Much like the other seven installments of the Fast and Furious franchise, the latest release features non-stop action and grossed over $98 million over the weekend.
But it was at a pre-release viewing of the film here at the Hoyts Movie Theater on West Nursery Road that police say a pair of men tried to cash in on the movie by pirating their own copy.
"It sounds like this investigator knew about these individuals and had a lead on them to see if they went to this particular theater and they located them in that theater that evening," said Marc Limansky of the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
Sometimes the Motion Picture Association of America uses theater workers with night goggles to spot video cameras during showings, but this case was different.
Police say 38-year-old Troy Montgomery Cornish of Baltimore and 35-year-old Floyd Lee Buchanan of Dundalk were far less conspicuous while recording the movie.
"They use cell phones. They had them rigged on a harness around their neck and they cut a hole in their shirt to display the camera so they could video the movie," said Limansky.
Police call the bust unusual, since officers don't routinely patrol theaters looking for movie piracy, but when it's brought to their attention, it is a crime and they're prepared to enforce the law.
"It is a crime in Maryland as well as a federal offense that we all get warned about at the beginning of each movie, but they have investigators who do track this," said Limansky. "It falls under theft offense. It's an electronic theft using the device to intercept the electronic media with the intent to make a profit off of it."
Of course, just downloading a movie for free from an unauthorized source is also illegal and can carry jail time or a huge fine.
