Last week, amid threats from hackers linked to North Korea, several movie theater chains refused to screen Sony’s satirical comedy The Interview, and the studio made the decision to cancel the film’s theatrical release. This was the latest in a series of woes for Sony, all of which began after a group of hackers accessed the company’s internal files over Thanksgiving weekend, stealing personal information and uploading copies of unreleased Sony films to the internet.
While initial reports said that Sony would not be pursuing a release of any kind for The Interview, Sony CEO Michael Lynton appeared on CNN last week and insisted the film would be released in some format:
“We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie. There has not been one major VOD — video on demand distributor — one major e-commerce site that has stepped forward and said they are willing to distribute this movie for us. Again, we don’t have that direct interface with the American public so we need to go through an intermediary to do that.”
Yesterday, during an appearance on Meet the Press, Sony lawyer David Boies echoed those sentiments. Here’s a quote from that interview, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:
“Sony only delayed this. Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. How it’s going to be distributed, I don’t think anybody knows quite yet. But it’s going to be distributed.”
Boies also referred to the hack as “a state sponsored criminal attack on an American corporation and its employees.” Late last week, the FBI confirmed that North Korea had been linked to the crime, although the North Korea government has denied any involvement, and has even proposed a joint investigation into the attack.
Meanwhile, the “hacktivist” group known as Anonymous is also getting involved, denouncing Sony’s decision to pull The Interview from theaters and claiming that they will release the film themselves. The Twitter account that made the claims has since been suspended, but Uproxx has a transcript of the messages.
“Seriously @Sony we warned you. We infiltrated your systems long before North Korea. We thought you’d take it as a warning and fix your shit. If North Korea can do this to Sony, a “credible” and “legitimate” conglomerate, who’s to say they can’t do it to their next major target?
Why are people asking us to leak the movie? We’re saving it as a Christmas present for you.. #winkwink We’re not with either side, we just want to watch the movie too…and soon you too will be joining us. Sorry, @SonyPictures.”
We’ll keep you updated throughout the week as this story develops.
james franco seth rogen sony the interview