Yes, We don't want anybody killed or injured.
No, their decision reflects badly on the USA.
Meh
Other
No, there are 40,000 movie SCREENS in the US. There are only 5700 THEATERS. If you want to count in SCREENS, then the four chains I mentioned + the additional one who cancelled that I forgot to mention (Cineplex), then 21,406 screens, or 53%, pulled the movie. Like I said, Sony had no choice.There are 40,000 theaters in the us.... they represent 3.815% of all theaters in the country.
No, there are 40,000 movie SCREENS in the US. There are only 5700 THEATERS. If you want to count in SCREENS, then the four chains I mentioned + the additional one who cancelled that I forgot to mention (Cineplex), then 21,406 screens, or 53%, pulled the movie. Like I said, Sony had no choice.
1. Sony cancelled it after all the major theaters decided not to air it. In other words, there's no point in releasing a movie that will not be shown anywhere. Therefore, the more appropriate question to ask, from my perspective, is "were the theaters correct in cancelling "The Interview"?
2. As far as that last question, I can't say for sure what I would have done if I were in the theaters' position. On the one hand, I would be hesitant to release a movie when a terrorist threats were made against the theaters just so that people could see a stupid movie. I would hate (understatement) to go through with something that could ultimately lead to civilian deaths. On the other hand, I would not want to cave into such coercion and intimidation. I would have probably contacted the government in order to discern whether or not the threats were credible. If the government didn't think they were credible, I would probably go through with a limited release and increase security at theaters, if possible, just to be safe.
It's unfortunate North Korea's intimidation has reached beyond its borders, but it would be more unfortunate if people died because theaters were too proud to heed warnings. I think the theaters made the appropriate short-term response. However, the U.S. government must craft a long-term strategy to deal with such coercion.
When I initially heard that the majority theater chains were pulling it and that Sony the pulled it completely, I wondered if they were just going to wait to release it after everything blew over. I have also seen people say that this is a publicity stunt or that Sony doesn't want NK to release some sensitive information. I wouldn't be surprised by any of those outcomes. And yes, NK hasn't ever made a terrorist attack against the US - this is one of the reasons I initially said that, if I were a theater chain, I would consult the government on whether or not they considered the threat credible before taking action. Ultimately, I'm just waiting for Christmas when this supposed "big leak" is coming. I hope it lives up to its potential.I stand corrected.
That said, reading your last link all the theaters spoke of "postponing" until sony got it's **** together, none said they wouldn't show it, but wanted to be sure they had something in the slots on christmas day.
Fact is, you can show it in some theaters and try to recoup some of the loss, or you can not show it in any theaters and lose all of the money. Financially, cancelling it completely makes no sense.
Again, N. Korea has never made a terrorist attack on the USA.
Sony was PRE-APOLOGIZING for things that might leak.
This is either a publicity stunt, and the movie will come out, or sony is trying to appease N. Korea because of information it has.
and then there is this. hmmmmmm.
https://twitter.com/JuddApatow/status/545305683386580992
The New York Times reported this evening that North Korea is “centrally involved” in the hack, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials. It’s unclear from the Times report what “centrally involved” means and whether the intelligence officials are saying the hackers were state-sponsored or actually agents of the state. The Times also notes that “It is not clear how the United States came to its determination that the North Korean regime played a central role in the Sony attacks.” The public evidence pointing at the Hermit Kingdom is flimsy.
Other theories of attribution focus on hacktivists—motivated by ideology, politics or something else—or disgruntled insiders who stole the data on their own or assisted outsiders in gaining access to it. Recently, the finger has pointed at China.
In the service of unraveling the attribution mess, we examined the known evidence for and against North Korea.
3. It’s clear from the hard-coded paths and passwords in the malware that whoever wrote it had extensive knowledge of Sony’s internal architecture and access to key passwords. While it’s plausible that an attacker could have built up this knowledge over time and then used it to make the malware, Occam’s razor suggests the simpler explanation of an insider. It also fits with the pure revenge tact that this started out as.
