Endgame, once again, for Popcorn Time. The site that streamed pirated movies and TV shows has closed its doors, less than a year after attempting a comeback.
In the spring of 2021, the official version of Popcorn Time rose from its ashes after a cut of more than five years. But even if the objective remained the same (to distribute pirated video content), the initiative fizzled: the site again closed its doors and this time, it is unlikely to find a new lease of life.
RIP the popcorn
The home page of the site indeed shows the graph of Google searches for Popcorn Time, which has continued to decline since 2015. The group behind this ultimately short-lived renaissance has not given an explanation, but perhaps is it the lack of interest of Internet users that ended up cooling the enthusiasm.
Launched in 2014, Popcorn Time was closed in 2015, but the provision of the service’s source code has allowed the emergence of many clones and alternatives. Popcorn Time is dead, long live Popcorn Time? Popcorn Time’s torch is more than likely to pick up again, since the code is still available on GitHub.
The site has been the pet peeve of movie studios, TV stations, and Netflix. At the time, Reed Hastings, CEO of the (legal…) streaming platform, lamented that piracy continued to be one of its biggest competitors. Popcorn Time does not host the content, it streams videos on BitTorrent.
