Just over a week after hackers infiltrated Sony Picture Entertainment's computer network, effectively bringing the company to a standstill, DVD-quality rips of at least five of the studio's newest films have been leaked online, although there is no confirmation that the leak came from the same breach.
Watermarked copies of four unreleased Sony movies including Annie, Still Alice, Mr. Turner, and To Write Love on Her Arms, as well as Fury, the Brad Pitt starrer which released last month, hit piracy websites shortly following the hack. The copies are said to be DVD screeners, which are usually given out early for award consideration and other kinds of promotion.
According to Variety, Fury is leading the pack with over 1.2 million downloads, followed by Annie and Still Alice, with over 200,000 and 100,000 downloads, respectively.
"The theft of Sony Pictures Entertainment content is a criminal matter, and we are working closely with law enforcement to address it," a Sony spokeswoman said in a statement.
Last month's attack on Sony Picture's corporate systems came a few weeks before the studio releases 'The Interview,' a comedy movie about two journalists who are sent to North Korea to assassinate leader Kim Jong Un. In a recent letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the rogue nuclear state denounced the film as "undisguised sponsoring of terrorism, as well as an act of war."
Sony is currently investigating if hackers working for North Korea were behind the cyber attack.