Following news from TorrentFreak last week that Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV show of 2013, it has now been revealed that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the most pirated film of the year. TorrentFreak reports that with around 8.4 million downloads through BitTorrent, Peter Jackson's three-hour epic narrowly beat Django Unchained, which posted 8.1 million downloads.

TorrentFreak: Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, 2013

Rank Show Estimated Downloads Worldwide Grosses
1 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 8,400,000 $1,017,003,568
2 Django Unchained 8,100,000 $425,368,238
3 Fast and Furious 6 7,900,000 $788,679,850
4 Iron Man 3 7,600,000 $1,215,439,994
5 Silver Linings Playbook 7,500,000 $236,412,453
6 Star Trek Into Darkness 7,400,000 $467,365,246
7 Gangster Squad 7,200,000 $105,200,903
8 Now You See Me 7,000,000 $351,723,989
9 The Hangover Part 3 6,900,000 $351,000,072
10 World War Z 6,700,000 $540,007,876

Other major, high-grossing films to make the top ten list include Fast and Furious 6 (7.9 million downloads), Iron Man 3 (7.6 million), Star Trek Into Darkness (7.4 million) and World War Z (6.7 million). The lowest-grossing film on the list was Gangster Squad, which made $105 million at the box office and recorded 7.2 million illegal downloads.

Out of 2013's top grossing films at the box office, only two films made it to the top 10 most pirated for the year; meanwhile The Hobbit was the only film from 2012's highest grossing that made the list. The United States box office will likely record the best year in history, but piracy still remains a significant factor for studios worldwide.