Sony has officially canceled the release of The Interview from Seth Rogen and James Franco due to hacker-terrorist threats made against major theater chains. The Christmas Day release of the film is no more, and Sony reportedly hit back at the hackers who threatened movie theaters and those that would go see the movie.
Variety stated that the threats to theaters , movie-goers, and the studio have been going on for weeks. Sony released a statement regarding the cancellation of The Interview .
“Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale — all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like,” the statement reads.
“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”
With the cancellation, Sony has yet to say if The Interview would or would not ever be released in theaters. Options are being looked at, but the damage has already been done and celebrities aren’t happy about it.
I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) December 17, 2014
Mamy celebrities were in complete and total agreement with the actions of Sony on the cancellation of The Interview . Jimmy Kimmel went as far as to say the actions are “un-American” and “cowardice.”
. @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent. — Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 17, 2014
Rob Lowe was shocked at the fact that “the hackers won.” He called it an “utter and complete victory” for those that caused the Sony leaks. He was far from done, though, as Lowe had apparently run into Seth Rogen, one of the stars of The Interview , and discussed the situation.
Saw @Sethrogen at JFK. Both of us have never seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville Chamberlain proud today.
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) December 17, 2014
Newt Gingrich decided to join in on the anger and respond to Lowe.
. @RobLowe it wasn’t the hackers who won, it was the terrorists and almost certainly the North Korean dictatorship, this was an act of war — Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 17, 2014
From that point, the creator of controversial films himself, Michael Moore, decided to let his voice be heard. He wasn’t being as serious though, and decided to make light of the subject more than others.
Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I’d also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) December 17, 2014
Oh, hackers, one more thing – I lost like $180K on “Canadian Bacon”. Can u do the opposite of what u just did & get it back IN to theaters?
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) December 17, 2014
The Verge believes that Sony should do something to help their own case and release The Interview online as quickly as humanly possible. The hacks from the online terrorists have been done to stop people from seeing the film, and the theater cancellation is virtually a victory for them.
Releasing The Interview online would not only get Sony past the madcap anger from celebrities, audiences, and others, but it would also be a slap in the face to the hackers. While The Interview likely won’t go away entirely, Sony releasing it online right now would take all advantage away from those that got it cancelled.
[Image via Sony]