Release of the movie "The Interview" derailed because of threats

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**djones520**

Easy E wrote:
whembly wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I dunno. I want to see the movie, and I hate letting North Korea essentially have a veto over US moviemaking.

On the other hand, if I were Sony and released the movie despite clear public threats, and something did happen, I'd be pretty concerned about the liability, especially on a movie that was unlikely to have a huge box office return anyway. Making brave choices doesn't equate here to making profitable choices.

I don't really blame Sony... they're a business.

So, we the feth is our government? Hello... John Kerry! Hello President Obama!

Stand up for American values!

Yeah! Everyone knows the Government needs to get involved in a business decision!

It is more then a business decision. It's a foreign government attacking our country, and it's values of free speech.

Is this something we go to war over? No. Is it something that we should rattle our sabre over? Possibly. Is it something we should ignore? Hell no.

**Necros**

I still think this is secretly a marketing gimmick, so in a couple weeks Sony can be like "OMG, we're allowed to show this movie now that there's no other movies coming out and we can have the bestest numbers of all, so come see it and give us moneys!"

**djones520**

Necros wrote:
I still think this is secretly a marketing gimmick, so in a couple weeks Sony can be like "OMG, we're allowed to show this movie now that there's no other movies coming out and we can have the bestest numbers of all, so come see it and give us moneys!"

And you think the FBI is in on it?

**squidhills**

Necros wrote:
I still think this is secretly a marketing gimmick, so in a couple weeks Sony can be like "OMG, we're allowed to show this movie now that there's no other movies coming out and we can have the bestest numbers of all, so come see it and give us moneys!"

It's more likely that it was a false flag attack by Disney, trying to destroy Sony so that the rights to Spiderman will revert to Marvel/Disney.

**Ahtman**

Necros wrote:
I still think this is secretly a marketing gimmick, so in a couple weeks Sony can be like "OMG, we're allowed to show this movie now that there's no other movies coming out and we can have the bestest numbers of all, so come see it and give us moneys!"

I thought about that as well, but I think the fallout would be to great to make it worthwhile. I have no doubt they are trying to make the best of a bad situation but I don't think they invented the situation.

**Jihadin**

Guess every store a target when the video is release for DVD sale

**whembly**

Okay... this is starting to get ridiculous...

I'm laughing...

http://gizmodo.com/movie-theaters-cant-even-show-team-america-now-because-1672828807

Paramount Cancels Team America Screenings Because Everyone's a Coward

In the wake of Sony Pictures canceling its release of The Interview, some theaters with actual balls opted to show Team America: World Police as a protest. No such luck. In a truly staggering act of cowardice, Paramount appears to be telling theaters to shut it all down. What the hell, guys.

Due to to circumstances beyond our control, the TEAM AMERICA 12/27 screening has been cancelled. We apologize & will provide refunds today.

— Alamo Drafthouse DFW (@AlamoDFW) December 18, 2014

Please note: Our Late Shift screening of Team America: World Police has been canceled by Paramount Pictures. pic.twitter.com/TlPVzIeICW

— Capitol Theatre (@CapitolW65th) December 18, 2014

Breaking Plaza news : Team America World Police pulled from all theatres as per Paramount Pictures .

— Plaza Atlanta (@PlazaAtlanta) December 18, 2014

This insane cancellation ostensibly comes from the same insane security concerns Sony Pictures folded to when it cancelled The Interview. Namely, the threat of full-on terrorist attacks at theaters by the Guardians of Peace, a organization that so far has shown prowess only in hacking Sony's internal network and bragging about it anonymously on Pastebin.

Terrorist threats are no laughing matter, of course, but the Department of Homeland Security has found no credible threat and evidence that the Guardians of Peace have any sort of manpower that could do anything within the boundaries of the United States (much less at thousands of locations simultaneously) is practically non-existent. This sort of panicked cowardice would be laughably absurd if it wasn't so damn sad.

We've reached out to some of the theaters to find out of Paramount is citing an additiona;, specific threat against theaters screening Team America: World Police in particular, or if the company is simply just assuming that theater-threatening boogeymen wouldn't be huge fans of this film either.

Evidence is mounting that perhaps North Korea itself is behind the Sony hacks, although that doesn't lend much more credence to threats of terrorist considering the North Korea is pretty well known for spouting limp threats and launching missiles that can barely make it off the launchpad.

