PETALING JAYA, Oct 18 — Director and producer Syamsul Yusof has decided to take the man who uploaded his latest film Munafik 2 onto Facebook, while it was still being shown in the cinemas, to court.
Syamsul, 30, told Kosmo Online this is not only to protect Munafik 2, but all other local films as well.
“We found out about the leak on September 19 when a Facebook account holder, Sasuke Kun, uploaded a video recording of the film.
“We asked him nicely to remove his post but he didn't heed our request. It was as if he was challenging us and defying the law,” Syamsul said.
Syamsul's Skop Production Sdn Bhd eventually found out the account belonged to Muhammad Izwan Shah and lodged a complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Domestic Trade and and Consumer Affairs Ministry and the police.
The company then sent a legal letter to Izwan and the case will be mentioned at the Taiping High Court on Oct 22.
“I took this matter seriously for the future of the industry and also because it involves one of my works.
“If left unchecked, it will have a negative impact on the country's film industry, especially those with big budgets.
“If this continues, production companies might be wary about spending big for their films. At the end of the day, the films are for the fans.”
Munafik 2, which also stars Maya Karin and Nasir Bilal Khan, was shown in cinemas on August 30.
It has earned a box office collection of RM43 million after being shown in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.
