NEW YORK • Disney's decision not to blink first has paid off.

Its chief executive, Mr Bob Iger, said recently that hackers had demanded a ransom, claiming they had stolen an upcoming movie. Rumour was rife that it was the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean film.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance published on Thursday, he said: "We decided to take it seriously, but not react in the manner in which the person who was threatening us had required.

"We don't believe it was real and nothing has happened."

The hackers, who wanted the ransom to be paid in bitcoins, warned that they would release the movie in five-minute chunks if Disney failed to cough up.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, starring Johnny Depp, opened in the United States yesterday. In Singapore, it is called Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge.

Last month, hackers posted episodes of Netflix's new season of Orange Is The New Black online when their demands for money were not met.