Investigators have linked unauthorized copies of Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Hateful Eight” spreading over pirate sites to a screener sent to co-CEO Andrew Kosove.
Kosove said in a statement that he never received the screener, nor was he even aware it was delivered to him, according to reports, calling piracy an intolerable threat to the entire film industry.
Earlier this month, “The Hateful Eight” and other Oscar contenders were leaked to piracy sites after screeners were sent to voters for awards consideration. “The Hateful Eight” as well as “The Revenant” are set to be released in theaters on Christmas Day.
Both films were illegally downloaded to more than 1.3 million computers within 24 hours, according to piracy analysts Excipio. It suggested awards season DVDS, known as “screeners,” sent to Hollywood guilds and voting members like those of the motion picture academy and Screen Actors Guild, were to blame.
Leaks of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” have surfaced on pirate sites as well, but had little measurable impact on the film’s opening weekend performance. The movie is on pace to overtake Jim Cameron’s “Avatar” as the highest-grossing film of all time globally, just four days after it opened in the U.S. and most of the world.
However, the leaked copy of “The Hateful Eight” was high quality, lacking watermarks or time stamps associated with awards voters or post-production facilities.
The news was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.