Sony has canceled the theatrical release of The Interview. (UPDATE)
(UPDATE)
Sony has now confirmed they have “no further release plans” for the film while American Intelligence has officially linked North Korea to the Sony hack. The New York Times reports that intelligence now confirms that the Sony hack that start this whole event, and brought terror threats against theaters who would show the interview, can officially be linked to North Korea. They were “centrally involved.”
Sony has canceled the December theatrical release of The Interview. The hackers that exposed Sony’s internal workings went a step further and issued a big threat, invoking 9/11 in a statement that promised action against theaters showing The Interview.
But the Department of Homeland Security said there was no credible information to indicate an actual threat. Last night Carmike Cinemas and Bow Tie Cinemas pulled the film, and today in a precedent-setting move, the five major theater chains in the US and Canada all dropped The Interview.
As of press time, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, Cineplex and AMC Theatres will no longer show The Interview.
It doesn’t need to be explained that this is a terrible move. Top US officials have said there is no real threat. Now there is a precedent showing that major companies will back down in the face of even an insubstantial threat.
Here’s Sony’s statement on the scrapped December release of The Interview. Given that all major theater chains in the US had already pulled the film, this was all but inevitable. But then, Sony opened the door for that in the first place by saying it would be fine with chains deciding to drop the movie.
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.
source: slashfilm.com