/ 25 June 2012

Get these pirates off my stoep, says Schuster

Leon Schuster and the cast of his new film
Tragic comedy: Leon Schuster and the cast of Mad Buddies, his 2012 movie.

Several people were to appear in court on Monday for allegedly trying to make a pirate copy of Schuster’s new movie, according to a report on Monday.

“These guys are murderers – they’re killing our film industry,” he told the Star newspaper.

He said there had already been several attempts to pirate his latest movie Mad Buddies, which officially opened on Friday.

On Thursday, a man was caught recording the movie on a hand-held camcorder during an early screening at Maponya Mall, in Soweto, Johannesburg. He was expected to appear in court on Monday.

In the Western Cape, two people were arrested at Parow Mall in Cape Town, and at the Promenade Mall, in Mitchells Plain, for allegedly trying to record the movie with a camcorder. Both were expected to appear in court on Monday.

There had been similar attempts at the Bedford Centre, in Bedfordview, at Menlyn, in Pretoria, and at the Festival mall, in Kempton Park, but the suspected pirates evaded arrest.

Last week, stand-up comedian Riaad Moosa commented on Twitter that the DVD of his film Material was available, and he urged people to pay to watch it.

“DVD now avail in stories nationwide. Plz retweet. The pirates are killing us,” he tweeted. – Sapa