Steve Carell and Gore Verbinski's North Korea-Set Thriller Canceled

This is why so many have come out strongly against Sony Pictures' decision to pull the release of The Interview after hacker threats and warnings of violence. The effect of the move is beginning to spread to other studios already, as 20th Century Fox have now cancelled a North Korea-set thriller from Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Steve Carell.

The film, titled Pyongyang, was announced earlier this year with a script by Steve Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), and has been described as a paranoia thriller set in North Korea. Due to recent events, insiders at Fox decided the climate to even develop such a film was a bad idea, although they were never officially committed to it in the first place. Verbinski expressed his anger and disappointment in a statement last night:

Getting the facts straight:
Yesterday, I was told by New Regency and Fox that Fox will no longer be distributing the film. Prior to that, the film was green lit and fully funded by New Regency with Fox distributing. I have been told in no uncertain words that based on the situation at Sony, Fox has now decided to not distribute the film. Without a distributor, New Regency was forced to shut the film down.
 My thoughts:
I find it ironic that fear is eliminating the possibility to tell stories that depict our ability to overcome fear.
Gore Verbinski

 Where does this end, exactly? Have we reached the point where a film, even a silly comedy, won't get made because some may not agree with the material? That shuts down a lot of avenues. Say goodbye to movies about religion, abortion, race, anything that could ruffle a few feathers. [Deadline]