Scott Adkins World 2017 - 2025
SCOTT ADKINS’ FIGHT
AGAINST PIRACY
How piracy is damaging action and martial arts films
Scott Adkins has declared a war: His war against Piracy!
In addition to the blockbuster movies of our time, Scott
Adkins is primarily involved in the genre of lower budget
action and martial arts films, which is experiencing the
most severe impact from illegal downloading. Scott
possesses a clear understanding of the issues
associated with piracy, and we have gathered a selection
of quotes from him over the past few years discussing
this topic.
Scott: "When I started out, you would get six weeks, 30-
36 days, to make a movie, and you could do a pretty
good job. But now, primarily because of piracy - that's
the main reason - we're now being given eighteen days
to make the same kind of movies.
Scott: “Downloading is Fucking up the industry
especially for indie and lower budgeted action and
martial arts”
Sometimes with certain
movies or companies... like
on Undisputed... we
managed to get five weeks.
It's still difficult, but it can
be done. I often turn down
movies with a lot of these
eighteen-day shoots
because I worry that we
aren't going to be able to
deliver on the project."
"A big film comes out in the cinema and hopefully makes
its money back, and then it earns revenue on the DVD
release. Although, nothing compared to what they used
to be now that people are downloading films for free.
But then those bigger films make more money on
television runs. But these and my genre movies that are
made to go straight to DVD are hitting the marketplace,
and they aren't making any money because people are
downloading them for free. And these movies don't get
a big bump on television either because the bigger films
are getting priority. So these films are making just small
amounts of money. And then the massive question
becomes: 'Are you going to finance this project?' For
instance, everyone loves Undisputed III. But it wasn't a
financial success. So anyone who wants to invest in
Undisputed IV is going to think twice because the last
one didn't make a lot of money. I think people think it
doesn't affect films to pirate them. They think they are
sticking it to the big Hollywood bosses sitting on
millions. But that guy doesn't get affected; it is the
people like me and others in this genre... the crew and
their families. Piracy ensures that someone like that isn't
making as much money as they used to. And there
aren't as many of these films being made anymore, and
when they are, you have to make them in 2 weeks rather
than 5 weeks, which isn't what it should be. The piracy
situation is disturbing and depressing."
Downloading influences the quality of the final
film product.
"About Close Range - most of that film takes place in one
location, so even with that limited schedule, I felt we
could make it work. But at the same time, I'm an actor;
this is my business. I have to make money, and there's
this increasing pressure from producers to do these
films within these newer, shorter schedules. That's not
what I want to be doing. I want people to support my
movies and the movies of other actors working in the
same genre and budget range... the ones who care
about the films. We need these films to make money, or
we simply won't be given the opportunity to make them
anymore. And if people don't stop pirating them and not
paying for them, 1) the films will get worse - we will be
given less time and money to make them, and 2) the
films will end up not happening... and that'll be that!"
If you don’t want to wait another six years on
Undisputed 5…
"Everybody really responded to Undisputed 2, so we
made a sequel. Then Undisputed 3 really struck a chord
with fans of these types of films.
For 6 years after it came out, every day on Facebook,
somebody has asked me when we're going to get another
Undisputed movie. The reason it's taken so long is
Undisputed 3 didn't make any money. The producers
were scared because they want to get a return on their
investment. They're not stupid; they're businessmen who
are in it to make money.
If you're a fan of the films I make, you have to support
them with money. I want to keep doing what I do. I feel
very privileged to be able to do what I do, and I don't want
to let the fans down. So please go out and support
Undisputed 4 when it comes out in 2017.
“Well, I’ll download it first and if I had liked it, then I
would have bought it Legally…”
If you want to get an
Undisputed 5 without
waiting another 6 or 8
years, you need to support
it with your cash. It's as
simple as that, and it
doesn't cost a lot of money
to rent a film. It really
doesn't, so just do that.
Films aren't meant to be
free."
"I know that in some territories, they have to wait months
or even years for a film to come out. So when the only
way you can watch it is to download it from a torrent site, I
can understand why people would do that. If it's a choice
between waiting a year to pay for a movie or watching it
now for free, people will do that. But even if you do that,
please, if it's the sort of film you enjoy and especially if it's
a genre that is dying out, when it does reach your shores,
pay it some money. Rent it even if you've seen it, or buy a
copy, just make sure you support these films because they
really are dying out. We have to make them in shorter and
shorter lengths of time because of this problem. I just ask
people to try and support these films if they like them,
and we know there are a lot of people out there that do
like them."
"I can't agree with the 'I'll download the movie, and if it's
good, then I'll buy the movie.' That's just not the way of
the world, is it? If I go to a toy shop and want to buy a toy,
I buy it, and if it turns out to not be as good as I expected,
well, there you go! Even in a restaurant, you can't keep
going back to the same place and each time order food
and then every time say 'Oh, I didn't like the food, I'm not
gonna pay for that!' Maybe you'll get away with it once or
twice, but pretty quickly you'll find yourself being told not
to come back, 'You're taking the piss...' and yet that's what
people are doing when they download movies... they
aren't paying for them, they're watching them for free,
and unfortunately, it's so easy and so many people are
doing it! I wish the internet would make it harder to do it,
harder than just typing in a movie name and torrent to
find it online. People don't seem to realize that they are
killing the industry. The less money the producers make,
the less money and time they give us to make a movie.
The quotes from Scott on this page have been gathered
from numerous interviews with Scott and quotes sourced
from Scott's official Facebook page.