Deadpool is 2016’s most-pirated movie, report says

Last year was full of huge movies aimed squarely at the geek crowd, and comic book movies were among the most-frequently downloaded. Marvel’s “merc with a mouth,” Deadpool, takes top honors as the most-pirated film of 2016 according to a report from TorrentFreak.

“While file-sharers may have a slight preference for geeky films, in general there’s a high correlation between piracy and box-office sales,” TorrentFreak writes. In other words, the most popular movies at the theater have the highest traffic on torrent sites.

Filling out the top of the list, following Deadpool, are Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Among 2016’s top ten most-pirated films, only The Revnant, Finding Dory, and Independence Day: Resurgence stand out as mainstream films without a specifically geeky source. TorrentFreak also notes that last year’s third-highest grossing film, Zootopia, is absent from the list. Independence Day, on the other hand, was a box-office flop, earning significantly less than anything else on the list while still earning a spot.

2017 should see a list of big movies pirated, too

2017’s slate is already packed with comic-book films: Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Justice League, The LEGO Batman Movie, and Logan might take up seven of next year’s top ten on their own.