The Matrix Resurrections Is Most-Pirated Movie of the Week

The Matrix Resurrections may have lagged at the box office in its opening weekend, but there were plenty of people who wanted to see it. They just didn't all pay for it. According to MUSO (via Deadline), The Matrix Resurrections was the most-pirated movie of last week by a wide margin, with a 32.6% share of the top 10 torrents of the week. The #2 spot was Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which got about 16%, with bootlegs of Spider-Man: No Way Home accounting for about 12% -- a number that might have been higher if the copies being distributed were high-quality screen recordings.

That's the biggest factor: with a day-and-date HBO Max release, The Matrix Resurrections was able to be pirated in HD within hours of its release. This means a percentage of viewers who don't have HBO Max will steal the film rather than paying for a new streaming subscription. 

The Matrix Resurrections is the final movie in Warner Bros.' pandemic-response deal, which brought their biggest 2021 releases to HBO Max in a day-and-date plan that allowed them to appeal to home audiences who did not feel safe going to theaters, or whose theaters had closed down for good following the initial pandemic shutdown. While HBO Max has grown aggressively this year, presumably keeping shareholders pretty happy overall, films like The Suicide Squad and The Matrix Resurrections have underperformed at the box office as a result of the easy availability of both legal and illegal downloads.

According to Warner Bros.' official synopsis for The Matrix Resurrections, "In two realities—everyday life and what lies behind it—Thomas (Keanu Reeves) will again have to choose to follow the white rabbit. Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is more dangerous than ever. Directed, produced and co-written by Lana Wachowski."

The Matrix Resurrections also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (the Aquaman franchise) Jessica Henwick (TV's Iron Fist, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, TV's Mindhunter), Neil Patrick Harris (Gone Girl), Priyanka Chopra Jonas (TV's Quantico,), Christina Ricci (TV's Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles), Telma Hopkins (TV's Dead to Me), Eréndira Ibarra (series Sense8, Ingobernable), Toby Onwumere (TV's Empire), Max Riemelt (series Sense8), Brian J. Smith (series Sense8, Treadstone), and Jada Pinkett Smith (Angel Has Fallen, TV's Gotham).

The Matrix Resurrections is now available in theaters and on HBO Max.