'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Pirated Blu-ray Copies Leak Online
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (Photo: Disney/Lucasfilm via AP)
By Todd Spangler, Variety
Blu-ray-quality copies of Star Wars: The Force Awakens have hit piracy sites, less than two weeks ahead of Disney’s planned home-video release of the blockbuster in the format.
The first pirated copies of Star Wars: The Force Awakens appeared online late Tuesday, and within 12 hours had been downloaded by about 250,000 people, according to piracy-news site TorrentFreak, which first reported the leak.
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Disney has set April 1 for the home-video release of the film, followed by Blu-ray April 5. The movie has grossed more than $2 billion worldwide at the box office.
Lower-quality “cam” rips of Force Awakens cropped up on pirate sites shortly after the movie’s theatrical debut last December, but the latest leak appears to be the first DVD-quality copy to hit piracy networks.
Related: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Gets Home Entertainment Release Date
An image accompanying the pirated Star Wars: The Force Awakens copies indicate the rip came from a regular retail DVD, according to TorrentFreak.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a resounding success for Disney, was directed by J.J. Abrams, and written by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt, and produced by Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, and Bryan Burk. The film stars Harrison Ford, John Boyega, and Daisy Ridley.
Watch the trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ on Blu-ray/DVD:
