STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Faces Weakened Competition Do To Online Leaks

Star Wars The Force Awakens Faces Weakened Competition Do to Leaks. J.J. Abrams and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ astringent desire to hold-on to the secrets of Star Wars: The Force Awakens paid off in two unexpected ways: 1.) Because screener copies of Star Wars: The Force Awakens were not sent out to film critics, no digital copies of the film have been leaked online, and 2.) Because of the leak that we reported on yesterday, the box office competition that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is going to be facing this weekend: Concussion, Joy, The Hateful Eight (limited release), and The Revenant (limited release) have been weakened. None of these four films, whether in regular or limited release, will make the box office numbers that they would have if these leaks had not happened. None were destined to unthrone Star Wars: The Force Awakens but the leaks have virtually made sure that they will not.

If Disney had sent out screeners of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, they may have fallen victim to these leaks, most-likely the first film that was released, as the pirates said they would be releasing the biggest films first then other films. Because Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures didn’t didn’t send out Star Wars: The Force Awakens screeners, they were spared this piracy breach.

This was a humongous bullet dodge on Disney’s part at a key moment in their history: the rebirth of a major film franchise that is extremely diverse in the ancillary revenue that it generates.

Disney does not have to wonder how much their film would have made or how well it would have performed at the box office if a leak did not happen. For Disney, that is all speculation. For Columbia Pictures (Concussion), 20th Century Fox (Joy and The Revenant), and The Weinstein Company (The Hateful Eight), it is a reality that they are currently enduring.

The other films being released this week and this weekend: Daddy’s Home, Point Break, and 45 Years were not leaked (as of press time) and will garner the revenue that were going to make before the aforementioned leaks (but possibly even more so since some of their competition is now online).

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