Originally due for release this Christmas, The Interview was the latest film from the people who gave us This Is The End. The Interview was to star James Franco as a wacky talk show host who is hired by the US Government to travel to North Korea to interview and assassinate that country's feared dictator Kim Jong-un. He is accompanied by Seth Rogen who plays his producer/friend. The film looked like silly fun, but North Korea and Un were not pleased, releasing a statement that if Sony did not pull the film from their release state that they would consider it an act of war and would retaliate with whatever force they deemed necessary.
Naturally, everyone in the U.S. laughed at North Korea's reaction at first. A few months later, the laughing stopped when Sony experienced a crippling cyber attack that wiped out their computer system, leaked private company info, and even leaked four upcoming Sony films including Fury and Annie. As U.S. officials scrambled to investigate who was responsible, it wasn't much longer until the hacker group issued a terrorist threat. It read: "Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave)." That's right, the hacker group threatened a series of terrorist attacks on the theaters showing The Interview. While the Department of Homeland Security announced that there was no credible intelligence suggesting that there was an active plot against movie theaters, that didn't stop AMC, Regal, Carmike, and BowTie Cinemas from pulling the film from their theaters nationwide. It didn't take long until Sony made a disturbing announcement: "In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25th theatrical release."
There were rumors that Sony was considering a premium VOD release on Christmas Day instead, but that rumor was quickly axed by a studio spokesperson who said: "Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film." This would not only include VOD, but also DVD/Blu-Ray. Now, this doesn't mean we won't ever see The Interview, just that it may be quite some time until we finally do. A few short hours after Sony made the announcement, US officials found North Korea to blame for the Sony hacks and terrorist threats. So the whole debacle comes full circle.
This is a very sad day for American cinema. Censorship and terrorism wins, free expression and Hollywood loses. I thought I lived in a country that wouldn't negotiate or comply with terrorist/terrorist demands. It was quite likely that the threats made were idle ones and that if the film was released as planned nothing major would have happened. In all likelihood, this was just stupid North Korea throwing a hissy fit. I don't blame Sony for pulling the film from theaters, and respect that they placed the safety of American moviegoers above everything else. However, by caving in it sends a dangerous message to terrorists and opposing countries: The US can indeed be threatened and swayed by acts or threats of terrorism. To me, that's the scariest thing of all. It it quite likely that we may see more of these types of threats in the future due to Sony's reaction. Also, I can't help but feel terrible for Seth Rogen, James Franco, and everyone else who worked on this film who worked long and hard and not only won't make any money back for their hard work, but also won't even be able to sit in a theater and watched the finished product. How sad.
It's not certain how the US will react to North Korea's threats, but I feel they MUST be addressed. We MUST take a stand and make it known that this type of nonsense WILL NOT BE TOLERATED EVER. We have got to retaliate in some way, and while it will be hard to effectively punish North Korea (we already have put that country under some pretty heavy economic sanctions), I feel that we must confront that country head on in SOME way even if it's just a threat from US officials. Maybe a proper punishment would be to completely wipe out that country's computer grid, though that would be a pretty tough task and would no doubt take a while to accomplish.
I, as an American citizen and a firm lover of Hollywood and film, am very saddened by this day's events. The Interview looked like a silly, fun film but because North Korea couldn't take a fucking joke (the film wasn't suggesting an assassination of Kim Jong-un, in fact a good portion of the film would have seemed to concentrate on a budding bro-mance between Un and Franco) we have lost out on what could have been the funniest film of 2014. I know I was looking forward to it. Sony's reaction is upsetting but understandable, and once again I don't blame them for reacting the way they did (though, as I said before this is setting a dangerous precedent and sends an even more dangerous message to would be terrorists and opposing countries). I do, however, place full blame on North Korea for being such stupid fucking bastards. Seriously, FUCK YOU GUYS!
I'll leave you all with how some notable names have reacted to Sony's decision:
Aaron Sorkin: "Today The U.S. succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech by a group of North Korean terrorists who threatened to kill moviegoers in order to stop the release of a movie. The wishes of the terrorists were fulfilled in part by easily distracted members of the American press who chose gossip and schadenfruede-fueled reporting over a story with immeasurable consequences for the public-a story that was developing right in front of their eyes. My deepest sympathies go out to Sony pictures, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and everyone who worked on The Interview."
Steve Carrell: Sad day for creative expression. #feareatsthesoul
Rob Lowe: Saw @Sethrogen today at JFK. Both of us have never seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville Chamberlain proud today.
Patton Oswalt: All joking aside, we just gave a comfy foothold to censorship & it doesn't get any better from this point on. #TheInterview
Vision Implementer: All of a sudden the comedy is far from a laughing matter #SonyHack
Bill Maher: #TheInterview Is that it takes- an anonymous threat and the numbers 911- to throw free expression under the bus? #PussyNation
Judd Apatow: I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets anonymous threats now?
Jimmy Kimmell: @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent.
Here are links to articles:
The Interview pulled: http://www.slashfilm.com/the-interview-pulled/
U.S. links North Korea to Sony Hacking: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/asia/us-links-north-korea-to-sony-hacking.html?_r=0
North Korea Wins?: http://www.eonline.com/news/607557/north-korea-wins-steve-carell-aaron-sorkin-jimmy-kimmel-and-more-slam-sony-for-pulling-the-interview-from-theaters?cmpid=sn-111021-facebook-na-eonline
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