The Digital Playground and Adam & Eve epic release, Pirates, has remained on the AVN Top 50 Weekly Rentals and Sales Chart for a year, by far the longest stay on the list by any title. The figures are based on the sales of traditional and on-line retailers.
The swashbuckling costume dramedy received 24 nominations for the 2006 AVN Awards Show in Las Vegas this past January, more than any other single title has received in adult entertainment history. In the end, Pirates ended up snagging a record 11 statuettes, including awards for Best Video Feature, Best Director – Video, and Best Actress – Video.
Pirates director and Digital Playground co-owner Joone told AVN.com that he found the news of Pirates’ record breaking run awesome. Joone credits the movie’s success to a number of different elements. "I credit it to a really great cast and the fact that Pirates is an epic movie…as well as people’s love for pirates.
"The word-of-mouth press for Pirates has also been tremendous. People love it and tell people how much they love it…and then they go out and see it. There just has really been any slow down."
Additionally, in May, a version of Pirates received an R-rating in May from the Motion Picture Association of America for worldwide distribution, successfully crossing the film into the mainstream. "A lot of people will see the R-rated version of Pirates and then they’ll want to see the [Adult] version, just to see what they missed," continued Joone.
"Basically, the R-rated version has sort of become a commercial for the X-rated version."
After its September '05 release, Pirates quickly became its own cultural phenomenon, complete with a Hollywood-style premiere at the famed Egyptian theatre, a two-month, nationwide promotional tour and a handful of sold-out college screenings at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The high-definition release also garnered some mainstream press from sources like MSNBC, KDKA Radio and Reuters. Newsweek touted the release as "a sprawling epic" in their November Issue, and Pirates made the February 2006 cover of Home Cinema Magazine and was named by LA Weekly as their Video Pick of the Week in its December 2 issue.
"We’re constantly asked if there is going to be a sequel," said Katy Zvolerin, director of PR at Adam & Eve. "It has a little something for everybody; special effects, humor and the sex is amazing."
"The whole cast was amazing," said Pirates starlet Teagan Presley. "The movie doesn’t just appeal to one set of people. It appeals to all demographics…it’s not just your regular porn movie."
"It just took off and we have not slowed down one bit," said Digital Playground President, Samantha Lewis.
Pirates also marks the first time two exclusive contract stars have been featured in the same title, with Jesse Jane (Digital Playground) and Carmen Luvana (Adam & Eve).
Pirates stars Jesse Jane, Carmen Luvana, Janine, Presley, Devon, Austyn Moore and Jenaveve Jolie. The triple disc set offers both standard and WMV-HD DVD formats. Additional features include 16x9 Widescreen Format, Bloopers, Casting Video, Photo Gallery, Audio Commentary with the Stars, Behind the Scenes, Visual FX Making of, HD Behind the Scenes, Pirates Short, Bios, Trailers, Chapter Index and No Regional Coding.
More information on the release can be found at www.piratesxxx.com or www.digitalplayground.com.
