Hollywood What If Chapter 578
Aside from Fast and Furious 3, other movies were released in April that grossed over $100 million.
In the second week of April:
Hannah Montana: The Movie, a film based on a popular Disney show, successfully grossed over $234 million.
In the third week of April:
17 Again was released. Starring Zac Efron and distributed by Warner Brothers, this comedy film grossed over $169 million.
State of Play was also released in the third week of April. Starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, State of Play grossed $106 million. The movie was distributed by Universal Pictures.
Compared to summer, where every week had blockbuster movies released, April didn't have much to offer. But once May arrived and summer vacation started, Hollywood would go all-out to make as much money as possible.
As for Fast and Furious 3, it grossed over $243 million at the North American box office by April 30.
Its international box office also grossed $184 million. Movies these days could be released around the same time as in North America since technology had improved, and international distribution didn't need film reels anymore. Heck, you could even send copies of movies online.
At the same time, piracy also became popular around this period. People could easily find movies just by searching on the internet. They downloaded the movies without paying for them. This sick move hurt Hollywood, that was the truth.
Piracy was bad, but can you really blame the people? They found an easier way to acquire movies, and they also didn't have to pay for them. The answer was obvious: they preferred the free better.
Movie piracy became popular because of convenience and accessibility. With the rise of the internet and file-sharing platforms like BitTorrent, people could download full movies from the comfort of their homes.
A pirated DVD version and camera recordings of a movie (the ones where you could see people in the background standing) appeared online just days, or even hours, after a film's release.
For many people, especially in countries with limited cinema access or expensive movie ticket prices, piracy seemed like the only and best option.
Added to the fact was the lack of global streaming platforms at the time. It was no surprise that people turned to illegal downloads. Hollywood hated it, but the audience simply followed what was easy and free.
Fun fact: when slogans against movie piracy spread, more people started to pirate movies online.
Back then, only people who were clinically online knew about movie piracy. But when a short ad about shaming movie piracy was added to DVDs and cinemas, people started learning that it was actually possible to pirate movies without paying! So more people started pirating movies.
Perhaps you recall the slogan:
"You wouldn't steal a car."
"You wouldn't steal a handbag."
"You wouldn't steal a television."
"You wouldn't steal a movie."
"Downloading pirated films is stealing."
"Stealing is against the law."
"Piracy. It's a crime."
Yeah, this iconic ad was the reason why piracy became more popular.
People had no idea that you could actually download movies, but this ad told you that it was possible.
On top of that, you could even burn the movies onto CDs and sell them cheaper! This method was super famous in less wealthy countries. Particularly third-world countries, they loved buying pirated CDs.
Imagine, you could buy a CD that had 12 movies for just $1. That was cheap as fuck.
As for CDs, you could also make a Deez nuts joke with it...
Of course, not everyone took piracy seriously at the time. To many people, it felt like a harmless act, especially when big Hollywood studios were still making billions every year. Some even saw it as a way of rebelling against the system or something.
Over time, websites specializing in pirated content exploded in popularity. Sites like The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents, and LimeWire became household names for an entire generation of internet users.
It wasn't just movies either; TV shows, music, and games. Anything that could be turned into a digital file became fair game. Piracy had become a culture of its own.
People supported it for a reason. Around the 2010s, some people who felt bad about pirating movies started subscribing to Netflix, which was still affordable at that time.
Netflix was one of the best movies and TV shows streaming platforms, and people didn't have a problem paying a few bucks every month as long as they could watch tons of movies. It was far better than blockbusters and any movie rentals after all. They wouldn't feel guilty anymore since they paid money.
But just a decade later, around the 2020s, more streaming platforms appeared, and now the subscription prices were so expensive.
Imagine paying $15 for a monthly subscription but a few episodes of your favorite shows were missing.
Imagine you watched Game of Thrones. You're seriously watching it, but you didn't expect that Netflix didn't have the whole Season 2, so now you're spoiled that Robb and Catelyn Stark died in the Red Wedding, even though you haven't watched Season 2 and were clueless about the whole context.
Furthermore, you have to go to another streaming platform and pay a subscription just to watch Season 2. Yeah, it was a very terrible event that you wouldn't wish even on your worst enemy.
Since streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and many more were doing shady business, people grew tired of them, and some people started going back to the good old days which was pirating movies and TV shows.
If buying doesn't mean owning, then piracy doesn't mean stealing.