Hackers Maybe Sorta Okay with Edited Version of 'The Interview'; Obama says Sony made a Mistake

Today the FBI made what we all knew official, confirming that North Korea was behind the cyber attacks that have crippled and embarrassed Sony Pictures. Here is part of the statement:

"As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions."

The attacks which led to Sony internal emails, film scripts, salaries, and other damaging information being leaked to the public, were to force the studio to halt release of the comedy, The Interview, for its depiction of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un being assassination in rather glorious fashion.  The film was taken off the schedule after violent threats were made, causing quite the outcry from Hollywood and others critical of the decision. While it looks like the film won't ever see the light of day, if it were to happen it seems the hacker group is of two minds on how to react.

USA Today reported that Guardians of Peace released a statement saying it was okay for Sony to release the James Franco/Seth Rogen comedy, as long as certain edits were made....

This is GOP.
You have suffered through enough threats.
We lift the ban.
The Interview may release now.
But be carful.
September 11 may happen again if you don't comply with the rules.
Rule #1: no death scene of Kim Jong Un being too happy
Rule #2: do not test us again
Rule #3: if you make anything else, we will be here ready to fight

What's interesting is this is the polar opposite to a message they reportedly sent to Sony execs stating they were "very wise" to cancel The Interview, but now the film needed to be done away with utterly...

"Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy. And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."

The conflicting messages have left some confused about what the next step could be for Sony, who some have estimated could lose more than $75M on the film. Meanwhile, President Obama has come out against Sony's decision to give in to the terrorist threats, saying...

"I wish they had spoken to me first. I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks." He added, "I am sympathetic to the concerns that they face. Having said all that, yes I think they made a mistake."

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Watch the Face-Melting Scene from 'The Interview' North Korea Hates

And the beat goes on. Sony's decision to yank The Interview off the release calendar has sent ripples throughout Hollywood and affected other studios. Fox shuttered a North Korea-based thriller from Gore Verbinski and Steve Carell because they didn't want to ruffle any feathers. And Paramount is stopping theaters from showing Team America: World Police as a replacement, maybe because they're afraid Kim Jong-il is actually still alive somewhere? And all this because a couple of actors had the temerity to kill his dictatorial son, Kim Jong-un, in a stupid comedy movie. Well, now you can see why North Korea was ready to go to war over it.

The hackers have now leaked a version of Kim Jong-un's fiery death scene in the movie, and damn Rogen was not fu**ing around! It's like something out of Terminator...it's like his head was the Death Star and Luke just tapped into the Force. Because it is officially Sony/Columbia Pictures property we won't be posting it directly, but you can check it from Gawker right here. 

Basically, the scene shows Jong-un dying in a fiery explosion, slowed down so you see every bit of him go up in flames all while a version of Katy Perry's "Firework" plays in the background. The scene caused some tension behind-the-scenes as Rogen, Sony's Amy Pascal (how many emails does she get a day?????), and Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai went back and forth on its graphic nature. Hirai demanded the scene be scaled back significantly, which Rogen complied with, albeit reluctantly. He said in one email dated from October...

"We removed the fire from the hair and the entire wave of secondary head chunks. Please tell us this is over now."

All sides were able to compromise on a toned down version, one with fewer "head chunks".

For Sony there appears to be no end in sight. They probably hoped the decision not to release The Interview would normalize things somewhat, but clearly that is not the case and this will only inflame (no pun intended) the situation further. 

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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]

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'The Interview' won't Even get a VOD Release; North Korea Linked to Cyber Attack

The Interview is over before it ever truly began. Should've written a cover letter.  After the country's biggest theater chains decided against running the controversial comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, Sony Pictures decided to pull the film from the its Christmas Day release altogether after a threat of violence by cyber-terrorists. That led to some hope it could get a digital release through VOD or some other platform, but that's not going to be happening, either.

According to a Sony spokesperson speaking with Deadline, the studio “has no further release plans for the film”.

This is another surprising decision in a day full of them. Sony left the decision to show the comedy up to the individual exhibitors, and the five biggest quickly dropped out. The film drew the anger of North Korea because the plot has Franco and Rogen attempting to kill a stylized version of Kim Jong-un. But Sony's move to not release the film in any way is especially curious now that senior U.S. officials have drawn a connection between the cyber attacks and North Korea. While they did not reveal details, the conclusion is North Korea orchestrated the hacking that has publicly humiliated Sony since last month. There is some speculation they may have had assistance from insiders within Sony. One U.S. official said “This is of a different nature than past attacks."

And so the saga continues. Chances are we will see The Interview some day in some form once this whole thing dies down. Whether audiences will care at that point is another story. [NYT]

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Seth Rogen and James Franco's 'The Interview' Called an "Act of War" by North Korea

Admit it, you know that trailer for The Interview was trouble the instant you saw it. Given some of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's past...ummmm, let's just say "unpredictable" behavior, there was every likelihood that Seth Rogen and James Franco's comedy in which they try to assassinate him was going to cause an international incident. And so it most certainly has with threats of war being thrown into the mix.

A bluntly worded statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Korean Central News Agency calls the release of the film an act of war, although the title of the movie is never stated...

“If the United States administration tacitly approves or supports the release of this film, we will take a decisive and merciless countermeasure."

This comes after the Jong-un's regime publicly denounced The Interview on Monday, while adding some odd conspiracy theories about Presidential assassinations. Says executive director Kim Myong Chol...

"A film about the assassination of a foreign leader mirrors what the U.S. has done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. And let us not forget who killed [President John F.] Kennedy — Americans. In fact, President [Barack] Obama should be careful in case the U.S. military wants to kill him as well."

For what it's worth, Rogen doesn't seem too upset that his movie could start WWIII or something...

People don't usually wanna kill me for one of my movies until after they've paid 12 bucks for it. Hiyooooo!!!
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) June 25, 2014

The Interview opens October 10th. Anybody know when it opens in North Korea? Probably never.  [NYT]

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