I didn't know about all of this although I did not know about them pulling the Carell film. I also recall one of the leaked emails from a Sony executive saying that they thought the movie was horrible and wishing that they hadn't produced it. I'm inclined to believe that, at least on Sony's side, there's more going on than meets the eye, but I'm not sure what all of that entails. If they did, as you say, initiate the pull-outs, then I'm more curious about those details.Sony has had a much more complicated history with this film than this.
The first time North Korea shot out in anger, Sony pressured Rogen to: 1) Cut the character out completely 2) Once denied that, asked that his death sequence be removed. This was all done because they "threatened war" (in the usual and practically parodied North Korean bravado). Rogen refused on both accounts. Sony then dealt with the hacking scandal and subsequent terrorist threat. Then proceeded to bow over above and beyond the call of duty, despite the government claiming there was no actionable evidence of a threat. First they drew down the publicity. There may have been concerns expressed by the theater chains prior, however, Sony called an emergency meeting before the chains pulled out and gave them the contractual okay to release themselves from the film. Sony initiated the pull-outs. They even cut an unrelated film starring Steve Carell, because its plot centered around North Korea (without any pressure from the hacking group or North Korea). They then refuse to release "The Interview" under any format and removed all publicity ties to the film.
Sony, throughout this entire process, has been weak-kneed and almost acted as if it was their duty to exercise American foreign policy. Hell, they decided to give them more than what they asked for. Instead of one film killed, they kill two. This tells me that Sony has consistently acted in bad faith and erred on the side of caving in (and even rewarding) to North Korean threats throughout the post-production and release process.
I don't agree that the actions of the theaters necessarily send a terrible message. I think their response to threats (keeping the assumption that they were truly responding to concerns about the threats) was fine. I don't believe that responding to threats of violence by removing the focal point of the anger sends a terrible message as it says that lives are more important than stupid movies and money. That said, if they weren't truly responding to their concerns over threats and actually pulled the movie because Sony doesn't want something revealed or they were promised that the controversy could get them a bigger pay day, then that sends a terrible message.Correct. The concerns were justifiable, but the actions send a terrible message for this globalized internet age.
Exactly.
Well, let's see here, a movie is made about the CIA telling journalists to off (kill) the leader of another country.
Why would anyone consider making a movie like that in the first place? IMO, it's in bad taste. Besides, doesn't America have some sort of credo that it's not supposed to assassinate leaders of other countries? As much as people might dislike NK leadership, and other countries leadership, is it a good thing to send a message like that? That we're coming to get you?
and people sit around wondering why people of other nations want to, and do cause harm and death to Americans... definitely a head scratcher-trying to figure out why. stupid Sony.
and people wonder why NK has nuclear ambitions.
I mentioned something along the same lines yesterday. Who greenlit this project? Who thought it was OK to do this, and think that Mr. Pompous wouldn't get his knickers in a twist over it?
I have to wonder that if another nation, maybe NK, Iran or some other, would make a movie similar to this, depicting a journalist offing (killing an American president) if there would be similar outrage? I would have to think that Americans would be so incensed to want to bomb them into oblivion, yes?
Was Sony correct canceling "The Interview?"
Forget those plans by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and other theaters to run Team America: World Police in place of The Interview. The Austin-based chain says that Paramount has now decided not to offer South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s 2004 satire that focuses on Kim Jong-il, the late father of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Alamo says that the cancellation at its Dallas theater is “due to circumstances beyond our control” and says it will offer refunds to those who have already bought tickets. Cleveland’s Capitol Theater also tweeted that Team America “has been canceled by Paramount Pictures.”
I have a feeling the flick is a bomb. My one time neighbor Seth hasn't had any big ones of late, and if the audio clips are any example, this is a stinker. Before the big threat, there was talk of going direct to video for "security reasons"
Yes, We don't want anybody killed or injured.
No, their decision reflects badly on the USA.
Meh
Other
Yes, We don't want anybody killed or injured.
No, their decision reflects badly on the USA.
Meh
Other
hmmm, We didn't bomb ourselves when the movie about the slaying of Bush, while he was in office, played.
Rememberin'
Thom Paine
Yes, We don't want anybody killed or injured.
No, their decision reflects badly on the USA.
Meh
Other
https://deadline.com/2014/12/paramount-cancel-team-america-1201329597/
Hollywood is continuing its sucktitude over this unsubstantiated threat.
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