A quick update on this unfortunate situation before the weekend.
We told you last week that buyers were understandably angry about Amazon’s inadvertent leak ahead of the Jason Statham action movie’s theatrical release insurgency.
Since then, the rebellion has seemingly been quelled, but buyers are still very disappointed and many are hoping Amazon will do what we describe as a “good faith thing” by offering some sort of compensation for the leak.
The $50 million film has now opened in most territories. Buyers we spoke to in multiple markets are disappointed with the returns; Many told us the film didn’t deliver the performances they thought it would. US revenue at the end of last week did not reach $8 million. The United Kingdom raised only $500,000. There were other soft openings. The current box office gross is approximately $16 million worldwide.
There are a number of possible reasons for this, including its amazing staying power Spider-Man: A Brand New Day and Odyssey. Statham stans probably didn’t like this. This is possible. The vet remains among the most bankable stars, however shelter Also disappointing lately. Another possible reason is also hacking.
We have been sent many examples of pirated movie online. According to anti-piracy website Torrentfreak, it is the movie Most hacked of the week.
A person close to the film claimed that “the genie is out of the bottle.” “It’s very rare to get a perfectly mixed version of a 4K movie online. The in-camera copy is usually poorly recorded from theaters. The box office is definitely a nasty surprise. The tracking ranged and the film had similar metrics to other successful Statham films but it does at half the box office or less.”
“None of this is scientific,” one buyer admitted to us. “But there’s no way the leak cost people zero. It’s hard to know whether it cost hundreds of dollars or millions in each region, but it’s clearly being broadcast globally. Lionsgate is trying to remove the film from a number of sites. The hope is that there will be something Amazon offers buyers to make this pill easier to swallow.”
How much can be given and to whom? It’s hard to say. Amazon declined to comment for this piece. As did the producers and Lionsgate.
“There was a lot of finger-pointing,” one foreign buyer said of the mood this week. “What Amazon did was completely unacceptable. But no one is taking the lead internationally. These things are very difficult to measure. There may be other factors at play as well.”
Statham is understood to be among those disappointed by the leak and its potential impact. Lionsgate is understood to be in talks with Amazon about next steps and is continuing to evaluate the impact.
The picture is expected to become clearer once premium VOD numbers emerge in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, there appears to be little appetite for litigation. According to lawyers consulted by the parties involved, the contractual chain of ownership for the project appears to mean that international buyers will have to sue the producers, who in turn will have to sue Amazon. No one is keen on doing anything like this from what we can gather. Ultimately, these are all parties who frequently work together, have generally good relationships, and need each other. It was a huge mistake, but he made a real mistake.
“It was ridiculous and disgusting. One buyer claimed to us that to say it had no impact on the box office is unbelievable.” “In the end, we just hope Amazon does the right thing by its partners.”
