Thread: 'Iron Man 2' a Big Hit With Pirates

The highly anticipated "Iron Man 2" rumbles into U.S. theaters this weekend. This really isn't big news to the rest of the world, considering that moviegoers pretty much everywhere except in the U.S. have already seen the film. Though, actually, thanks to movie piracy, some of the United States has seen it, too.

In a rare move, Paramount released "Iron Man 2" overseas first, to try to take advantage of another weekend of possible box-office receipts before the start of the World Cup, which kicks off on June 11. The World Cup, held only once every four years, is expected to capture the attention of most of the world. Conversely, the World Cup garners relatively minor curiosity in the U.S., so studios didn't seem scared off from sticking with the movie's original stateside release date of May 7. (Only Japan, where "Iron Man 2" is to be released on June 11, has a later release date than the States.)

But all this fancy release-date footwork has backfired for "Iron Man 2": It's served to open a window for movie pirates to get their hands on it. Some overseas markets have pretty relaxed security when it comes to pirating movies with a video recording device (not to say the U.S. doesn't have the same problem). And in this case, there's an entire U.S. and Canadian market that has yet to see this highly anticipated film.

Considering "Iron Man 2" is an effects-laden affair, most moviegoers are going to want to see the film at the theater, regardless. And judging by the $100.2 million the movie took in during its first overseas weekend, the bootlegging may ultimately not have much of an effect at all.

Box-office takes notwithstanding, this brings up an interesting point about the use of 3D in films: "Iron Man 2" is not in 3D, so the piracy issue with the film might be more of a concern, as there's no way to pirate a film shown in 3D (the 2D version is used when pirating). And considering how complicated it is to reproduce 3D using less-than-sophisticated bootlegging machinery, if "Iron Man 2" were in 3D, audiences would have another reason to skip the temptation of a pirated copy and pay the extra fee to see it with the theater experience.

Piracy aside, when asked if they left money on the table by not shooting the film in 3D, director Jon Favreau told Entertainment Weekly, "Yeah, whether we think it or not, we have."

Saw this on another tracker and thought I would share. Credit to Celtscot

I think that is really interesting how rampant pirating does not seem to hurt entertainment companies seem to think. 3D does bring an interesting twist to it though... 3D seems to be everywhere now, it is expanding rapidly. And, since it is infeasible to record 3D video and even if you could, most computers and TVs are incapable of playing 3D. I myself have yet to see a 3D movie of any kind, so I wonder if it is as cool as I have heard.

This is indeed a case where you must go to the theater to "experience" the movie, and that's why I plan to see it there..

Telgar:
A good 3D movie is such a great experience... You need to watch one when you get a chance..

Well I might wait for a DVDrip.

But a cam? No way.

First off if piracy effected the industry so much then movies wouldn't be 3d today.
And, secondly piracy actually helps create revenues, increased media sharing = more potential customers, lots of pirates download enjoy and buy or go to the movies ect ect.
I'm waiting for iron man 2, if its any good ill buy the DVD and download the blueray.

LOL I did notice that...already had a few thousand seeds...THANK GOD everyone snatched it *and then seeded it*

I saw a CAM release popup in a warez forum almost a week before before it came out and thought to myself "wow, people sure don't waste time on Blockbusters."

If all movies went 3D I'd be screwed. I definitely would not go through the bells and whistles to purchase a whole new setup to run the movies.

I was never sure how exactly new theatrical releases are affected by piracy. I mean, I would never download a CAM to watch a supposedly awesome movie. I doubt most of the world even know how to download 0-day releases. I can see them having problems when releasing the movies on DVD, but at least for the box office, it can't affect it that much, can it? Thoughts?

[Off Topic] I found this thread when I searched for "Pirates." Not quite the type of pirate I was looking for, but still caught my interest!

Trust me boys, spend the 10 bucks and go see it in theatres. It is well worth the money. In fact, I am highly considering paying money again to see it.