Were The 2013 Oscars Winners The Most Pirated Movies Of The Week?

By Charles Poladian | February 25 2013 3:37 PM

The 2013 Oscars will surely boost box office for all the movies in contention, but does that also apply to pirated movies? On torrent sites, it seems the Oscars helped only a few movies.

"Argo" won Best Picture at the 2013 Oscars but it was not the most pirated movie of the week.

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The most pirated movie on torrent sites was not an Oscar winner nor was it a nominee. The remake of “Red Dawn,” starring Chris Hemworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson and Isabel Lucas was the most pirated movie, according to TorrentFreak. “Red Dawn” could be the most downloaded movie thanks to a leak of the DVD, which will ship on March 5.

Five Oscar-nominated films did make the top 10 list of pirated movies: “Django Unchained,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Lincoln,” “Life of Pi” and “Skyfall.” “Skyfall” long has been a popular movie on torrent sites, so its appearance is no surprise.

“Django Unchained” jumped four spots from last week’s list to become the fourth most pirated movie of the week. “Django Unchained” won two Oscars, Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor and Quentin Tarantino for Best Original Screenplay.

“Silver Linings Playback” returned to the most pirated list after dropping off last week’s list, according to TorrentFreak. “Silver Linings Playbook,” starring Jennifer Lawrence, who won the Oscar for Best Actress, and Bradley Cooper, was the fifth most downloaded movie of the week.

“Lincoln” returned to the most pirated list, coming in sixth, having disappeared for the last three weeks. While Steven Spielberg did not win the Oscar for Best Director, nor did Sally Fields or Tommy Lee Jones win Supporting Oscars, Daniel Day Lewis did win the Best Actor Oscar (his third) for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.

“Life of Pi” has been one of the most pirated movies ever since a screener copy leaked online, and for the week leading up to the Oscars it was the ninth most pirated movie. “Skyfall” was the tenth most pirated movie, according to TorrentFreak.

The other four movies nominated for Best Picture, “Argo,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Amour” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” did not make the list of most pirated movies the week before the Oscars. That could change next week, especially after “Argo” was named Big Picture, but “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” were popular torrents throughout January and December. Surprisingly, “Amour” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild” were never among the most pirated movies for any week.