We′ve been closely following the case of the movie "The Interview," which will not
be released in theaters. Today,... our film critic Pierce Conran joins
me today to talk about the industry′s perspective. Welcome back, Pierce, so let′s start with
a brief introduction about the film, for those who haven′t been following the news.
The film in question is THE INTERVIEW, a new comedy which stars James Franco and Seth Rogen
as a chat show host and his producer. They travel to North Korea to interview Kim Jong-un,
but are asked by the CIA to assassinate the leader during their visit. It′s a high concept
comedy written and directed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who previously directed THIS IS
THE END and wrote PINEAPPLE EXPRESS and SUPERBAD. As a comedy satire about the assassination
of a sitting national leader, the film was always a bit risky but few foresaw the incensed
reaction of North Korea. The state made an official complaint to the United Nations in
July and things have only gotten worse since then, with the country calling the film an
act of war. This whole situation began with a massive
cyber attack on the film′s production company Sony Pictures.
Yes, on November 24th, a group calling themselves the Guardians of Peace hacked Sony Pictures,
in what has amounted to one of the most significant corporate hacks in history. Tons of personal
data, including Social Security Numbers, salaries, medical records and troves of e-mails have
steadily been released ever since. Not to mention the aftermath of the leak too.
The entertainment industry was in a panic mode, almost, with the contents of e-mails
being revealed by the hackers. I guess that depends on which way you look
at it. A lot of it are work exchanges, some very informal, detailing how some films have
come together or fallen apart. Some relationships may have been damaged as a result and potentially
racial remarks made about the president resulted in apologies being issued by company execs.
I′m sure it′s a nightmare for Sony but little of the information has been very serious.
Though the revelation of personal employee details is probably the most worrisome. This
week, some ex-Sony workers sued the company for failing to keep their medical records
safe. But Sony originally was pretty firm with the
release date. They were willing to go ahead with a premiere in New York. But the threats
from the hackers really did it, right ? A few days ago, the hackers issued a statement
warning Sony and exhibitors not to screen the film, warning
of a terrorist attack and referring to 9/11. Not long after that, exhibitors began pulling
the film from the schedules. Once all the majors buckled
to
the threats, Sony felt compelled to cancel the planned December 25th release of the film.
Initially, rumors of a VOD release spread but Sony quickly quelled
those, stating that
there is no plan for any kind of release. So what′s the significance of this
happening
in
the film industry? y Within the fil