With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview.”
In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers who threatened movie theaters and moviegoers and who have terrorized the studio and its employees for weeks.
“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,” the statement reads.
“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,” it continues. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”
The studio did not say it would never release the picture theatrically. Insiders tell Variety Sony is exploring all options, including offering the picture on premium video-on-demand as a way to recoup at least some of its investment.
You know when I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought it sounded stupid.
But after seeing more footage, and hearing about how North Korea was losing its shit, I put it on my "must see' list.
And now thanks to the fact that North Korea is the Scientology of nation states, essentially willing to destroy anybody who dares to criticize them or point out that they are full of shit, I don't get to.
Fuck North Korea!
You know what? I think in response to this that EVERY movie studio should make a movie where either Kim Jong Un is assassinated or North Korea is obliterated.
I can see it now.
He could be the villain in the next James Bond movie, "Code Name: Fluffy Toddler."
Mike Myers could make another Austin Powers movies where Fat Bastard challenges Kim Jong Un to a sumo wrestling match and then crushes him into a fine Asian powder. Which they then sell in China as an aphrodisiac.
In the next "A giant comet is hurtling toward earth" movie they determine that it will only hit North Korea and everybody just relaxes and goes back to what they were doing before hearing the news.
And in the next Avengers movie North Korea develops doomsday device and they send Hulk to deal with it. I think we all know what happens then.
And let's face it North Korea is not even a real country, and allowing them, or whoever they may have hired to do this on their behalf, to have any impact on anything that happens in America is just bullshit.
What kind of a message does that send to other countries who hate us, hate our culture, and are jealous of James Franco's talent? It will be open season on America, you just wait and see.
P.S. By the way there are some who are not convinced this hacking of Sony is the work of North Korea. However American intelligence officials say yes it most definitely was.
P.P.S. Here is the Sony hack timeline.
Really, it's probably a good temporary solution. North Korea is in the hands of a crazy person with access to the atomic bomb. He [they] are potentially much more dangerous than the Taliban nut cases who went crazy over some stupid poorly made move about Mohammed.
ReplyDeleteWhen you bend over and give them your @ss once, you'll be bending over for the rest of your days.
DeleteYou got that right, 3:29.
DeleteIf you are referring to Benghazi, the administration admitted/revealed/whatever, that it had nothing to do with a video that had already been out for some time.
DeleteSomeone should "leak" the entire film on the intertubes.
ReplyDeleteThat would show the dicks.
My thoughts exactly. Maybe then the supreme leader would finally take a shit.
DeleteWhat it proves? Stupid corporate theater chains. Bawk bawk bawk, yet they'll grab your dollars for overpriced fare and look the other way. Is this the "new" America? Go eff yourselves corporations. I haven't been to a movie in years because of their greed, but that's MY right and how dare they take it from others' pleasure.
ReplyDeleteWe really are becoming a tin foil hatted society.
I thought it looked pretty insensitive. I mean making fun of the mentally ill and all. Oh wait, we do that to the Palins all the damn time. Eh, never mind,
ReplyDeleteThat's what comedy/satire is.
DeleteIt's James Franco and Seth Rogers!
I wonder if the snarkmasters at South Park will do an episode on this.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
Speaking of South Park here is their takedown of his daddy, a classic from one of my favorite movies, "Team America: World Police". That movie had so much to say, and with puppets, no less.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEaKX9YYHiQ
I **STILL** have nightmares from those creepy Gerry Anderson's marionettes. Darn near scarred me for life!
DeleteOh please..like that fat asshole monster dictator deserves any respect.
ReplyDeleteWe can't lampoon the thin-skinned. If anyone is the poster child of THAT, it's Palin.
DeleteOh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about Rusty Limpballs....
Delete"fat asshole monster dictator"...
DeleteYou are referring to the vastly overweight doughy little turd with the size four feet and the size ten mouth, right? The one with the joke of a haircut, whose penis is smaller than Todd's (is that even possible?). That one?
Yes, I thought so; that's him, same guy. Carry on.
Sony deserves every bit of flack it's getting. This was a MONUMENTALLY BAD IDEA for a movie script. Not to condone the cyberterrorists, but OF COURSE North Korea would hit back on this, are they fucking stupid at Sony to think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThey think they are so untouchable, but as we see, they have been ripped open and laid bare for the world to see. And more is coming. Their arrogance will cost them, has cost them, and will continue to cost them.
Unbelievably stupid asshats that signed off on this film, were involved in this film and thought they could get away with this film. Damn straight it's dead in the water, as well it should be.
