![\"substance-piracy\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/substance-piracy.png\")
If making content available to the public to consume legally is the most effective anti-piracy measure, pre-release piracy should be the most damaging form of piracy, or at least the theory goes.<\/p>\nIf making content available to the public to consume legally is the most effective anti-piracy measure, pre-release piracy should be the most damaging form of piracy, or at least the theory goes.<\/p>\n
The logic seems solid. When movies leak online before their intended release date, pirate copies meet consumer demand in a market that officially shouldn\u2019t exist. A unique product unavailable to buy being distributed illegally changes everything.<\/p>\n
From the day of the leak until theatrical windows close and streaming services open their doors, pirates offer a product<\/em> that technically does not exist, in an environment where legal competition<\/em> doesn\u2019t exist either. Whether a theatrical release or straight to streaming, pre-release piracy does not discriminate.<\/p>\n Arguments that legal content should be made available sooner are par for the course, but when an official release is just around the corner, disrupting a launch with last-minute upheaval would make very little sense.<\/p>\n This was the nightmare scenario faced by horror movie The Substance<\/em> in 2024 when the movie leaked just days after its US release and ahead of its debut in several European markets. Making matters worse, the quality of the copy leaked online was excellent<\/a>, providing the type of \u2018direct replacement\u2019 the industry fears most. <\/p>\n This new setback arrived in the wake of concerns over the movie itself, which had already affected distribution plans.<\/p>\n According to a Kinotico interview with director Coralie Fargeat (paywall<\/a>)<\/em>, industry giant Universal had been expected to distribute The Substance<\/em>, but that ran into trouble when the company developed a sudden bout of hemophobia. Reportedly triggered by the movie\u2019s grand finale, which is unlikely to meet its match anytime soon, Universal\u2019s sudden aversion to astonishing quantities of blood led to requests for Fargeat to come up with an alternative ending. <\/p>\n Fargeat\u2019s refusal to compromise led to Universal walking away from distribution. Fortunately, the distribution of 21,000 liters of fake blood would still go ahead thanks to a deal with new distributor Mubi. <\/p>\n Then The Substance<\/em> leaked online, in all its gory glory.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s happened on social media has been crazy. I didn\u2019t expect it at all,\u201d Fargeat admitted to Kinotico.<\/p>\n Word that The Substance<\/em> had leaked online spread quickly, and in an explosion of memes the movie soon became a viral sensation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, a director doesn\u2019t like seeing her film on the internet while it\u2019s in theaters. You want people to see it in theaters. It\u2019s very difficult to escape that these days, no matter how hard someone tries to prevent it,\u201d the director explained.<\/p>\n Yet in this case, the usual predictions of piracy leading to financial ruin were not only incorrect, they were turned comprehensively upside down. From a production budget of $18m, The Substance<\/em> soon became Mubi\u2019s highest-grossing film, generating an estimated $82 million at the box office.<\/p>\n \u201cThose images they saw on social media made people even more eager to go to the theater and discover the film. They didn\u2019t want to miss the experience of seeing it with people,\u201d Fargeat revealed.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you\u2019ve finished your film and it\u2019s released, the reality is that it belongs to the audience. They\u2019re going to choose what they want to do with it. It has touched people\u2019s hearts. There are things you can\u2019t control, but the response online was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n The Substance<\/em> undoubtedly has that je ne sais quoi<\/em> in abundance, but which of its many qualities combined to transform a potentially catastrophic leak into a shot in the arm for cinema remains elusive. The director didn\u2019t expect it, Universal obviously failed to spot it, and the millions who watched the movie may still have difficulty describing it.<\/p>\n But they certainly felt it, there\u2019s little doubt about that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n21,000 Liters of Blood Leak Online<\/h2>\n
Coralie Fargeat: I didn\u2019t expect it at all<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/substance-memes.png\")
<\/center><\/p>\n