The Substance: Pre-Release Piracy Made People MORE Eager to Visit the Cinema

The major Hollywood studios are unshakeable when it comes to the damage caused by pre-release piracy, let alone when a leaked movie appears online in unusually high quality. Yet when The Substance leaked online under precisely those conditions, online piracy triggered the opposite effect. Director Coralie Fargeat says she didn't expect it, but when people saw what the movie was all about, that made them even more eager to see The Substance at the cinema. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

May 10, 2025 - 14:43

The Substance: Pre-Release Piracy Made People MORE Eager to Visit the Cinema

substance-piracy If making content available to the public to consume legally is the most effective anti-piracy measure, pre-release piracy should be the most damaging form of piracy, or at least the theory goes.

The logic seems solid. When movies leak online before their intended release date, pirate copies meet consumer demand in a market that officially shouldn’t exist. A unique product unavailable to buy being distributed illegally changes everything.

From the day of the leak until theatrical windows close and streaming services open their doors, pirates offer a product that technically does not exist, in an environment where legal competition doesn’t exist either. Whether a theatrical release or straight to streaming, pre-release piracy does not discriminate.

21,000 Liters of Blood Leak Online

Arguments that legal content should be made available sooner are par for the course, but when an official release is just around the corner, disrupting a launch with last-minute upheaval would make very little sense.

This was the nightmare scenario faced by horror movie The Substance in 2024 when the movie leaked just days after its US release and ahead of its debut in several European markets. Making matters worse, the quality of the copy leaked online was excellent, providing the type of ‘direct replacement’ the industry fears most.

This new setback arrived in the wake of concerns over the movie itself, which had already affected distribution plans.

According to a Kinotico interview with director Coralie Fargeat (paywall), industry giant Universal had been expected to distribute The Substance, but that ran into trouble when the company developed a sudden bout of hemophobia. Reportedly triggered by the movie’s grand finale, which is unlikely to meet its match anytime soon, Universal’s sudden aversion to astonishing quantities of blood led to requests for Fargeat to come up with an alternative ending.

Fargeat’s refusal to compromise led to Universal walking away from distribution. Fortunately, the distribution of 21,000 liters of fake blood would still go ahead thanks to a deal with new distributor Mubi.

Then The Substance leaked online, in all its gory glory.

Coralie Fargeat: I didn’t expect it at all

“What’s happened on social media has been crazy. I didn’t expect it at all,” Fargeat admitted to Kinotico.

Word that The Substance had leaked online spread quickly, and in an explosion of memes the movie soon became a viral sensation.

“Of course, a director doesn’t like seeing her film on the internet while it’s in theaters. You want people to see it in theaters. It’s very difficult to escape that these days, no matter how hard someone tries to prevent it,” the director explained.

Yet in this case, the usual predictions of piracy leading to financial ruin were not only incorrect, they were turned comprehensively upside down. From a production budget of $18m, The Substance soon became Mubi’s highest-grossing film, generating an estimated $82 million at the box office.

“Those images they saw on social media made people even more eager to go to the theater and discover the film. They didn’t want to miss the experience of seeing it with people,” Fargeat revealed.

“Once you’ve finished your film and it’s released, the reality is that it belongs to the audience. They’re going to choose what they want to do with it. It has touched people’s hearts. There are things you can’t control, but the response online was incredible.”

The Substance undoubtedly has that je ne sais quoi in abundance, but which of its many qualities combined to transform a potentially catastrophic leak into a shot in the arm for cinema remains elusive. The director didn’t expect it, Universal obviously failed to spot it, and the millions who watched the movie may still have difficulty describing it.

But they certainly felt it, there’s little doubt about that.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.