We've reached out to Paramount and several of the theaters involved for comment.

Updating...

WHAT IN THE

is going on here?

**Nostromodamus**

"Guardians of Peace" apparently have the ability to remove testicles AND spinal columns.

**Steelmage99**

So...terrorism works it seems.

I guess all that "Don't stop buying Big Macs (and cars and air conditioning) or the terrorists win!" bull-gak didn't extend to cinema tickets.

**Jihadin**

It all started with that amateur movie producer that incited the riots in Benghazi that got our Ambassador and Security detail killed....

Spoiler:

**Nostromodamus**

It must take amazing levels of stupid to think that a fictional movie produced by a private business represents the viewpoint of the US government (and therefore the US people) to the extent of believing the US is committing "acts of war" upon NK by allowing a free society where people can express themselves however the feth they please.

I know that that state media is how things work in dictatorships and communist countries, but do they REALLY not know how things work over here? Do they just lack the intelligence to even COMPREHEND a free society?

**Jihadin**

Well Sony is Japanese...Corporate HQ located on Japan....within missile range of North Korea....

**Nostromodamus**

Jihadin wrote:
Well Sony is Japanese...Corporate HQ located on Japan....within missile range of North Korea....

Assuming their missile even makes it over the sea, with zero countermeasures deployed.

Most likely it would fall into the drink and mildly irritate Godzilla.

Actually, with their complete inability to distinguish fictional movies from reality, they might view that as a viable strategy for invading Tokyo...

**dogma**

whembly wrote:

WHAT IN THE is going on here?

Paramount gains nothing from these screenings, save for some paltry royalties, so why would they agree to them?

**Ouze**

Pajiba, one of my favorite sites, had a good analysis on this.

The Geopolitics of Sony's Decision Making
By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Trade News | December 18, 2014 | Comments (61)

This may come as a surprise to you in the wake of the last few days, but Sony is not an American company. It’s a Japanese one. I know, I know, this should be relatively basic and readily available public information. And the reaction to Sony’s decision to not release the Rogen-Franco The Interview on the basis of non-credible and non-specific threats issued by the alleged North Korean hackers has sparked a firestorm of justifiable outrage. I’ve got a piece in the works about exactly that, but for the moment I wanted to touch base with the geopolitics going on under the hood here.

Sure, when hackers claim they’re going to make a 9/11 style attack on theaters if the film is released, we have the reasonable reaction of well, where are you going to find a movie theater with more than six people in it these days? The threat is at face value silly, and not particularly specific or credible. And Sony gets hammered for backing down to bullies, because the only thing that pisses off Americans more than somebody being bullied out of free speech is the fact that other Americans have different political opinions.

But there’s a deeper problem than a movie on American soil made by Americans and primarily for Americans. There’s the problem of Tokyo and mushroom clouds. See, North Korea blew up their first nuke a few years ago. It was a pissant little thing, barely an eighth the size of Hiroshima.

But an eighth of Hiroshima is still somewhere in the ballpark of eight 9/11’s.

The North Koreans have got missiles that can reach California, but experts are pretty sure that they haven’t managed to figure out how to make a nuke small enough to fit on those missiles. Rudimentary nuclear weapons are massive things. We had to specially rig the Enola Gay to carry that first one we dropped. But experts are also pretty sure that they’ve got them miniaturized just enough to go on the medium range missiles that reach Japan, which is only 800 miles away as the missile flies.

And North Korea has made repeated threats over the last several years, threatening that if Japan did one thing or another they didn’t like, that Tokyo would be “consumed in nuclear flames.”

Sony is a Japanese company. When North Korea threatens them, they’re not threatening Burbank on the other side of the world, they’re threatening to turn to atomic ash the capital city of the only country to ever be burned by nuclear fire. While the credibility of threats to attack American theaters is minimal, that’s not the threat that is motivating Sony’s decision-making at the moment.

**Jihadin**

Pretty sure Sony does not want to take a chance of finding out if North Korea really has a nuke....

I think MGM did the hacking. Their version of Red Dawn was a winnah wiinah chicken dinnah

**dogma**

djones520 wrote:

It is more then a business decision. It's a foreign government attacking our country, and it's values of free speech.