Shame on them for exploiting a tenuous international relationship that puts the US and it's allies in danger all for the almighty buck. They're being brought to their knees, and it's about time. That it happened with cyberterrorism is NOT a positive thing, by any means, but they asked for it with their ignorance and arrogance and now they are dealing with the blowback. Jerks.
I hope they lose billions on this. I hope the people involved get their asses reamed and then fired. And if Sony, the parent company, in Japan, doesn't work fast to mend ties with North Korea, then I won't feel sorry for them when the blowback hits them, and it will.
Funny, nothing happened when Austin Powers hit the screen.
DeleteSony deserves every bit of flack it's getting.
DeleteFWIW, Sony has a large paid staff of flacks. What it's getting now is flak (from the German, FLugAbwehrKanone, literally antiaircraft fire).
Oh fuck off 3:45 and fuck them if they can't take a joke. You think Moe Howard was wringing his hands when the Stooges made a short about Hitler? Chaplin? They don't wanna be lampooned? It hurts their feelings? Fuck em in the other ear and feed em peanuts. Tell their dwarf to get a real haircut and a fuckin tailor.
DeleteAwww, heck no. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are still alive and they killed OBL and portrayed Saddam Hussein as a satan fucker in their productions - AND made millions in the process.
DeleteAnyhoo, our ally North Corea (right $error?) will forgive the tongue in cheek nature of the film.
Does Dennis Rodman still have his wedding dress and Korean Army issued steel toed boots? I'm thinking Sony should cast him as "Bride of Kim", a bit part in their new (wink wink) movie.
ReplyDeleteSo why doesn’t Sony just take the next step and announce that they will make the film available for free to everyone. They can release it themselves on the Internet. They can distribute it to cable television operators for free broadcast.
ReplyDeleteBy doing this they keep the means of distribution in their own hands. They can inset advertising to generate revenue. And the ad rates could probably be unusually high due to the abnormally strong level of interest that this film will likely have. As a result, whatever motives the hackers had to suppress the film will have not only been thwarted, it is very likely that more people will see it than if none of this had occurred.
So what do you say, Sony? Do you want to allow terrorists to dictate what Americans can produce and consume? Or do you want to turn a horrible situation around to slap the perpetrators in the face and deter future attempts of this sort of extortion? This solution denies the bad guys a victory at the same time as it rescues the studio from a certain loss.
http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=23861
That was along my own thinking. Or, it could go straight to video and as a protest purchase, tons of folks would buy it (for cheap), they can't bomb ALL our homes!
DeleteActually I kind of like dumb sophomoric movies and I think it would be more fun watching from the sofa, plenty of vino at hand.
I fully support this move from our North Korean allies.
ReplyDeleteYou mean this,right?
Delete"But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies. We're bound to by treaty," Palin said in her analysis, before being corrected by the show's co-host. "Yeah," Palin continued. "And we're also bound by prudence to stand with our South Korean allies, yes."
The Tundra Turd has weighed in, ladies and germs.
DeleteThe dimwitted parrot of the north will soon 'air' her 'pronouncements' (culled from the RW echo chamber of nonsense) regarding these latest developments. Stay tuned
DeleteNaw, it's sarcasm.
DeleteOkay, I agree with most of what you I don't think many people are jealous of Jame's Franco's "talent", and in fact one of the hacked Sony emails exposed that the studio was very unhappy with Franco's performance and worried that he would be the one to derail the film with his miserable performance. I bet they never guessed this is how it would go down....
ReplyDeleteoh PLEASE. Let it "die" at the box office like many other sure fires have. Film IS free speech, at least it used to be.
DeleteI think this a huge mistake as to pulling the film. We are allowing them to take away our freedom of speech. What a joke!
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering what those hackers REALLY found in the emails to make Sony do this
ReplyDelete4:42 That's it. Those chickenshit Sony execs. They did not ax that movie because of content. I'm with you on this one. They are still shitting their pants about those emails. They KNOW what's in them. This has way more to do with their international embarrassment than international relations.
DeleteHow can so many supposedly smart people act so damn stupid? Why is it so hard to understand that the net is not private?
So, for the sake of a fucking joke to 'work' these asshats are putting the US and their allies in the crosshairs of violence? FOR THE SAKE OF A JOKE WORKING?????
ReplyDeleteThe premise of The Interview — the thing that made North Korea deem it an “act of war” — is that two hapless American journalists, played by Franco and Rogen, are tasked with assassinating Kim Jong-un. And now, thanks to those Sony leaks, we know that (spoiler alert!) they go through with it.
