Amazon Accidentally Put Jason Statham's New Movie on Prime Video Days Before It Hit Theaters
This is the kind of mistake that generates lawyers. On August 19, Mutiny — a $50 million-plus Jason Statham action thriller that opens in US cinemas this weekend — went live on Prime Video's product detail page, the one that normally holds a trailer. Instead it held the entire 95-minute film.
It stayed up for hours. Reddit found it. Then everyone found it.
Why this is a genuine disaster
Lionsgate paid eight figures for domestic rights and releases the film in theaters this weekend. International buyers spent millions more acquiring and marketing it in territories where it hasn't opened yet. Those territories are now competing against a clean pirated copy that came directly from the distributor's own streaming partner.
The film had just opened well in France and the Middle East on Wednesday when the leak surfaced.
One international buyer told Deadline the situation is unprecedented, called it a major mess in considerably stronger language, and said plainly that this is a multimillion-dollar problem for Amazon and that buyers will expect a check.
Where it stands
Lionsgate's anti-piracy team is reportedly working around the clock. International buyers are coordinating a formal complaint. Cinema chains are furious, which is understandable given that Amazon is a premium VOD partner on the same film.
Subscribers on X spent Wednesday posting variations of "surely this is a mistake, my local theater has showtimes next week." Reader, it was a mistake.
Mutiny is directed by Jean-François Richet, with Statham as a former Special Forces soldier framed for a murder. It's in theaters now, where a meaningful number of people have already seen it for free.