TorrentFreak has compiled a list of the most pirated movies of 2010 and surprisingly the highest grossing film (Avatar) of all time was also undisputedly the most pirated film of the year. Apparently the movie was downloaded an estimated 16,580,000 times, which would have translated into at least $250 million in 3D ticket sales. This honor previously belonged to last year’s winner Star Trek with 10,960,000 downloads. Studios will of course continue to argue that they are losing money year after year because of pirating. In a way you could say they are right. Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, which barely broke even at the box office came in second spot with 11,400,000 downloads. However one can always argue that the majority of those people downloading Kick-Ass were perhaps too young to see it at the theatre or maybe just didn’t have the money to spend. Studios seem to forget that just because a movie is downloaded doesn’t necessarily mean that the individual would have seen the movie at the cinemas if we had no internet. My theory has always been that if someone really wants to see a movie, they will go and watch it at the theatres. I think recent box office records prove that. In any case here is the list of the most pirated films of 2010 and the amount of money each grossed at the box office.
Movie Downloads World Wide Grosses
1 Avatar 16,580,000 $2,779,551,867
2 Kick-Ass 11,400,000 $96,130,432
3 Inception 9,720,000 $825,408,570
4 Shutter Island 9,490,000 $294,803,014
5 Iron Man 2 8,810,000 $621,751,988
6 Clash of the Titans 8,040,000 $493,214,993
7 Green Zone 7,730,000 $94,875,650
8 Sherlock Holmes 7,160,000 $523,029,864
9 The Hurt Locker 6,850,000 $48,612,915
10 Salt 6,700,000 $175,190,850
