After the 9/11-style threat on moviegoers who attend the premiere of The Interview, several cinema chains across the U.S. have opted not to show the movie.
The hacking scandal against Sony turned into a full-blown terror threat on Tuesday night, as the hacking group Guardians of Peace (GoP) indicated that they would be attacking the movie theaters who did not pull the feature.
“We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to,” GoP stated.
“Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. 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.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY.”
Sony finally broke their silence on the subject, in a statement to theaters in which they explained that they would not object if the movie was pulled from the schedule.
Several cinema chains have now done so. Yesterday we reported that Carmike was the first to pull The Interview from their 276 cinemas, and soon after the California cinema chain ArcLight followed suit.
Finally, we can report that the NYC premiere of The Interview scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled by Landmark Theatres.
Seth Rogen and James Franco have cancelled all publicity appearances, but were still expected to show up for the premiere event.
Last week, the LA premiere took place as scheduled, the only repercussion being that Sony only allowed photographers, not interviewers, into the red carpet area.
As we wrote yesterday, this is a major threat not only to Sony and its employees, but also to the concept of free speech. The Interview is an extremely political film, despite its comedic nature, because it ridicules and eventually assassinates a major world leader.
However, this is a world leader who holds his country in an iron grip, and has many times over been denounced as a dictator who allegedly has political prisoners placed in concentration camps.
Seth Rogen and James Franco are sending a message, albeit an extreme one, that we should not be afraid of North Korea or let them threaten our values and freedom.
Ironically, that is exactly what is happening. However, the alternative – to let the movie air as scheduled – has now become a major risk, which we would not expect anyone to take. There doesn’t seem to be a right solution until we know the true nature of these threats, and we are waiting for the government to shed more light on the matter.
Last we heard, the FBI was investigating the threat, and has not yet found evidence that the movie theaters are in danger of attacks.
The North Korean authorities are still denying involvement with the GoP hacking group.
Update: The Wrap is reporting that other movie studios are putting pressure on Sony to pull the movie.
The decision to keep The Interview in theaters, “is wreaking havoc with other studios whose movies will be playing side-by-side with the film,” The Wrap writes.
Further, with most movie theaters located in the vicinity of shopping centers, studio executives are worried that increased security will scare away holiday shoppers.
“This couldn’t come at a worse time. Do you really want to drop your kids off at a mall filled with metal detectors and cops? Who wants to take that chance over the holidays — for a movie?” one exec asks.
Do you think Sony should pull the movie, or release it on schedule?