Seth Rogen, Sony Pictures Butted Heads Over ‘The Interview’
Seth Rogen and Sony Pictures’ Amy Pascal reportedly butted heads over a key scene in the upcoming comedy The Interview. If you’re looking forward to the controversial flick and you don’t want anything spoiled, then turn back now.
Although the recent Sony hack has caused plenty of headaches for the studio, the end result is essentially a treasure trove of information for those who love behind-the-scenes Hollywood shenanigans. Leaked emails, including ones from Sony employees about Adam Sandler, give a rare inside look at how the business operates.
Such is the case of Seth Rogen and Amy Pascal, who reportedly had a difference of opinion when it came to a violent sequence in The Interview. The film, which stars Rogen and James Franco, tells the story two journalists tasked with assassinating Kim Jong-Un. At some point during the picture, the North Korean leader takes a tank shell to the face, causing the Dear Leader’s head to violently explode. Not surprisingly, the scene didn’t settle well with some folks at Sony Picture Entertainment.
According to BBC News, Sony Corporation chairman Kazuo Hirai apparently wasn’t too thrilled with the bit involving the North Korean leader, prompting Pascal to request a few alterations to the sequence. Since Rogen believes the head explosion is key to making the joke work, he refused to bow to the demands of the studio.
“As embarrassing as this has been from my point of view, you have to appreciate the fact that we haven’t just dictated to you what it had to be. This isn’t some flunky. It’s the chairman of the entire Sony Corporation who I am dealing (with),” Pascal wrote to Rogen.
Seth, meanwhile, wasn’t thrilled about ditching the sequence. Although he made some changes to dial back the violence, he put his foot down when it came to ruining the joke.
“The head explosion can’t be more obscured than it is because we honestly feel that if it’s any more obscured, you won’t be able to tell it’s exploding and the joke won’t work. [We] removed the fire from the hair and the entire secondary wave of head chunks. Please tell us this is over now,” Rogen reportedly explained to Pascal.
Although directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s The Interview has reportedly caused quite the pickle for Sony Pictures, the studio still plans to give the picture a proper theatrical release. Unless something terrible happens between now and then, the comedy is presently slated to hit the big screen on December 25.
[Lead image via Sony Pictures]
