• Top ten movies of 2011

Some of the year's other biggest grossers at the global box office, including the latest "Pirates" movie, are notably absent from the top 10. 

"Fast Five," which grossed US$626.1 million worldwide, was downloaded nearly 9.3 million times on BitTorrent, according to TorrentFreak. That's a far cry from last year's chart-topper, "Avatar," which was downloaded more than 16 million times.

"The Hangover Part II," which had a worldwide gross of US$581.5 million, was downloaded 8.8 million times. The third-most-pirated movie, "Thor" - which grossed US$448.5 million worldwide - was downloaded 8.3 million times.

Next on the list are six films that were not among the year's top grossers. They include "Source Code" with 7.9 million downloads, "I Am Number Four", 7.7 million, and "Sucker Punch", 7.2 million.

The No. 7 spot is even more surprising: It's occupied by "127 Hours," the James Franco thriller that only made US$60.7 worldwide. The film was downloaded 6.9 million times.

"Rango," which grossed US$245.2 worldwide, was downloaded 6.5 million times, earning it the No. 8 spot. "The King's Speech," which won the Oscar for Best Picture and grossed US$414.2 million worldwide, was downloaded nearly 6.3 million times.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2", the biggest movie of the year with a US$1.33 billion worldwide gross, capped off the list with just over 6 million download.

The total number of downloads among this year's top 10 was lower than in 2010, which could be attributed to more legal alternatives, and new piracy alternatives to BitTorrent, like Cyberlockers, according to TorrentFreak.