Turbo Kid beats blockbusters on piracy websites

Turbo Kid was illegally downloaded more than 230,000 times from one website.

A New Zealand-made film has hit the big time - but for all the wrong reasons.

Turbo Kid shot to No. 1 on illegal download site Kickass Torrents with 230,000 downloads, before complaints by the film's creators led to it being temporarily removed.

The film, about a child living in a "post apocalyptic wasteland", beat out popular movies such as Southpaw, Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys.

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But Kiwi producer Ant Timpson says this isn't a good thing.

While piracy is an age old issue it strikes independent filmmakers the hardest, Timpson says.

"It's quite unusual for us. It was most downloaded on the day. For a small independent film it's strange," he says.

"It was up there with all the big studio blockbusters. It's a complicated problem with torrenting. It happens with all films."

After four years spent working on Turbo Kid and producers deferring all fees, Timpson says they needed a payoff to help pay for its creation.

If they got a dollar from every download: "we would be rich".

"The company we work with issued a take down notice, but the numbers are staggering - there are 11,000 infringing links and we are only talking about one of them hitting well over 200,000.

"It's also these ridiculous arguments that drive me nuts, from the apologetic, to those saying there's some benefit to piracy for independent film makers. It's not true."

Timpson says if the film isn't available in your region it can be found at turbokid.com while merchandise is available from indiegogo.

It was an issue that reared its ugly head for another New Zealand production Sione's 2: Unfinished Business in 2012, after a rogue member of staff made pirated DVD copies that were leaked to the public weeks before its cinema release.

South Pacific Pictures estimated they lost up to $1 million in takings from the box office because of the leak.

- nzherald.co.nz