Rogen and costar James Franco announced the film would be cancelled and Sony pulled all advertising for the film. Sony received heavy criticism for their decision, including from president Barack Obama, who said Sony should not respond to the words of dictators.
Controversy Over Sony’s Release of The Interview
BY PETER MASSARONE
The Interview is a 2014 comedy film surrounded by controversy. The idea for the film was developed in the late 2000s, but development was put on hold after the death of former North Korea leader Kim Jong-il in 2011. Development resumed when directors Seth Rogen (who would go on to star in the film) and Evan Goldberg realized that the new leader of North Korea, the young Kim Jong-un, would make a funnier character in the film than his elderly father.
Rogen, Goldberg, and another writer Dan Sterling did thorough research in an attempt to make the film more satirical and mature in humor than their previous films such as This is the End and Neighbors. Casting for the film began in March 2013 and filming concluded on December 20th, 2013. Everything was going well and Sony was on track to have this film become a success, but controversy would arise before the release of the film.
Last June saw the start of controversy when a spokesman for North Korea’s government said that the The Interview shows desperation by the United States and American society for making jokes about assassinating a foreign leader which “mirrors what the US has done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine.” Shortly thereafter, the Korean Central News Agency reported that the government promised merciless retaliation if the film was released, stating, “a film that portrays an attack on our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated.”
Multiple news reports later suggested that although North Korea was against the film, the government had a history of issuing threats that they never acted upon. In July 2014, North Korea’s United Nations ambassador reiterated his country’s comments about the film being an act of terrorism and a letter was written to U.S. president Barack Obama, asking him to cancel the release of the film. In August 2014, Sony delayed the release of the film from October 10th to Christmas Day, stating that they would alter some of the film’s contents in order to make the film less offensive towards North Korea. Seth Rogen later added fuel to the fire when he said North Korea disapproved of the movie because they were “afraid it’ll actually get into North Korea.”
The biggest controversy for the film came in November of 2014 when Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by a North Korean group called the “Guardians of Peace.” North Korea denied involvement in the leaking of emails, employee records, unreleased films, and private information about actors working for Sony films. Very eye-opening information was contained within the emails, with many people writing that they believed The Interview was correct in respect to ending North Korea’s dictatorship, that the only way it could be ended would be assassinating Kim Jong-un.
On December 16th, 2014, the hackers issued a statement: “We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview will 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.”
Days later, Rogen and costar James Franco announced the film would be cancelled and Sony pulled all advertising for the film. Sony received heavy criticism for their decision, including president Barack Obama, who said Sony should not respond to the words of dictators.
Following the president’s statements, Sony announced The Interview would have a revised release at 300 independent theaters and could be streamed online using services such as Google Play and YouTube. In response to the film’s release, North Korea accused Obama of being “the chief culprit who forced the Sony Pictures Entertainment to indiscriminately distribute the movie … Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest.”
The Interview earned over $1 million on its opening day, rather impressive considering its limited release. Within four days of its online release, The Interview earned over $15 million. By January 20th, 2015, the film had earned over S40 million from online sales and rentals. Between online sales, theater sales, video on demand sales, future Blu-ray and DVD sales, and saving millions on marketing since the film was practically completely advertised through the news, Sony expects The Interview to at least break even on its $44 million budget.
Considering all the controversy surrounding the film and the nearly 2 million illegal downloads, breaking even would be a large success for Sony and for a democracy that refuses to censor and compromise our U.S. Constitution.
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