For over a week, we’ve been getting gossip from the Sony Hack. Sony execs were humiliated by their bad email behavior. Now sh-t has gotten real in a huge way. The hackers behind all of these Sony leaks have revealed their motive: They want to quash the release of The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Have you seen the trailer to this movie? It’s so dumb. Seth and James play a couple of screwballs hired by the US government to assassinate North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un. (The story sounds like something that Seth and James dreamt up when they were totally not smoking pot together.) The movie contained a graphic, face-melting death scene that Sony toned down, but it wasn’t enough to appease the hackers. They’ve issued a very scary threat:
The Sony hackers have threatened a 9/11-like attack on movie theaters that screen Seth Rogen and James Franco’s North Korean comedy the Interview, substantially escalating the stakes surrounding the release of the movie.
The attackers also released the promised “Christmas gift” of files. The contents of the files are unknown but it’s called “Michael Lynton,” who is the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Past messages have included budgets to Sony films, salary information of top executives, and employee medical records and social security numbers.
There have been suspicions that the attack may have been launched by North Korea in retaliation for The Interview‘s depiction of an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un. The country has denied involvement but praised the attacks.
The note also threatens people who attend the premiere of The Interview. A New York premiere of the film is scheduled to take place Thursday at Sunshine Cinema and has already been scaled down, according to a report in the New York Post. A special screening of the film took place in Los Angeles last week without incident.
A spokesman for the studio, an FBI spokesman and a spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners were not immediately available for comment.
Read the full message:
Warning
We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.
Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.
The world will be full of fear.
Remember the 11th of September 2001.
We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
All the world will denounce the SONY.
[From Variety]
Variety also notes that Seth and James have cancelled several press appearances, including visits to Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon. The New York City premiere has been cancelled. Both dudes attended the LA premiere last week (photos included) without incident, but this was before the official threat was issued.
The fallout is unreal. This morning, TMZ reports that Sony is convinced the hacking is an inside job, sort of. Sources connected to Sony say they believe North Koreans were likely involved, but someone inside the studio helped them pinpoint the most embarrassing information. Is the threat real? The Department of Homeland Security says no active plot has been uncovered against specific movie theaters, but it’s still scary. Industry analysts warn that theaters will open themselves up to lawsuits if they show the movie at all.
Even if some theaters ignore the warnings, I don’t think anyone would risk their lives to watch a silly James Franco movie. It would be far less risky to stay home and watch Pineapple Express instead (“I can see through my leg hole!“), and the pothead effect would probably be the same. Sony knows this, and they’re reportedly on the verge of canceling the entire release.
Sony considering scratching plans to release “The Interview” on Dec. 25, says a person with knowledge of the situation. More details soon
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 17, 2014
Movie stills courtesy of Sony/Columbia Pictures; photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
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