The Controversial Film ‘The Interview’ Faces Terrorist Threat, Has Its Premiere Canceled

Seth Rogen and James Franco’s upcoming film, The Interview, has had its fair share of controversy. Create a film where the goal is to assassinate a living dictator (in this case, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un), and there is bound to be some controversy. Now threats against The Interview have reached new heights from the group allegedly responsible for the recent Sony hack, Deadline reports, and as a result, the premiere in New York has now been canceled. The chilling message from the anonymous hacker group Guardians of Peace reads as follows.

“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.”

The Interview’s premiere was originally set for Thursday at the Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side in New York City. In an interesting-yet-understandable move, Sony have now told exhibitors they could opt out of showing the film if they were concerned about the threatening message. James Franco and Seth Rogen have both canceled their promotional appearances for the rest of the week in light of the new developments.

But is this threat credible?

According to a federal law enforcement source, “There is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States,” The New York Post reports.

Regardless, the threat may result in low box office numbers this holiday season. Despite being an attack against Sony and its release of The Interview, the repercussions may be felt across all studios. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with Rentrak, notes that Christmas is a time when moviegoers tend to go to the theaters in droves (via CNBC).

“The holiday movie season which runs from roughly the weekend before Thanksgiving through New Years accounts for roughly 20 percent of the total year box office. So it’s a very important moviegoing period second only to the summer season.”

Will theaters decide to pull The Interview from theaters altogether? As these terrorists are allegedly the same who recently hacked Sony, some think the threat may hold some water.