The Star Wars franchise is a runway train-like phenomenon, lasting decades and being enjoyed by several generations. When the newest such film, The Force Awakens, was announced there was a fury of media coverage and marketing cross-promotions. Quite frankly, I found myself sick of the Star Wars franchise after a while, although I did eventually see the film -- it was pretty good.
Yesterday, a rip of the Retail Blu-ray version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens apparently made its way to the seedy underbelly of the Internet. Even though the disc is not available for purchase until April 5th, pirates can start watching immediately. This is rather sad, as honest fans of the franchise must wait to spend their money, while dastardly thieves can watch now for free.
According to Torrent Freak, in a mere 12 hours after being leaked to the net, there were already about 250,000 downloads. This should increase dramatically over time.
The lowest price I found for pre-ordering the Blu-ray disc is $19.99. If we round that up to $20, and multiply times 250,000 downloads, that equals $5 million dollars lost in the first 12 hours of leaking.
With that said, it is hard to predict actual lost sales, as pirates can still buy the disc when it is released. Surely there are fans of the science fiction franchise that still plan to buy, despite also pirating. It is understandable -- though still illegal -- that they just couldn't wait.
Is it morally wrong to download a film even if you plan to buy it? Tell me in the comments.
Image Credit: Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley / Shutterstock
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