Apparently, we’ve become a nation of sniveling cowards. Or at least the people who run our theater chains are. Geez…
Yeah, weird. N. Korea is all talk. Just screen the movie and have a laugh, folks. N. Korea is irrelevant.
Seriously? WTF?
I can understand JAPAN being a bit alarmed by bluster from North Korea, since, y’know, NK occasionally tosses a missile over them, but people over here? Really? C’mon.
If this isn’t just a publicity stunt…
Do these theater chains think there is a huge North Korean network of sleeper agents, just waiting, perhaps for decades, to unleash hell in the even someone in the US makes some sort of derogatory remark about the Dear Leader? Do they think NK is going to launch ICBMs targeted at theaters? How is “violence reminiscent of the terrorist attacks of September 11th” supposed to be achieved against theaters? Small planes flying to mutliplexes?
Seems like a lot of hooey. I’m still not going to see the movie anyway - the basic premise annoys me. If I were one of the characters, I’d fully expect that the CIA was just using me as a patsy anyway - sure, I’ll kill Jung, and …then what? The CIA saves me? Not likely. Easier to “disavow any knowledge of my actions”, I’d say. My only decision is which do I fear more - life in a NK prison, or summary execution? decisions, decisions.
On the one hand, sounds like a lame move on the part of the theaters. On the other hand, it sounds like such a lame movie I can’t help not feeling sad about it.
I suspect most people on this Board aren’t old enough to remember that in 1977 Hanafi Siege in Washington DC. Hamafi gunmen took over three buildings in Washington DC took 149 hostages, and killed a journalist, demanding that they be given a leader of a rival group who had killed family members, and also that copies of the newly released movie Mohammed, Messenger of God be destroyed as sacrilegious.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1593326/posts
The movie wasn’t sacriligeous. In fact, it was incredibly respectful, and had Muslim backing (including Moammar Khaddafi). But after the hostage crisis, the film was completely withdrawn from all theaters.
It wasn’t destroyed, though, and years later quietly re-appeared on VHS as The Message
The Wikipedia entry on the film gives nothing of this:
But iMDB does:
So, under threat of imminent violence, the US theaters have certainly caved before.
I’ll probably go see it (assuming that Alamo Drafthouse doesn’t cancel showings, which would seem out of character for them). I’m not expecting anything great, just good dumb turn-off-the-brain fun.
And yes, it does occur to me that this whole thing could be a stupid publicity stunt.
It’s (probably) not even N. Korea. I don’t think the hackers even mentioned the film till the media started speculating that they were tied to N. Korea.
So yea, pretty ridiculous of AMC et. al.
If this is a publicity stunt, Sony, Franco, Rogen and everyone else involved will be utterly destroyed by the media, their former patrons & customers and all the local, state and federal agencies who were deceived. The net bad would far outweigh the net profit, and I have a hard time believing that many people would be that stupid at the same time about the same thing.
We moved beyond that question when 50,000 social security numbers and the CEO’s personal emails got leaked.
I was gonna pass on this one, but I will now go out of my way to see it.
I don’t think Sony engineered the leak but they certainly intend to capitalize on it. It’s all good to say theaters can pull the movies if they want, but, if Sony was truly concerned they’d pull the movie. They won’t cause, TERRORIST, but really it’s MONEY.
And there’s still no proof North Korea had anything to do with it. Just some pundit’s wet dream.
I’m waiting for someone to blame President Obama.
If North Korea is behind this, why didn’t they make threats when “Team America: World Police” came out? They heavily satirized the North Koreans in that one. I don’t think it’s a credible threat. Whoever was behind the Sony hacking, it wasn’t the North Koreans. And I think they’re trolling Sony by intimidation.
Team America: World Police came out ten years ago. Not as much information was accessible online then.
Maybe I’m being ignorant, but are there any North Korea loyalists outside of North Korea? Seems like any that might get the chance to step outside the country immediately declare “I’m free!”
Is there such thing as N.Korean sleeper cells?
Where are the stars of this “entertainment”? If there’s no real problem, why are they hiding? Studios, and the stars of the movie usually want the film to do well, and by well, I mean make lots-O-money. Public appearances by the stars are important to the bottomline.
It’s easier and cheaper to let the news agencies whip people into a frenzy about seeing the movie to spite the terrorists. Before the hack I had never heard of this movie.
What has one got to do with the other?
It’s all coming from the same “hacktivist” group. The people threatening violence against theaters that show this movie are the same people that hacked the Sony servers, stealing emails, personal employee data, and digital copies of several unreleased movies (The Interview being one of them).
For those who still think this is all a PR stunt, hopefully this is more proof that you’re wrong. Unless they just happened to hire somebody who is REALLY bad at PR.