'Wolverine' only fourth most-pirated movie of the week

By Eriq Gardner

Executives at 20th Century Fox understandably weren't pleased when an unfinished copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" leaked onto the Internet. But they can take a bit of solace knowing their hot summer property has dropped from first to fourth on the list of most-pirated movies of the week. It now ranks behind a film that has been in theaters for almost two weeks, a made-for-HBO film and Mickey Rourke in torrent popularity.

Here's the ten most pirated films on BitTorrent this week, as tracked by torrentfreak:  

 

Yes, "Wolverine" is the only pre-release title on the list. Newcomer "Taking Chance" is an HBO film starring Kevin Bacon that premiered in February. "The Spirit," the comic book adaptation directed by Frank Miller, just came out on DVD, and "The Wrestler" will be out on DVD soon.

 

It's not surprising that DVD releases and torrent popularity go hand-in-hand, although that's not always the case. Hot theatrical blockbusters (like "Fast & Furious") and fanboy favorites usually rank high.

 

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Some fanboy websites have asked whether shining a light on the movies being shared illegally only encourages the pirates to do so. Absolutely not. Much like the film and TV studios' own efforts to educate the public about the impact of piracy on the intellectual property industry, our goal here is just to show what's going on out there. We agree it's alarming.   

 

RELATED: Most pirated TV shows of the week.