "Black Widow", quickly became the most pirated movies online shortly after their daily releases. .
At a press conference at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Rivkin acknowledged WSJ's story, but noted that piracy is something the industry has had to continually combat regardless of launch strategies and that the MPA is rejecting with the help of the Alliance for Creativity Against Piracy. and Entertainment (ACE), which is run by the top five Hollywood studios, as well as Netflix, Apple TV +, and Amazon.
"In May we published an ACE statement against a group called NTG Release Group," Rivkin said. โWhen we retired, NTG was shooting movies since 2018 with 4,600 releases in the last year alone. Movies were uploaded within minutes of being available digitally. "
Rivkin also said that the MPA and ACE are currently working to shut down three more torrent sites.
The National Association of Theater Owners has argued that escalating piracy brought on by daily premieres has damaged studios and movie theaters at a time when the film industry is trying to revive business after a year of COVID shutdowns. -19. He specifically called piracy a factor in the steeper drop than expected in box office revenue for "Black Widow" after a post-closing record of $ 80 million on the national opening weekend.
โThe flawless digital copies were available within minutes of their launch on Disney +. 'Black Widow' was the most widely broadcast film during the week ending July 12, "NATO said in a statement released last month. "This didn't happen with 'F9' or 'A Quiet Place 2.' How much money did everyone lose from simultaneous release hacking? The many questions raised by Disney's limited streaming data opening weekend are being quickly answered by 'Black Widow''s Disappointing and anomalous performance. The most important answer is that the simultaneous release is an artifact of the pandemic era that should be left to history with the pandemic itself. "