SPE's decision was just a business decision. The hack, and how the US should respond to such matters is a wholly separate issue with very far reaching implications.

**djones520**

dogma wrote:
djones520 wrote:

It is more then a business decision. It's a foreign government attacking our country, and it's values of free speech.

SPE's decision was just a business decision. The hack, and how the US should respond to such matters is a wholly separate issue with very far reaching implications.

That's like saying responding to black mail is just a business decision. Oh wait, no you are just saying that.

**dogma**

djones520 wrote:

That's like saying responding to black mail is just a business decision. Oh wait, no you are just saying that.

Yep. That's because I'm not burdened with machismo.

**H.B.M.C.**

whembly wrote:
WHAT IN THE is going on here?

We're censoring ourselves out of fear and the fear of offending anyone anywhere.

This is a sad day.

**Easy E**

djones520 wrote:
Easy E wrote:
whembly wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I dunno. I want to see the movie, and I hate letting North Korea essentially have a veto over US moviemaking.

On the other hand, if I were Sony and released the movie despite clear public threats, and something did happen, I'd be pretty concerned about the liability, especially on a movie that was unlikely to have a huge box office return anyway. Making brave choices doesn't equate here to making profitable choices.

I don't really blame Sony... they're a business.

So, we the feth is our government? Hello... John Kerry! Hello President Obama!

Stand up for American values!

Yeah! Everyone knows the Government needs to get involved in a business decision!

It is more then a business decision. It's a foreign government attacking our country, and it's values of free speech.

Is this something we go to war over? No. Is it something that we should rattle our sabre over? Possibly. Is it something we should ignore? Hell no.

Ummmm...

Our 1st Amendment rights can only be abridged by our own government. This is not what is happening.

**whembly**

dogma wrote:
whembly wrote:

WHAT IN THE is going on here?

Paramount gains nothing from these screenings, save for some paltry royalties, so why would they agree to them?

It's just outrageous cowardice.

At least Kim Jong-un death scene was leaked.

**dogma**

whembly wrote:

It's just outrageous cowardice.

Bravery in situations where gain is improbable is not bravery, it is stupidity.

**AlexHolker**

dogma wrote:
whembly wrote:

It's just outrageous cowardice.

Bravery in situations where gain is improbable is not bravery, it is stupidity.

The gain is not handing the keys to your entire industry to every troll with an internet connection. This is not just about one movie, or even the three movies already affected, it is about any movie for which you can construct a madman's justification for hating it.

Give donkey-caves a heckler's veto, and they will use it.

**whembly**

dogma wrote:
whembly wrote:

It's just outrageous cowardice.

Bravery in situations where gain is improbable is not bravery, it is stupidity.

"gain is improbable" is purely subjective.

Are we really going to be bullied by a dude who allegedly overdosed on cheese?

**d-usa**

whembly wrote:
dogma wrote:
whembly wrote:

It's just outrageous cowardice.

Bravery in situations where gain is improbable is not bravery, it is stupidity.

"gain is improbable" is purely subjective.

Are we really going to be bullied by a dude who allegedly overdosed on cheese?

We bullied the world with a president that almost died by pretzel, so I'm not sure that we have much room to talk here...

**Ahtman**

AlexHolker wrote:
The gain is not handing the keys to your entire industry to every troll with an internet connection.

That is assuming that we know everything there is to know on the situation, which we don't. Unless one is willing to tell corporate or state secrets odds are we don't know all the facts at this point.

**whembly**

d-usa wrote:
whembly wrote:
dogma wrote:
whembly wrote:

It's just outrageous cowardice.

Bravery in situations where gain is improbable is not bravery, it is stupidity.

"gain is improbable" is purely subjective.

Are we really going to be bullied by a dude who allegedly overdosed on cheese?

We bullied the world with a president that almost died by pretzel, so I'm not sure that we have much room to talk here...

Uh... wut?

We engaging in healthy doses of moral equivalence here?

**dogma**

AlexHolker wrote:

The gain is not handing the keys to your entire industry to every troll with an internet connection.

That's hyperbolic nonsense. SPE and Paramount don't have the keys to the industry, and even if they did their actions don't constitute giving them away.

**d-usa**

I'm saying that "haha, their leader almost OD'd on cheese" is a stupid argument to make when our leader almost died by choking to death on a pretzel in the White House.