Less than 24 hours after DailyNewsEdit reported on rumors of a major leak, federal authorities have made their move.
Early Friday morning, FBI agents raided a home in North Hollywood, arresting a 24-year-old visual effects contractor suspected of uploading 20 minutes of Avatar: Fire and Ash to piracy sites just hours before its global premiere.
The “Inside Job”
Sources close to the investigation tell us this was not a hack, but a breach of trust. The suspect, whose name has not been released pending charges, reportedly worked for a third-party vendor handling post-production for the film’s complex water simulations.
Disney’s legal team, known for its aggression, is reportedly seeking damages in the “tens of millions,” citing a breach of one of the strictest NDAs in Hollywood history.
Box Office Bulletproof?
Despite the leak—which has been scrubbed from X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit—James Cameron’s blockbuster is proving immune to bad press.
Analysts project the film will rake in between $340 million and $380 million globally this weekend. While massive, these numbers would still trail the record-breaking $560 million debut of Zootopia 2 last month.
A Weekend of Chaos
The arrest adds a dark undertone to what is already a chaotic opening weekend. Reports of protests by climate activists (calling themselves the real “Ash People”) have disrupted screenings in London and Berlin, though U.S. theaters remain peaceful.
DailyNewsEdit will continue to track the legal fallout of this historic leak.
