Disney is no longer convinced that a hacker actually stole a digital copy of its upcoming blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge.
Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger told his staff that one of the company's upcoming blockbusters was in danger of being leaked if a ransom wasn't paid. The film was later identified as Pirates 5.
At the time, the House of Mouse announced it would cooperate with US federal investigators to look into the ransom threat… but it seems to have all been for naught.
Bob Iger is now telling Yahoo Finance that Disney ultimately found no credible evidence that Salazar's Revenge had actually ever been stolen.
"To our knowledge we were not hacked," the executive claimed. "We had a threat of a hack of a movie being stolen. We decided to take it seriously but not react in the manner in which the person who was threatening us had required."
Iger then stressed: "We don't believe that it was real and nothing has happened."
What to Read Next
That's obviously good for Disney, which has launched a massive advertising campaign ahead of Johnny Depp's return as the swashbuckler Captain Jack Sparrow.
Speaking of Captain Jack, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has recently confirmed that Pirates of the Caribbean will never carry on without Johnny Depp in the lead role.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge — known as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in other parts of the world — opens on May 26. Watch the international trailer below:
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
