KUALA LUMPUR Pirated copies of a new Hollywood action film starring Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat have hit the streets in Malaysia four months before its premiere, a report said Saturday.

Film distributors were shocked that illegal VCD copies of the "Bulletproof Monk" have gone on sale for five ringgit (US$1.3) as it was still in its post-production phase, the afternoon Malay Mail said.

The US$52 million film, produced by John Woo and released by MGM Studio, was scheduled to open April 16 worldwide.

A Motion Picture Association of America official told the tabloid they believed a Far East syndicate with Hollywood connections shot the pirate copy during a screening at an MGM studio in Hollywood.

"We are starting an investigation to determine how this was done. It is serious and we want to get to the bottom of this," the official said.

Stricter security measures

Malaysian distributor Golden Screen Cinema's manager Irvin Chee urged the studio to impose stricter security measures to curb piracy.

He said the pirate copy was not complete as the "climax of the movie and its opening scene" were missing. He said Golden Screen was negotiating with the film agent to have the movie released earlier than scheduled.

The movie stars Chow as a Buddhist monk who travelled around the world for 60 years to protect a sacred ancient scroll which holds the key to unlimited power and is now looking for a new guardian.

The pirated recording, which ended abruptly, has silhouettes of heads bobbing in front of the screen and sounds of laughter, the daily said.

It quoted a source as saying that the pirated film was believed to have been duplicated in Malaysia before being made available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. AFP