In fact, emails between Rogen and Sony co-chair Amy Pascal show that Sony Corp. Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai wanted the filmmakers to tone down a certain head explosion, but Rogen held firm and only agreed to slight adjustments.
“The head explosion can’t be more obscured than it is because we honestly feel that if it’s any more obscured, you won’t be able to tell it’s exploding and the joke won’t work,” Rogen emailed Pascal after one round of edits.
There's a little scuttlebutt going around that this is one massive publicity stunt that got a little out of hand.
ReplyDeleteThat's along the lines of what I have been thinking. Franco is a master of publicity, especially when it is free.
DeleteI love sophomoric humor - the dumber the better . It's just plain silliness and makes this old lady laugh. With all the bad stuff that goes on in the world, I'm all for a couple hours where I can escape, laugh, and not have to ponder any deep message. I love Seth Organ
ReplyDeleteBeyond stupid. Good for you!
Delete6:08
DeleteI agree. Sometimes the sophomoric can be enormously funny if it's done right.
Seth Organ? Freudian slip, anon 6:08? :)
DeleteDamn auto correct!
DeleteI equate this movie to the anti-Islam movie made by those RWNJs that stirred up mega-tons of anti-American feelings throughout the Muslim world and instigated the US Embassy attack at Benghazi. If America wants to say "Bring it on" then this is the movie to do it.
ReplyDeleteTexas Movie Theater Will Show Team America Instead of The Interview
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaite.com/online/texas-movie-theater-will-show-team-america-instead-of-the-interview/
I have no sympathy for a multi-billion dollar company that doesn't spend enough of their money to keep hackers out.
ReplyDeleteThis times a million.
DeleteFox News’ Greta Van Susteren went off on Twitter tonight, going after the “ignorant” people at Sony for making The Interview in the first place.
ReplyDeleteShe said that if anyone at Sony had been to North Korea, they would have realized the movie was too dangerous to make, and they would be better off concocting a fictional regime to lampoon instead of a real one and their very real leader.
Here’s what Van Susteren had to say:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/greta-van-susteren-sony-idiots-for-making-the-interview-in-the-first-place/
A busted clock is right twice a day and so is Greta.
DeleteGVS is afraid of her own shadow. Hey Greta - boo!!
DeleteSony Exec and Major Critics Alike Thought The Interview Wasn’t Very Good, Anyway…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaite.com/online/concha-sony-exec-and-major-critics-alike-thought-the-interview-wasnt-very-good-anyway/
The FBI Warned Movie Theaters Yesterday About Potential Cyberattacks
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaite.com/online/the-fbi-warned-movie-theaters-yesterday-about-potential-cyberattacks/
I seem to be one of the few who thinks that making a movie about killing another head of state really isn't funny. With our relations with North Korea precarious at best, I think it was foolhardy of Sony to produce such a film. I wouldn't want to see or hear about a film that purports to kill President Obama. Just because you CAN do something under the umbrella of free speech, artistic license or artistic liberty, doesn't mean you HAVE to do it. We as Americans are way too arrogant and disrespectful to other countries and cultures. I say we tone it down.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone, I concur with everything you said. They were disgustingly arrogant to think that this would fly. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Killing a head of state of another country, even in jest, is just beyond the pale and would OF COURSE stir the pot. That was the whole idea. A really bad idea. Sony has only begun to see the fall out from this. So much more is coming from those emails. So much.
DeleteAnon 7:02, do you have any idea how many films include the death of heads of state in their plots? Lots!!
DeleteAnd, this is no where near the first time North Korea was lampooned on the big screen:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/6-other-movies-about-north-korea-that-no-one-lost-their-sht-over/#0
I say we tone down the eggshell-walking-politically-correct nonsense.
As well they should: It was a dumb fucking idea for a "comedy" anyways.
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea is a real country, a wondrous, proud and ancient culture. Real people and real suffering are involved: Centuries of abuse from Japan, later the Korean War, the tree-trimming massacre of the mid-70s, and several skirmishes since, which were less than war, but far short of peace.
ReplyDeleteThe division between North and South is also painfully real. The Korean War was a mixed blessing for the people of this beautiful peninsular nation, Chosen, Land of the Morning Calm. What all Koreans most long for is unity of their country.
Lastly, think of people starving and children perishing of preventable diseases in North Korea.
I do not support terrorism in any form, yet I salute Korean hackers who can interfere with profit-oriented, brainless American entertainment crap, exploiting Asian themes for their own ends.
