The Sony Hackers' terrorist threat seems to have worked since The Interview will not be exhibited on Christmas.
***UPDATE 12/17/14 PM***
Less than 24 hours after the release of their "9/11" threat (see original article below) against movie theaters showing The Interview, it would appear these not-so-peaceful "Guardians of Peace" have succeeded in censoring and silencing the film.
In the wake of cinema chains Carmike and Arclight bowing out of showing The Interview, as well as the cancelation of its NYC premiere at the Landmark Sunshine, now Regal, AMC, Cinemark, Cineplex, and BowTie Cinemas have all announced that they won't release the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy on Christmas Day. At the moment, the film appears effectively dead and without major exhibition.
Hopefully Sony releases this on VOD (if nothing else) and it becomes the highest grossing film of the year via the downloadable platform. The way these hackers have put everything else online, it seems fair that this one gets seen by as large an audience as possible.
*** SECOND UPDATE 12/17/14***
Sony has now officially cancelled the previously scheduled Christmas release of The Interview. As theater chains had already disavowed the film, it's little surprise that Sony has now made it official. It's certainly been eye-opening to learn also how easily a U.S. business or industry can be bullied, attacked, and terrorized into a concession of their rights. The full Sony press release is below.
Merry Christmas.
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 25 theatrical release. We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theater-goers.
Sony Pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business. Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like. We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome
Original article 12/16/14: We've had a complicated relationship with the Sony hack over the last few weeks. On the one hand, we've tried to avoid the stories that have come out of them, so as not to enable the cyber-criminals who perpetrated the hack. On the other hand, it's difficult to ignore the actual news contained in those e-mails, and by actual news, we're not talking about the petty backstabbing that some sites have chosen to focus on, either. Our UK counterpart has taken a more public stance on the matter, while I've chosen to mostly remain quiet.
Any anti-establishment chuckles I may have experienced as a result of the silliness of this situation (all the chaos is in retaliation for Sony's The Interview, which paints North Korea's leader in a less than flattering light) have gone out the window in the face of this latest communication from "the Guardians of Peace" behind the attack. See for yourself:
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.
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
Maybe we should remember we're dealing with an organization that threatens innocent lives (over a movie) when they drop their next "gift" of information on us.
The Interview opens on Christmas Day. You can buy advance tickets here.
