What should Sony do with The Interview?

If iTunes could release the movie, it would be interesting to see if the NK hackers could hack Apple.

 

I got a firmware update on my Sony Blu-ray player suddenly yesterday. I figured it was one of two things:

1. Kim Jong Un was screwing with my player
2. Sony was adding THE INTERVIEW to a service like Crackle...

Harry

 

"The hackers who attacked Sony Pictures are making more demands of the studio following their success in scrapping the release of The Interview, according to CNN. CNN reports that top Sony executives received an email from the hacking group last night with a message saying that it would withhold further data, but only if the studio never let anyone see The Interview or pretty much any sign that The Interview ever existed.

"It's very wise that you have made the decision to cancel the release of The Interview. It will be very useful for you," CNN reports the message as reading. The email concludes, "We will ensure the security of your data unless you make additional trouble."

Unfortunately for Sony, that "trouble" includes a laundry list of perceived issues: "Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy," the message reportedly says. It also says, "And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."

That's both good and bad news for Sony. It is likely relieved that, for now, it has stopped the publication of damaging stolen data, such as executives' emails. But removing "everything related to the movie" from the internet is an impossible task. And even if the hackers don't follow through with their threat and continue to withhold the data because the film isn't being released, Sony will effectively be blackmailed into censoring itself indefinitely so that it can keep this data away from the public. The fact that giving into hacker demands is seemingly effective will also not please critics of Sony, who say that it was cowardly to have cancelled The Interview's release, even in spite of threatened attacks on moviegoers.

US officials are expected to say later today that North Korea is behind the hack. It is unclear what response the United States will take, but the White House press secretary already began setting expectations yesterday, suggesting that whatever the US does will be "proportional." The press secretary said that the attackers may be looking for a specific response, and the US will be mindful of that in its reaction."

Source:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/19/...ase-more-data-because-the-interview-cancelled

 

I'm not sure how long this thread can last before getting political but we'll see. I'm a filmmaker, writer, comedian etc.. and I would never have made this film. Should it be allowed to be made and seen? Yes, of course. But here are the faults...

1) The premise does not lend itself to satire. What are we satirizing exactly? Hollywood vapidity? Brutal dictatorship? So let's not call it satire. Let's call it farce. It's a farce about two idiots who are tasked with the mission to assassinate a world leader. .. this leads us to...

2) The world leader is an actual player on the international stage. Not a fictional character. A real person. And to dismiss N. Korea as some sort of cartoon land is disrespectful to the millions who are being brutalized daily by this tyrannical and bloody thirsty regime. People there are brainwashed into believing that their Glorious Leader is a God and a savior. So, yeah, let's go ahead and make a film where the story is that we come to actually kill him. Good plan.

3) Flip it and ask yourself how you would feel if a Soviet production company distributed a film world wide that depicted the assassination, by Soviet agents, of President Kennedy. I say Soviet because North Korea's view of the U.S is similar today to our view of the Soviet Union 50 years ago.

I could go on but the point is, I'm sure this started in the pot addled mind of Rogen after Dennis Rodman's visit to North Korea and then, over time, morphed into "The Interview." Great. And probably really funny when you're stoned and playing the "wouldn't it be cool if..." game. Should've stayed there.

 

Wouldn't care at all. Sounds fine by me. Sub any president for Kennedy and my answer is the same. And so what if people did care? Some would get upset, sure. But would we threaten violence to moviegoers in Russia over it? I don't think so.

 

Agree. It's a tasteless premise either way - whether a foreign attack on a US president or a US attack on a foreign leader - but my reaction would be "well, that's tacky" and nothing more...

 

Of course, but in terms of promoting peace and cooperation between the two nations it would be a really bad and irresponsible thing to make, right? Believe me, if Hollywood, or Sony specifically, thought there was any chance of making money by showing U.S films in North Korea they would never have greenlighted this one.

 

"We will ensure the security of your data unless you make additional trouble."

>>>

 

China will help them just enough.

 

Dear Sony,

All your master tapes are belong to us!

 

....aaand sent.

 

Capitulate to terrorists and they up their demands. What a surprise.

