Dark Knight... Both Most Pirated And Highest Earning Movie

from the what-does-that-tell-you? dept

You may recall when The Dark Knight opened, we pointed out that its record breaking opening was because movie makers created a movie that people wanted to see in a theater. The fact that parts of the movie were designed for IMAX theaters drove many people to pay even more (or even see the movie multiple times) in order to experience the IMAX version, which simply can't be replicated at home. As we pointed out, this was a perfect example of how the movie studios could compete with free. In fact, in such a scenario, you could even make the argument that the more people saw the movie in download format, the more willing they would be to go pay to see the IMAX version, to get the full experience.

However, it was stunning to hear movie industry execs then claim that the reason the movie was so successful was because of their anti-piracy efforts. That was clearly untrue at the time, and now Parker Mason alerts us to the fact that The Dark Knight was not just the biggest grossing film, but also the most pirated film of the year. Of course, if you believed the studio execs, that would be impossible. After all, if so many people are downloading the movie, then clearly they're "stealing" from the industry and would never go see the movie. But, seeing that the movie made record profits, it seems to show that's simply incorrect. Many people, reasonably, viewed the download as marketing, convincing them to go see the movie in the theaters.

Filed Under: batman, dark knight, movies, mpaa, piracy

MPAA Still Clueless; Claims Anti-Piracy Is Why Dark Knight Had A Huge Opening

from the are-these-people-serious? dept

Last week, we wrote about how the massively successful opening of The Dark Knight showed (once again) how little an impact "piracy" has on movies. But don't tell the movie industry that. The LA Times is running a bizarre article with movie industry folks claiming that their anti-piracy efforts are the real reason the movie was so successful in the theaters. Never mind the awesome reviews. Never mind the fact that many people wanted to see the movie in IMAX (which you can't replicate at home). Never mind the fact that going out to the movies is still a social experience. Never mind the fact that the movie was available online soon after it was released (despite what the article claims).

Instead, the movie guys rely on a single anecdote: the story about how the Hulk movie from a few summers ago leaked online, got terrible reviews and then no one went to see it. The industry uses that to claim that a leaked movie does tons of damage to box office sales, but they play down the importance of the bad reviews. If you make a bad movie, then yes, word of mouth will stop people from going. But if you make a good movie -- and most critics agree The Dark Knight is an excellent movie -- then word of mouth will make more people want to go out and experience it in the theater. About the only thing the LA Times article shows is just how much money the MPAA wasted in its efforts to keep the movie from appearing online prior to release. For that, it maybe saved them a few hours (much less than claimed in the article), which probably had almost no impact on ticket sales. Until the movie industry realizes that it's the experience they're selling, beyond just the content, it sounds like they're going to be throwing a lot more money down this anti-piracy hole than they're actually "losing" to piracy.

Filed Under: batman, dark knight, movies, piracy
Companies: mpaa

Dark Knight Proves Again: Give People A Reason To Go To The Movies And They Will

from the silly-MPAA dept

While the MPAA still wants you to believe that movie piracy is a huge problem, it's never quite able to explain how the movies that are most likely to be available for free online also happen to be the biggest box office winners. The latest example is with The Dark Knight, the latest Batman installment. It's getting tremendous reviews and had a record opening week, despite the fact that you could download it online. This isn't a surprise. Piracy has never really been a threat to the movie business -- which has always been more about selling the experience than the movie itself. And, things are even better with The Dark Knight because it's actually designed to look amazing on IMAX screens, which is an experience you just can't replicate at home. Somehow, though, we doubt the MPAA will give up its pointless claims about the "threat" of movie downloads.

Filed Under: batman, dark knight, movies, mpaa, piracy
Companies: mpaa