It’s not a surprise that often the most popular films and television shows are the ones that top ‘most pirated’ lists, and that appears to be the case again according to a new study from the Variety Intelligence Platform.
The report indicates that Marvel and DC films dominated the most pirated films of the year list in 2022 with 70% of the year’s top 10 most pirated films belonging to superhero films. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” came in first, accounting for 21% of 2022’s film piracy.
The rest of the Top 5 involved plenty of men in capes as it consisted of “The Batman” with 13%, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” with 10%, “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Black Adam”. “Eternals” also made the list in at #7.
The most pirated non-superhero film? The “Uncharted” film adaptation which was helped along by being one of the earliest releases of the year. It came in sixth overall, beating out “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jurassic World Dominion” and “Encanto” in eighth, ninth and tenth.
The data indicates that ‘cam-rip’ versions of films “can drive frustrated consumers into theaters for a better experience” but it doesn’t stop them. In fact, such a rip of “Avatar: The Way of Water” managed to become the third-most-pirated title of the last quarter of 2022, despite only being available for a two week window or so in that quarter.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” saw its biggest surge of pirate demand three days before its VOD release.
Source: Variety
