9/11 threat: Sony scraps showings of film on plot to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un
Sony has abandoned plans to screen “The Interview” after threats of a 9/11-type response at US theatres screening the film about a plot to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. The decision came as it became more and more clear that North Korea itself was behind an earlier massive cyber attack on Sony.
The decision to pull the film came after theatre chains, including Regal Entertainment Group, AMC, Cinemark Holdings and Carmike Cinemas, decided not to run the film - originally due for a Christmas Day launch - until the conclusion of federal authorities’ investigation into the three-week-old cyberattack on Sony Pictures and subsequent terrorist threats.
Together, the four chains control more than 18,000 of North America’s 40,000 movie screens. Carmike, the fourth-largest U.S. theater chain with more than 2,000 screens, told Sony earlier yesterday that it wouldn’t play the movie.
In a statement, Regal Entertainment said it was delaying the opening because of the film’s “wavering support” and the “ambiguous nature of any real or perceived security threats,” said the Wall Street Journal.
In Canada Cineplex Entertainment LP, the country's largest exhibitor with more than 1,600 screens, also said it was postponing “The Interview.”
“We look forward to a time when this situation is resolved, and those responsible are apprehended,” said Pat Marshall, vice president of communications and investor relations.
Finally Sony took the hint and pulled the film completely. It is not clear when - or if - the film will ever be screened.
The U.S. is now ready to blame North Korea for the crippling hack attack at Sony Pictures. U.S. investigators say an announcement pinning the blame on hackers working for the Pyongyang regime could come as soon as Thursday.
Because of the North Korean regime's tight control of the Internet in the reclusive country, U.S. officials believe the hack was ordered directly by the country's leadership.
The Daily Beast said that the US State Department had given "tacit approval" to the film.
North Korea experts say the country has spent its scarce resources on building up a unit called "Bureau 121" to carry out cyber attacks.
Sony said, "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.
"Sony Pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business," the company said.
"We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie," the company added. "We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."
Some prominent screenwriters and stars also expressed dismay and sadness about the outcome. "Today the U.S. succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished bedrock principle," Aaron Sorkin told The Los Angeles Times.
Judd Apatow called the theater owners' decisions "disgraceful:" "Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?"
"The Interview" became controversial because its plot involves the attempted assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
CNN has learned that State Department officials had a discussion with Sony executives but they did not weigh in on the production.
The film's Los Angeles premiere went off without a hitch last week, but the New York premiere planned for Thursday was called off after the new threat on Tuesday.
Mark Cuban, the co-owner of the Landmark theater where the premiere was scheduled, said it was scrapped because "the downside was too dramatic versus the upside."
"You can't go and enjoy a movie when, in the back of your mind, you're concerned that something's gonna happen," Cuban said in an interview. "And it just wasn't worth the risk."
The threat, which invoked the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, received widespread press attention.
One of the sources with direct knowledge of the situation described another consideration: "The possibility that people will avoid theaters altogether is the problem," the person said.
In other words, it's not just "The Interview" that could be hurt, it's other Christmas releases like Disney' (DIS)"Into The Woods" and Universal's "Unbroken."
On Wednesday, some inside and outside Hollywood voiced concerns that Sony and the theater owners had overreacted to a far-fetched terroristic scenario.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said on CNN's "New Day" that "this is essentially a heckler's veto" of the film.
The FBI has been investigating the hack, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that "there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States."
Meanwhile, all the attention had caused some people to pledge to see the film.
Apatow had written on Twitter on Tuesday night, "I am not going to let a terrorist threat shut down freedom of speech. I am going to The Interview."
But now he can't see it in a theater. And Sony indicated Wednesday night that it had no plans to release the film digitally.