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Expect Oscar movie screeners to leak online any day now

Published Dec 29th, 2016 5:46PM EST
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The piracy group responsible for some of the biggest movie screener leaks last year is back, promising that the same thing will happen again. With Oscar season approaching, movie screeners will start circulating online in an official capacity, and the pirates at Hive-CM8 are already planning to leak everything they can get their hands on.

Last year, the same group leaked a variety of movie screeners, including many titles that were not even in theaters yet at the time. The group says it won’t make the same mistakes this year, Torrent Freak reports, which means the group decided not to release them before Christmas, or before they hit theaters.

The group released The Hateful Eight and The Revenant last Christmas ahead of the theatrical premieres, receiving plenty of backlash from Hollywood. The group promised to deliver 40 screeners but ended up releasing just 14.

“Yes, still here and kicking, we had to have a break for some time. Bet you are waiting for screeners, yep why not,” Hive-CM8 said in a message seen by Torrent Freak. “We were definitely not in the mood to make the same mistakes as last year with screeners before Christmas or cinema release date.”

It’s unclear at this time which movies will be leaked next. “Now that Christmas holidays have passed we are actually looking forward to getting the dice rolling,” the message said. “We want to get the screeners out safely and securely like every year. Whoever has a screener or knows someone who has one and wants to share privately or in public, just let us know. We are here.”

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.