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Sony Cancels Release of "The Interview"

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 08:26:00 AM EST
Tags: Sony, computer hackers, cyberthreats (all tags)
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Following threats by hackers to launch attacks on theaters who show "The Interview", a comedy movie by Sony Pictures about a planned assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Sony announced yesterday it is canceling the release of the film. The announcement followed decisions by several movie chains not to show the movie. Sony has no plans to release the film in the future.

Some criticize Sony's cancellation saying they are giving in to cyberterrorists, and it's a slippery slope. Others say better safe than sorry.

According to Reuters, the U.S. believes North Korea, not keyboard terrorists sitting in their parents' basement, is behind the Sony hacks and threats.

Why didn't Sony just release it to cable "On Demand", Netflix, iTunes and Amazon?

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    Sony Cancels Release of "The Interview" | 72 comments (72 topical)

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    The Fallout has arrived (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 08:33:11 AM EST
    North Korea-Based Thriller With Gore Verbinski And Steve Carell Canceled

    This was a terrible idea. I was thinking last night that maybe......

    But I changed my mind.  Partly after reading post and tweets of others.  It's a terrible idea and an even more terrible precedent.  I don't give a damn how bad the movie was.  That's not the point.  The headline above makes the actual point.

    I still agree with you. (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 07:46:27 PM EST
    The reviews of "The Interview" have generally been pretty brutal. But yeah, Sony and the theatre chains should never have given in to this sort of terroristic blackmail.

    But you know, in the back of my mind, I really can't help but wonder what else was in those e-mails and the other information stolen by North Korean hackers, and whether any of that may have factored into the decision by corporate executives to cave.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 08:05:52 PM EST
    many others have wondered the same.  The main topic of wonder seems to be what exactly are the threatening to reveal.   It's a very interesting question.  You have to think that it's something besides SS numbers and dishy emails.

    Maybe some day we will find out.

    Parent

    I am very interested in the response (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:19:21 AM EST
    the government has said that a response is coming.

    Sony's cancellation of The Interview surprises North Korea-watchers
    Even if Pyongyang was behind hack, few believe audiences of film that depicts assassination of Kim Jong-un are at risk

    You betcha (none / 0) (#16)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:25:45 AM EST
    If indeed the Norks attacked a U.S. company, the Feds should do more than announce disappointment.  

    That said, I was not going to see it anyway. Too stupid for words.

    Parent

    No argument (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:28:14 AM EST
    i would not have seen it.  And supposedly they view it as not just an attack on a company but on the american people which IMO is the best news so far in this sh!t sandwich.

    Parent
    What about the "Dark Knight" massacre? (none / 0) (#29)
    by EL seattle on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:52:28 AM EST
    Did anyone think that audiences were at risk just for going to that movie? It was just about 2 years ago, and I don't think that there were any attack warnings at all before the Aurora shooting.

    Considering the nature of the threat, I can definitely understand theater owners wanting to cancel their run of this movie. The last I heard, at least one lawsuit is still involved over the security issues at the "Dark Knight" screening.

    Parent

    Yeah... (none / 0) (#31)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 10:01:14 AM EST
    out litigious culture definitely was a factor in theaters pulling the movie, which left Sony little choice but to pull the release all together.

    So disappointing...yet totally predictable.

    Parent

    Btw (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:24:33 AM EST
    the capitulation is now complete.  They announced they are not releasing it as DVD of VOD.

    Artists need to not sign with Sony.... (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by magster on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 08:35:57 PM EST
    in protest of censorship.

    I don't care if the movie sucks. It's a very bad precedent and Sony should be on the side of its artists (yes, Seth Rogen is an artist).

    Parent

    I thought this (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by CST on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:31:15 AM EST
    was an excellent article that pretty much nails it.  This is the ending:

    "Lowly bookstore clerks fought to keep selling The Satanic Verses when their parent chains wanted to quit, but who the f*ck wants to risk death for James Franco and Seth Rogen? Even Rogen wouldn't. (True, Franco might. But you can sell him on anything so long as it's conceptual.) It sticks in my craw that the principle is the same."

    Also - Team America World Police - assassinated the then sitting president of North.  In case anyone is looking for a recent precedent.

    And (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:37:24 AM EST
    the South Park movie made Saddam the gay lover of Satan.
    (Perhaps more a danger of offending Satan there but...)

    Parent
    North Korea (none / 0) (#20)
    by CST on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:31:47 AM EST
    ahem

    Parent
    They (Paramount) pulled Team America as well. (none / 0) (#46)
    by unitron on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 04:24:36 PM EST
    Several theaters, including the one with which G.R.R.Martin is involved, were going to show the Team America movie in place of The Interview, but it's been pulled as well.

    Parent
    Sony must not have been content... (5.00 / 2) (#32)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 10:10:27 AM EST
    to have only Lil' Kim hating their guts, so they decided to be universally hated instead.

    They're on a roll in that board room, lemme tell ya! lol

    You are so right (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 11:35:30 AM EST
    Hollywood Outraged at Sony's Decision to Dump `The Interview'

    I spent several hours online talking about this last night.  I know lots of people there including several current and former Sony employees.  I did not talk to a single one, not one, who thought this was a good idea.
    As the headline says, outrage is a better word.

    Parent

    I can't imagine any other reaction... (5.00 / 3) (#36)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 12:03:36 PM EST
    from Sony workers and Hollywood at large...forget the MPAA, forget the FCC...Lil' Kim calls the shots now for the industry, or any other  crackpot with a skilled team of hackers.

    Lil' F*ckin' Kim and The Guardians of Extortion.

    Parent

    Before you all go having an aneurysm (5.00 / 1) (#55)
    by Anne on Thu Dec 18, 2014 at 09:32:41 PM EST
    over Sony's decision, consider that this may have nothing to do with free speech, and everything to do with money.

    David Atkins, writing at Digby's:

    But in truth, neither "America" nor "Hollywood" caved to the terrorist threat. Capitalism did. Sony is a Japanese-owned multinational corporation. Its decision to cancel the opening of the film was precipitated not by Hollywood studios, but by the defensive decision of a bunch of corporate conglomerate theater chains with only tenuous connections to the star-studded production companies in Tinseltown.

    An organization made a threat to a corporation and its customers if it released a certain product. Distributors of said product decided not to risk carrying that product, as a market decision. The corporation decided to pull the product from shelves--for market reasons.

    That's capitalism. Capitalism doesn't care about standing for the principle of free speech, or for patriotism, or for standing up to bullies. It cares about money. Theater chains don't make money if they lose customers too afraid to show up to the movie theaters. Production companies don't make money if not enough theaters show their movie. It's just business.

    If conservatives want to see a little more backbone in standing up to international bullies looking to squash free speech, they might want to start by looking in the mirror at their ideological elevation of profit over principle.

    Makes sense to me.