Clay Enos/DC Comics/Warner Bros. Wonder Woman 1984 flopped at the international box office over the weekend with just $37.5 million, $18 million of which came from China.
Box-office experts cautioned that it may be too early to draw conclusions from the movie s China performance in regards to Hollywood s future in the region.
But with the movie debuting on HBO Max on Friday, the poor box office could have preceded a surge in piracy. If there s a larger implication here, it s that any worries over this film becoming one of the most pirated pieces of content in history are now significantly higher, said Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst at Box Office Pro.
Godzilla: Courtesy of LEGENDARY AND WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. Matrix: Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection.
The studio’s decision to smash its theatrical windows for 2021 films could result in high-quality counterfeit versions of the titles available on every pirate service in the world the same day the features hit HBO Max.
The industry remains up in arms about Warner Bros.’ decision to send its biggest 2021 movies directly to HBO Max on the same day the titles hit U.S. theaters. But one group is probably pleased with the plan: Film pirates. “For sure, pirates are celebrating WarnerMedia’s decision,” says Abigail De Kosnik, director of the Berkeley Center for New Media and an associate professor at UC Berkeley.