In a seemingly ironic twist of fate "Pirates Of The Caribbean", one of Disney's most bankable live-action movies starring Hollywood's big league names like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, is reportedly in the hands of true online pirates. As confirmed to the media by Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, hackers have been claiming to have a copy of a certain Disney film, but refused to specify which one.
However, the fans have been speculating that it might be "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," which appears in the list of movies next in line to be released by Disney.
Pirates asking for Bitcoins
In a time where technology, digital media and e-commerce are widely used as a platform, piracy seems to be one of the easiest way for hackers to earn illicit money by asking for a ransom. In this case, Disney is reportedly being threatened with an untimely release and distribution of the movie, should they not be able to meet the hackers' demands. It also seems the online pirates have asked for a ransom in the form of Bitcoins: should the studio not heed to their demands, the threat is to release five minutes of the film at first, followed by 20-minute parts until their requests are met.
Hackers asking for ransom: will Disney pay?
Whether "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" is in danger or not of being exposed before its official release date, this act of piracy is not an issue to be taken lightly and the studio has effectively taken legal steps to handle the matter. As it seems, Disney is currently working with federal investigators to catch the people behind the scheme. However, while this may seem to be a big mishap on the part of the production company, sources revealed that Disney is not willing to pay the ransom and is unfazed by the pirates' threat to expose the movie to the public before its official release date. Aside from "Pirates Of The Caribbean", other unreleased Disney movies that could possibly be in the hands of the hackers are "Cars 3" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi".