- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" had about 8.4 million downloads
- It was followed closely by "Django Unchained"
- Total piracy numbers are probably significantly higher
(EW.com ) -- Congratulations are in order, sorta, for Peter Jackson and his Hobbit team.
According to TorrentFreak's annual list, the first film in their trilogy was downloaded well over eight million times in 2013, making it the year's most pirated movie.
It wasn't, however, a runaway victory. "An Unexpected Journey" was followed closely by "Django Unchained," which has an estimated download count of 8.1 million — just 300,000 fewer than "The Hobbit," even though "The Hobbit's" worldwide box office take was more than twice what Django made. Two blockbuster sequels — "Fast and Furious 6" and "Iron Man 3" — plus a surprisingly high-performing Oscar nominee ("Silver Linings Playbook") round out the top 5.
But as TorrentFreak notes, the list also holds a few surprises: Though one Jennifer Lawrence film made the list, another, much bigger one — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" — didn't. (Maybe we can blame this on Catching Fire's November release date.) High grossers like "Man of Steel" and "Gravity" are absent as well, though "Gangster Squad," with its modest worldwide gross of $105,200,903, somehow eked out the number 7 spot. Still not as weird as last year, when "Project X" somehow reigned as the list's top movie.
See below for the full top 10. Note, though, that there's no way to draw data from online streaming and cyberlocker download sources — which means that total piracy numbers are probably significantly higher than these.
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (estimated downloads: 8,400,000)
2. Django Unchained (estimated downloads: 8,100,000)
3. Fast And Furious 6 (estimated downloads: 7,900,000)
4. Iron Man 3 (estimated downloads: 7,600,000)
5. Silver Linings Playbook (estimated downloads: 7,500,000)
6. Star Trek Into Darkness (estimated downloads: 7,400,000)
7. Gangster Squad (estimated downloads: 7,200,000)
8. Now You See Me (estimated downloads: 7,000,000)
9. The Hangover Part 3 (estimated downloads: 6,900,000)
10. World War Z (estimated downloads: 6,700,000)
See the original story at EW.com.
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