The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which recently crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, has become the latest target of online piracy. According to Forbes, a Twitter account with 1.1 million followers uploaded the movie in two parts, in high quality, via the platform’s Blue subscription service, which allows hour-long video uploads.
The video was viewed 9 million times before Twitter removed it, at least seven hours after it was uploaded. The incident has raised concerns about Twitter’s staff reductions and the potential for the misuse of tools available to Blue subscribers. It is uncertain whether the “vids that go hard” account responsible for the leak will be suspended or banned.
Despite the illegal posting, the movie’s box office revenue has continued to grow, and it is now one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, with double the revenue of any other video game movie. With the $1 billion worldwide, The Super Mario Bros. Movie became one of only 10 animated films to reach this milestone. In an interview with the Japanese press, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said, “You need some luck to achieve this level of success for a film. While many foreign critics have given the movie relatively low ratings, I think that also contributed to the movie’s notoriety and buzz.”
Obviously, the leak has left some wondering about Twitter’s ability to prevent piracy. With the rise of video streaming services, piracy remains a significant concern for the entertainment industry.
For more, read GameSpot’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie review.
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