Avatar breaks Star Trek illegal downloads record

2009 s Blockbuster hit Star Trek failed to overtake Avatar in illegal downloads as James Cameron s 3D epic sailed past the 16 million mark in 2010.

Torrents are widely used to download pirated versions of Hollywood movies, and 2010 has seen a surge in global piracy affecting the film industry in every market around the world.

Although Avatar made more than $1 billion at the Global Box Office its DVD sales were less than exceptional which is an industry wide problem. Films that fail to recoup their expenses at the Box Office rely on DVD, BLURAY sales.

Earlier in the year, the Indian Film Industry announced that more than 50% of DVD sales were now pirated copies. The fact that downloading has increased and revenues have fallen has hit Bollywood hard.

Top 10 Illegal downloads of 2010

Below is a list of the top 10 most popular illegal downloads totaling more than 92 million. If these were actual DVD sales, at $10 each, the total revenue lost from just this top 10 list would come to $920 million.

1. Avatar / 16,580,000

2. Kick-Ass / 11,400,000

3. Inception / 9,720,000

4. Shutter Island / 9,490,000

5. Iron Man 2 / 8,810,000

6. Clash of the Titans / 8,040,000

7. Green Zone / 7,730,000

8. Sherlock Holmes / 7,160,000

9. The Hurt Locker / 6,850,000

10. Salt / 6,700,000

Source:  Gaurdian

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