Yep. You're right. If some other country decided to pull this kind of stunt, the US would be raging over it. That the hacks accomplished this without a war is exemplary. They made their statement, they drew the line and Sony was called out for their arrogance and disrespect. This whole 'free speech' thing doesn't mean you're allowed to threaten other countries heads of state and not get taken down. Even if it's NK. Sony is cooked. And I say, good.
DeleteFrom video interviews I've seen, the only reason the people of North Korea are in that country, is because they have no way out...
ReplyDelete...and despite that, many HAVE made it out, to tell us of the obscene conditions they have to accept, or be killed.
SO: its hard to imagine any North Koreans who are outside the border, doing anything like working to hack the Sony website.
Leading me to smell a rat, in all this...enough to doubt it has anything to do with North Korea. After all, there has already been a similar movie done, several years ago, and nothing came from its release.
That one was about this little pissant's daddy, not himself.
DeleteOn a similar line, North Korea was made fun of in the movie Blades of Glory. Kim was the only leader who would let a coach do a pairs skating move called The Iron Lotus....a technically difficult manuever in that the girl gets her head cut off by a blade..Funny Stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think Sony either is afraid of what is in the emails, or it is a publicity stunt.
They should have done it with a fictional leader , but that is obviously NK. Like the Sasha Baron Cohen The Dictator.
"Do you want the aladeen news or the aladeen news?" Funny stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYJ2w82WifU
The theatre chains that caved into these assholes should hang their heads in shame. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteShame? For what? For looking out for the safety of their customers? For erring on the side of caution rather than chasing the almighty buck? Your head is up your ass if you think that this isn't serious and that this movie, comedy or not, is unacceptable fare.
DeleteSony is so ensconced in it's bubble of greed that they never figured that they'd have to back off and shut down this ridiculous film, but they were shown otherwise. The theatre owners made the right choice.
The Kim Jong-un Death Scene from The Interview Has Leaked
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-kim-jong-un-death-scene-from-the-interview-has-leaked/
The whole idea is a poor one. If North Korea made a film depicting two bumbling weed warriors killing president Obama, things would get hairy but quick. They should have used a fictional dictator with just enough difference from Kim Jong Un to maintain plausible deniability.
ReplyDeleteIt's like Sarah braying about the bloggers who "say Trig isn't my kid". She never says "that I didn't give birth to Trig" because...plausible deniability when she's busted.
They could have made this movie, and when North Korea spoke up and said HEY! This movie is an act of war!, they could have responded with "nooo, this movie isn't about Kim Jong Un in North Korea...it's about Kam Jung On from North MOR-ee-a"!
Instead, this.
No sympathy for stupidity.
Now a day or so later... I am curious, do you all still support your original thoughts and statements on this movie? I still feel strongly that it was a big mistake to produce, let alone release, this movie. Was it not blatantly evident after the release of the anti-Islam movie, Innocence of Muslims, that America is not invulnerable and the risk of retaliation puts a lot of lives, American and otherwise, in jeopardy? I'm absolutely stunned by the number of commenters here that are expressing typically right-wing arrogance and "bring-it-on" attitude in regards to the potential damage and repercussions of insulting, provoking or tacitly threatening such an unstable and unpredictable regime as NK. Their nukes might not be able to reach America but suppose NK informed the world, that because of America's transgressions they would nuke Tokyo, and then followed through with that threat. Why would anyone provoke a crazy man? Let's take the reasonable and less dangerous approach and be peacemakers not RWNJs like those other guys.
ReplyDeleteDonal, if we have to be sensitive to North Korean culture they should be just as sensitive to the cultures of the Western world. The movie is a comedy. Satire and parody are perfectly acceptable when used in comedy. Were you freaking out when these movies came out?
Deletehttp://www.mediaite.com/online/6-other-movies-about-north-korea-that-no-one-lost-their-sht-over/#0
Personally, I think Sony should fight back. Forget straight to video or a theater release. Forget the online pay thing.
ReplyDeletePut it on the internet for FREE. Let everyone see it for FREE.
That will stick it to the hackers and their puppet master like no one's business. Plus it will show that no one messes with Sony.
They may take a loss in the short term but they'll make it back and more in the long term.
I wouldn't have watched anyway. I would mind if there was an attack on innocent people later though if it is shown. All I can think of is the children at that elementary school. It won't be you, it will be innocent people.
ReplyDelete12:27- then the studio couldn't get insurance money. By pulling it completely, they get a bigger payout than if they chose a straight-to-dvd release
ReplyDelete