Two Twitter accounts suspended for pirating ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ after 9 million views.

Virginia KrutaMay 3, 2023

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Twitter Accounts Suspended for Sharing Pirated Copy of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has been making waves in the box office, grossing over $1 billion in global ticket sales. However, two Twitter accounts have been suspended for sharing a pirated copy of the film. Despite this, millions were still able to watch at least a portion of the movie for free.

The Pirated Film’s Staying Power on Twitter

One of the accounts, @vidsthatgohard, shared the full movie in two parts to 1.1 million followers. According to a report from Forbes, the quality of the illegal film was fairly decent, and the tweets including the pirated video were left up on the social media platform for hours before Twitter took any action.

The report’s author, senior contributor Paul Tassi, attributed the pirated film’s staying power on the platform to the recent changes at Twitter. This includes the fact that new owner Elon Musk has admitted to cutting staff by up to 80%, including the content moderators who would normally be expected to monitor such tweets. Additionally, it is only the new Twitter Blue options that allow subscribed users to post videos that are up to one hour long — which is what made it possible to share the entire 92-minute film in just two tweets.

Another account, Twilight Sparkle, also shared the full film. Before Twitter suspended both accounts, they had racked up a combined total of over 9 million views.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” Breaks Records

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was released in theaters just under one month ago and has already grossed over $1 billion. It was the first film released in 2023 to reach that benchmark — and one of only a handful to do so since the pandemic. The movie has also cemented its place in history as the most successful video-game-based adaptation of all time.

Critics vs. Audience Scores

While critics have not necessarily loved the movie — giving it just 59% on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes — audience scores (96%) have been much higher.