Government authorities, anti-piracy agencies and organisations from several countries have been trying to stop piracy by shutting down popular torrent sites, but it hasn't been successful: Clips of television serials and movies continue to find their way online.
The recently released movie "The Hitman's Bodyguard" is one of the latest to be leaked online, and that too in HD quality.
Directed by Patrick Hughes amd written by Tom O'Connor, "The Hitman's Bodyguard" features Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Gary Oldman and Salma Hayek. The action comedy was released in the US on August 18.
Pirated copies of "The Hitman's Bodyguard" in high definition quality (1080p) have been made available for download on several piracy websites, and also been tagged "Web-DL," indicating that they were ripped from an online streaming service, according to Torrentfreak. Nobody knows the exact source of the HD quality movie clip, but many point fingers at Netflix in Japan, as it is currently available on it.
"The Hitman's Bodyguard" was the most-downloaded movie on BitTorrent last week, and the trend may continue in the days to come.
The movie has grossed $65 million at the box office in just two weeks, against a $30-million budget, but the leak will surely take a toll on its business as it hasn't been premiered in several countries, inclusing Australia, China, and Germany.
Millennium Films — the production house behind the movie — will be upset with the development as it has been aggressively fighting piracy for quite a while.
It may be mentioned that a conglomeration of 30 entertainment companies, including Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Walt Disney, Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, Amazon, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Star India, Paramount Pictures, and CBS Corporation have formed an association called Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) to fight piracy.
It will "conduct research, work closely with law enforcement to curtail illegal pirate enterprises, file civil litigation, forge cooperative relationships with existing national content protection organisations, and pursue voluntary agreements with responsible parties across the internet ecosystem."
