Evangelion Studio Details Consequences For Final Film Piracy

Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 has landed in theaters in Japan after several delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the state of emergency declared as a result of it, and the studio behind the final film of the Rebuild of Evangelion series has unveiled a statement regarding piracy of the film that details big consequences for those leaking it onto the internet. With the studio having already released the opening credits and first ten or so minutes of the movie online, it’s clear that Khara is proud of what they’ve accomplished while also recognizing the footage for the entirety of the movie could find its way online.

On its opening day in theaters, the Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 began shattering records, specifically with its IMAX release, bringing in over $700,000 USD via the larger format, with the overall box office profits hitting over $7 million. With the film being touted as one of the longest anime movies in history with a runtime of over two and a half hours, while also capping off the latest story of Shinji and his fellow EVA pilots, this is definitely a hot ticket movie in the East.

Khara released their Official Statement via their website, detailing the penalties for releasing footage from Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon A Time online:

“You can see a voyeur video of the main part of “Shin Evangelion Theatrical Version” currently being released on the net. The act of voyeurizing a movie in a theater is a crime under the “Act on Prevention of Film Voyeurism” (Movie Voyeurism Prevention Act). In addition, uploading the main part of the voyeur movie to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. is a copyright infringement. Infringement of copyright in violation of the Film Voyeur Prevention Act and the Copyright Act may result in imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to 10 million yen, or both.

We will take strict measures against such acts. Regarding the voyeurism case that occurred in July 2018, the suspect has already been sent documents. Regarding the damage caused by the voyeurism this time, we are also discussing with Toho and Toei, which are jointly distributing this work with us, and are proceeding with countermeasures.”

A North American release date has yet to be revealed, but considering the popularity of Evangelion, we definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see this movie make its way to North American shores at some point this year.

Via Khara