A group of hackers has threatened to leak the latest Disney movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” unless the studio pays a ransom. The firm's CEO told The Hollywood Reporter that Disney has refused to pay the undisclosed sum as ransom for the movie featuring Johnny Depp. As a result, the hackers stole the whole movie from its official website and are now threatening to release it online this Wednesday.

Disney CEO Bob Iger clarified that the studio wouldn't pay anything to the hackers as the movie is in safe hands. It seems that Iger and the rest of the top brass at Disney are being tight-lipped regarding any further details.

Hackers are active everywhere

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” is not the first project that is being threatened with leaks. Last month, several hackers released the new episodes of “Orange is the New Black” after Netflix refused to pay a ransom.

Mark James from an IT security company, ESET, says any movie or television show that has value is likely to be stolen by the group of hackers. He suggests that Disney should either pay the ransom as early as possible or resolve the issue before it’s too late. In recent months, Hollywood has become a primary target for cyber criminals. Hackers have reportedly said that they will leak new projects from Disney, Marvel, ICM, UTA, and WME ahead of the official release.

In 2014, a hacker hacked Sony Pictures and demanded that the studio cancel the distributions of “The Interview,” a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.

The release date of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise has managed to pull in a whopping $3.8 billion at the global box office since its launch in 2003.

The new movie is scheduled to be released on May 26, 2017. It is directed and co-produced by Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning, and written by Jerry Bruckheimer.

It serves as a soft reboot of the original, featuring Orlando Bloom, Adam Brown, David Wenham, Golshifteh Farahani, Danny Kirrane, Kaya Scodelario, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Paul McCartney, Martin Klebba, Brenton Thwaites, Javier Bardem, Angus Barnett, Kevin McNally, and Giles New.

Many of the crew members for the movie have been worried since hearing that hackers are threatening to release it the online. Ronning and Sandberg have shown concern, and want Disney to make a decision as soon as possible. The irony has also not been lost on many that a film about pirates could potentially be pirated and leaked online.
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