Yusuf: Online piracy can cripple local movie production

PETALING JAYA: Online piracy has adversely impacted the production of local movies, says renowned director-producer Datuk Yusof Haslam (pic).

He said online piracy directly affected ticket sales, as many who have seen the film before its release date would not watch it in theatres.

He said he experienced the impact of online piracy in 2013, as the producer of the local blockbluster movie KL Gangster 2.

Back then, KL Gangster 2 was leaked online two months before its official release date on Oct 3.

The film was the highly-anticipated sequel to KL Gangster which raked in over RM11mil in 2011.

“We invested RM3.7mil into the making of KL Gangster 2 and the production budget was bigger than KL Gangster.

“The first movie was a hit and we wanted to live up to expectations that the second movie should be better,” he said when contacted.

The leaked KL Gangster 2 movie was uploaded to YouTube and screenshots were widely shared by those who had seen it.

Yusof said illegal DVD copies were also made and sold by traders on the streets.

“We had estimated to make up to RM15mil from KL Gangster 2 in box office collections. Sadly, the leak really affected our ticket sales and KL Gangster 2 only made RM4.9mil after its cinema run ended,” he said.

Saying online piracy had also affected other local film producers, the former movie star called for action to be taken by the authorities.

“I think this problem will continue if there is no enforcement from the authorities. The producers have all done their part and made police reports whenever they see a leak online.

“But if no further action is taken, those behind the illegal uploads will never learn,” he said.

A police report was lodged, but no charges were ever filed over the leaked KL Gangster 2 movie.

Yusof’s son Syamsul, who was the film’s director, was said to have been devastated to the extent of wanting to quit the industry.

“Syamsul was so emotionally disturbed that he did not want to make films any more,” Yusof was quoted as saying in 2013.