District 9 Pirated Over 1 Million Times in 24 Hours

By Jane McEntegart
published

District 9 is well on its way to becoming the most pirated movie of the year.

Remember when everyone flipped out over the pirated copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that was leaked to the internet? Fox said the filed was downloaded over four million times while it was online. And it seems District 9 is going to give Wolverine a run for its money when it comes to being the most pirated movie of 2009.

TorrentFreak reports that a DVD-quality version of District 9 that was leaked over the past weekend means the movie is well on its way to becoming the most pirated movie of the year. In the last 24 hours, the file has already been downloaded one million times.

Have you seen District 9 yet? Did you go to see it in the theaters or are you one of the million people who just grabbed the movie online and watched it at home on the couch? Let us know in the comments below!

Jane McEntegart
86 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Major7up
    I am not certain how relevant these stats are in terms of lost sales. Is tehre any way to tell what countries are the biggest offenders and possibly project from which countries sales might be lost? I know that I would rather pay to see it in the theatre or have a legit DVD and I think most people feel the same here (I hope). Though I realize that there will always be pirates anywhere, I just would like to see it broken down to get a better perspective.
    Reply
  • davisorle
    Well since i didnt know it was out in such good quality already I will actually DL it right now. Ill at least contribute in beating Xmen's record for 2009 as the most DLed movie. Next step, Donations!

    Sperm bank, here i come!
    Reply
  • kezix_69
    I think pirating movies is pretty worthless personally. Sure when you find that good copy it turns out to be worth it but there's so many bad copies of movies out there it is usually a big waste of time.
    Reply
  • renniz
    I watched D-9 on an independently owned theater with a digital projector and it looked awesome! There is something to be said about watching science fiction movies on the big screen! I bet the official DVD/Bluray will have a ton of extra footage!
    Reply
  • hillarymakesmecry
    People should stop stealing crap. I mean holy crap redbox is $1! For the 1 movie I watch a week it's not like movies are putting me in the poor house.
    Reply
  • Sicundercover
    Good movie and one of the few this year actually worth paying to see.

    With that said, Hollywood is making a giant fuss about money lost due to piracey but look at their gross numbers on the summer blockbusters. Hollywood has brought in over $4 Billion in just the past 2 months. Im pretty sure it didnt cost them that much to make those movies. Even with Wolverine being so pirated its still one of the top 10 Highest grossing movies of the year. If you ask me all the piracey talk was publicity.

    http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Years/2009/top-grossing
    Reply
  • Gulli
    It's a South African movie that "only" had a 30 million dollar budget (a lot for South African standards but peanuts in Hollywood) and didn't have much publicity.

    I reckon nobody in Europe or the US would've even heard of the movie it wasn't for the illegal downloads, so it's very well the movie grossed more revenue because of the free publicity, anyway, it did just fine, grossing 118 million dollar already.
    Reply
  • Gulli
    It's a South African movie that "only" had a 30 million dollar budget (a lot for South African standards but peanuts in Hollywood) and didn't have much publicity.

    I reckon nobody in Europe or the US would've even heard of the movie it wasn't for the illegal downloads, so it's very well the movie grossed more revenue because of the free publicity, anyway, it did just fine, grossing 118 million dollar already.
    Reply
  • presidenteody
    I saw it in the theater, but to be honest I wish I just downloaded it!
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    Just goes to show when people argue i only pirate so then i don't pay to see a crappy movie they really just pirate because they are cheap. Read reviews if you don't want to pay for a crap movie.
    Reply