 

Imagine if someone made a film called "Death of a President", showing the assassination of George Bush. It would probably win international awards and get good reviews from Time Magazine, Rex Reed, and rogerebert.com. Oh wait, that really did happen.......

 

Very different kind of film (not a comedy, for starters), released by a much smaller company and not without its own controversy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President_(2006_film)

 

I hope the movie does leak...and soon. I want to see hundreds of copies get uploaded to Youtube and all the torrent sites. I want to see Americans sharing it on their Facebook pages, I want to see it linked in comments for every article about North Korea from here on out. I want it to be a thorn in their side for years to come. I want to see young filmmakers produce their own home-made versions, the more the merrier.

The movie was probably terrible, but the hackers instead have turned into something that should be wielded proudly...a small turd to hold under NK's nose.

 

Just a general observation from casually reviewing the thread over the last week:

I find it funny (or alarming) how many people seem to be in favor of any sort of censorship as long as it adheres to their own personal thoughts, beliefs, opinions, etc.

 

Just spitballing, but what about some sort of short term very specific liability shield law protecting theater chains from liability in the extremely implausible (but still oh so scary, apparently) liklihood that N. Korean fantatics make good on their threats of violence to theater patrons.

There's little we can do to North Korea. Can't really sanction them anymore than we already do. I think the best we can do is find someway to make sure the movie is seen and show that a foreign country dictate what our theaters will show.

 

I wasn't around, but did France freak out about "Day Of The Jackal"?

 

It's interesting that Sony not only pulled the Interview from theaters, but is not announcing any plans to release it on DVD or "on demand". I've seen articles speculating whether Sony will try to collect on insurance for this movie, and that Sony may be trying to avoid opening any real or potential revenue streams to avoid clouding an insurance claim.

Christmas is a popular release date for films the studios want to release before year's end to qualify for the awards season. But Christmas is also the time when students are on school break, have time to kill at theaters, and want something other than a somber movie with British accents.

Unless you think Paramount originally planned to release Hot Tub Time Machine 2 on Christmas day because it thought it had an Oscar-winner.

Paramount pushed Hot Tub Time Machine 2 from Christmas day to February, after Sony pushed the Interview from October to Christmas day, probably to avoid competing with the Interview. Sony probably pushed the Interview's original release date from October to Christmas day because it thought the movie would do well during the busy Christmas period.

 

I'd love see a military flyover over Pyonyang right now; B1's, B2's and how about some B52's for Cold Wars sake.

This capitulation is bollocks. It's unAmerican. If my Grandparents were alive, they'd let you know about not giving in to thugs.

 

C for effort.

 

If I was going to go to a movie to make a 'statement' and something transpired, I'd feel a lot better if I took that risk for, say, "Bridge on the River Kwai" or "La Strada" than for Seth Rogan. I recognize the general principle here in terms of artistic freedom. But at some point that freedom has to be worthy of the sacrifice.

 

My grandfather was one of the lead designers of the A-10 - he was a "bomb them once and for all" guy - especially about 'Nam - his nickname at Fairchild/Republic was "Dr. Death". He co-invented the tank-buster missiles - they have tips that ignite and then explode - several stand proudly on stands here at home here in So Cal which he TOLD us are disarmed.

Of course, every earthquake, I do an immediate double-think that about his claim...

But bombing as a first instinct (hopefully) is dated now.

War without murder - it's 2014... this IS the "new world" as it continues to evolve.

If I were Sony, and again - I have NO further knowledge than what has been reported and what Sony employees and current independent contractors were told - I would release the film Christmas Day as planned.

If Bronco thinks it was a mistake for Sony to pull the film, have US security at select theaters that will show the film and can handle crowds in a "secure" fashion.

No marketing needed - once the word hits its in theaters, the whole world will know.

But this can only be planned and executed NOW.

After Christmas Day, without the film out, IMO, it will be the worst day in cinematic history since they released Sara Jessica Parker's I Don't Know How She Does It.

Jeff

 

I didn't say bomb, I said flyover. Just as the B2's did last year over the Korean peninsula.