‘Orange Is The New Black’ Trailer: Will Hacker’s Leak Affect Season 5’s June Debut?

Netflix’s biggest hit original series, Orange Is the New Black, just released the trailer for the forthcoming Season 5.

Of course, for many fans of the show, this is not the first time they are seeing footage from the new season. Only a few weeks ago, most of Season 5 was leaked by a hacker known only as TheDarkOverlord. The hacker broke into network servers and recovered unreleased footage from many shows and threatened to release them to the public unless they were given financial compensation, Variety reported.

The Netflix original was the biggest target of the attack, which resulted in the premature release of the new season on many file-sharing networks across the web. As a result, many eager fans have already binge-watched the new season ahead of the scheduled June release. At the time, the public believed that the season may be released on Netflix early in order to prevent the hackers from being successful, however, the June release date has held firm.

We have an open bunk for you, Dark Overlord. pic.twitter.com/RIWJ4MriwJ

— Orange Is the New Black (@OITNB) May 2, 2017

Today, the online streaming juggernaut has released a new official trailer for the season, but has the leak lessened the excitement for any news about the upcoming season? Because many viewers have already streamed much of the new season, the footage being shown in the trailer isn’t new at all. In fact, many of the storylines being introduced in the teaser are already known and resolved for much of the viewing public.

So, will this affect the show’s future?

Back in February of 2016, the show was given a three-year renewal, bringing the total count to at least seven seasons. Because of it’s early renewal status, Netflix will likely not rely so heavily on viewing numbers for the new season because the show is already slated to continue for at least two more seasons. While the amount of online viewers will likely be lessened due to the premature leak, viewers can rest assured that the show will go on, despite any possible dips in the ratings.

The amount of money the leak will cause the online business is yet to be seen, but many people feel that by cheating Netflix out of potential new subscribers to the online streaming service, the monetary losses could be significant.

However, according to Independent Online, Laura Martin, an analyst at the asset management firm Needham & Company, stated, “[The leak] slows subscriber growth and lowers investment… because that series is now available off the Netflix platform for free. But owing to the high penetration of Netflix already in America specifically, I don’t think it’ll have a negative impact on current subscriber [numbers].”

The “high penetration” of the streaming series she is referring to is the 54 percent of Americans who already have accounts on the streaming site, according to the report, many of whom she doesn’t think will suddenly drop their accounts solely because of this unfortunate leak.

It's an @OITNB reunion! And yes, that's a wall of oranges. #Netflix pic.twitter.com/Bc4L6gdBQz

— Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) May 8, 2017

On the bright side, only 10 of the 13 upcoming episodes were a part of the leak, so longtime fans of the show still have some new content to look forward to when Season 5 officially hits the web next month.

For those fans who have resisted the early temptation to binge watch, there are plenty of juicy details to get excited about in the new trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzJATbm8U98

Season 5 of Orange Is the New Black will be released on June 9.

Did you watch most of the new OITNB season already? Are you waiting until it’s officially dropped on June 9? Sound off in the comments section below!

[Featured Image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images]