Pirated copies of movies leak all year round, often ripped from streaming platforms after their official premiere. That by itself is nothing special.
However, when a high-quality copy of a blockbuster title appears online before it’s officially available, people take notice. That’s exactly what happened with Dune: Part Two over the past few hours.
The second installment of the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi book premiered in cinema a little over a month ago. With over $600 million in global box office revenues, it’s the most successful film of the year. The digital release, planned for later this month, is highly anticipated too.
Dune Leak: Part Two
Dune’s popularity was also noticed in pirate circles; ‘Dune: Part One’ made a surprising comeback in the weekly list of most pirated films. Apparently, some people chose to watch Part One through unofficial channels before buying a cinema ticket for Part Two.
Needless to say, the high-quality leak of Dune: Part Two is also drawing lots of visitors to pirate sites. Its ‘WEB-DL’ tag suggests a lossless rip from an online streaming source. It’s unclear where it originated, as the film is not available through any digital platforms yet; at least as far as we know.
The leak is real, however, evidenced by the screenshot below and the many commenters who were surprised by this early release.
Remember EVO?
The early leak comes with another noteworthy angle, the inclusion of “InMemoryOfEVO” in its filename. This refers to the release group EVO which was busted in 2021 by the Portuguese police, partly acting on intelligence gathered by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.
That this ‘tribute’ to EVO comes as part of the Dune leak likely isn’t a coincidence either. EVO was the group that leaked a copy of Dune: Part One before its official release. Not long after, the group disappeared off the radar.
The EVO bust was a pivotal moment for piracy release groups. It marked the end of more than two decades of steady “screener” leaks, in which EVO played a central role in more recent years. The recent Dune leak is no screener, of course, but it’s certainly a high-profile release that will be watched closely by pirates, and Hollywood.
With ongoing talks about a third Dune installment, this may not be the final part of this saga either.
