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‘Casino Royale’ Not Worth
Paying For?
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playfuls.com
‘Casino Royale’ Not Worth Paying For?
James Bond’s smashing success is facing some of the
real world’s problems. Piracy is the main issue most
Hollywood movies have to deal with and of course, no
one spared “Casino Royale,” the latest in the 007 series.
The movie starring Daniel Craig for the first time in the
role of the world’s favorite secret agent, became
available in two versions over the weekend for free
access on public file sharing networks.
Since it opened last Thursday, the box office success
has been illegally downloaded 200,000 times, according
to internet monitoring company, Envisional.
Both bootleg versions are low quality, one is believed to
come from Russia while the second one, with a slightly
improved quality may be coming from Italy.
Web sites Mininova and TorrentSpy were among the
first to show the movie, Envisional claims.
"By Saturday, regular downloaders could easily find
copies of Casino Royale on a wide range of file sharing
networks," says David Price, head of piracy intelligence
at Envisional. “In the face of this international
conspiracy, Bond is really up against it.”
“There are now several million active digital pirates,'”
he added. “Many of them are ordinary families that have
got into the habit of downloading the latest episodes of
American TV hits. And they don't have any qualms about
using file sharing networks to copy new movies without
paying.”
According to Envisional, at least 10 million people in the
U.S., Europe and Asia made a habit from downloading
movies for free shortly after their release. The Motion
Picture Association of America and the Recording
Industry Association of America launched a joint
campaign this weekend meant to warn consumers not
to buy or download pirated movies or music over the
holiday season.
The announcement followed reports which stated that
pirate DVDs of the movie were on sale in London and
Scotland last week.
“Casino Royale” has stormed the top of the UK box
office cashing in £13.37m in its debut weekend. The film
outran Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat: Cultural Learnings
of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan“which slipped to number two.
Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Martin G Wilson
thanked the British public for backing Craig.
“We are delighted the UK has had record-breaking
results over the weekend for Casino Royale, and we are
very grateful for the support and goodwill of the British
public to the new film and most especially towards
Daniel Craig,” they said.
“The reviews have all been excellent and audiences are
also loving this picture. They are welcoming the
reinvention of this franchise.”
However, in the US, the movie has been left behind by
the animated movie “Happy Feet” which took $42.3
million, $1.7 million more than Bond.
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