North Korean Threats Cancel “The Interview”?!

a976b2d15e73655872b85dd471be6f3d6764fac0This has to be a first–I’ve never seen something like this before.

I’m about a day behind on news, so today when I checked my Feedly, I discovered this article about the upcoming comedy “The Interview.”

Basically, from what I can tell, some people (unknown parties) issued a threat against any theater showing The Interview, which was due to arrive in theaters next week. The Department of Homeland Security determined that it wasn’t a credible threat, so Sony proceeded with its plans to release the movie as scheduled.

Then the bottom dropped out when all major theater chains in the US announced that they wouldn’t be carrying the movie. For for all intents and purposes, the movie is canceled.

Now, if this was a tiny indie film, we may not even have heard about this. But The Interview is a big-budget movie–as far as I can tell, it was going to be the biggest comedy release this holiday season. It just happened to be about assassinating the president of a country (in this case, North Korea), a poor choice for a film.

The craziest thing about all this is that it appears that this terrorist threat isn’t the work of some lone, mischievous hacker, but rather the work of North Korea! According to CNN, the North Korea has a cyber-attack unit called Bureau 121, and they used that unit to hack into Sony and make this threat.

Now, just because you have hackers doesn’t mean you have the capabilities (or willingness) to attack the US. Regardless, if this can truly be traced back to North Korea–and correct me if I’m misinterpreting this–didn’t they just issue a major terrorist threat to the US? If so, how will we respond?

This is sheer craziness. I have a feeling this isn’t over. What do you think will happen?

5 thoughts on “North Korean Threats Cancel “The Interview”?!”

  1. Is this going to become the new norm that the US needs to check with other countries leaders before releasing a film? I think it’s a very bad move that could dictate the direction for future films.

    Reply
    • Tim: Yeah, it left me wondering the same thing. It was the theater chains that decided to pull the film (at the time, the government considered it an idle threat), but I’m really curious about what will happen next and in the future.

      Reply
  2. This whole thing has been so bizarre. This film should never have received the green light in the first place. Seriously, what was Sony thinking in producing a movie that not only furthered offensive stereotypes but also killed a major world leader (no matter if he is a cruel douchebag)? Not only that, Sony is Japanese-owned; relations between N. Korea and Japan have notoriously been quite prickly. If Hollywood really wanted to make a statement about the oppressed lives of North Koreans under Kim Jong-un’s regime then it should have made a documentary or went about it a different way that did not trivialize these people’s lives. I’m tired of people hiding behind “satire” and use it to cover up their bigotry.

    That being said, N. Korea’s response is a serious infringement on human rights and the pacts that currently exist between all world nations. I’m not talking about the First Amendment’s freedom of expression here; the fact that a film can be suppressed because of terrorist threats (and our response to such threats is to immediately and so far only pull the film) may only further threats against future movies or other means of creative expression worldwide. I’m not saying we should go to war (God forbid; imagine how I will have to explain to my grandkids that World War III was started by Seth Rogen and James Franco. The Franco-Rogen War?), but something must be done to placate North Korea.

    Either way, Jamey, I agree with you that things won’t die down so simply. Our presence in South Korea is just a ticking time bomb. If the United States was to even try to invade North Korea or take action, China would surely get involved and side with its ally North Korea (ain’t no way China would want a strong US presence so close to its borders). This thing is a mess.

    In other news, a Texan theater has decided to replace the Interview with another movie made in 2004 about Jong-un’s father.
    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/texas-theater-show-team-america-759037
    This is far from over. All I know is I better get to see 2015.

    Reply
    • Teddy: “Bizarre” is the right word for this whole thing. I completely agree that it was a poor move on Sony’s part to greenlight the film, and North Korea’s response is just as baffling. I hope all parties involved can work this out.

      Reply

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