# Theater chains cancelling "The Interview" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522 "2014-12-17T21:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/121 "2014-12-19T00:35:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ironically, governments have courage. Governments _can_ have courage. That doesn’t mean they will. John Kiriakou is in jail right now for speaking out against war crimes committed by the CIA because the current executive branch are cowards. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/122 "2014-12-19T00:37:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ironically, governments have courage. Governments stand up to threats. Freedom of expression is protected by governments, not corporations. There can never be a corporate libertopia. It’s only sad that it takes something like this to open peoples’ eyes to what should have been obvious from the first moment. The grand irony here is that it is a foreign _government_ stifling freedom of expression of a corporation… ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/123 "2014-12-19T00:42:44Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > The grand irony here is that it is a foreign _government_ stifling freedom of expression of a corporation… I don’t watch Fox News because…well…I’m human, but the channel happened to be on it this evening and they broke to an ad with “Obama caves in on Cuba and North Korea in one day! When we get back” COME ON! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/124 "2014-12-19T01:15:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **madsircool** : > > Freedom of expression is protected by the government from only the government…yet, there are examples where the government is happy to squash expression. Just try leading a prayer in a public school. Interesting rhetorical technique, using an example of the government protecting against the government to argue that the government doesn’t always protect against a government. But wouldn’t the opposite example have been more effective for your argument? ---
**Author:** ![Quarter\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c68b51/32.png) [@Quarter\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quarter_Lane)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/125 "2014-12-19T01:55:30Z")
No “Team America” now, either. [Paramount pulled the plug on that plan](http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/18/showbiz/movies/feat-texas-theater-the-interview-team-america/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). I’m not sure how to feel about that. It makes me wonder if Paramount is admitting that they don’t have their own servers secure enough to prevent an attack and are trying to keep their name out of this in fear of another security breach. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/126 "2014-12-19T02:05:56Z")
I’m still seeing constant commercials for this movie. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/127 "2014-12-19T02:55:48Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Based on everything I know, I’d estimate the probability that there is a bomb in any theater showing _The Interview_ to be 100%. Heh. I just got this. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/128 "2014-12-19T03:02:25Z")
The hoopla reminds me of the _True Lies_ ruckus 20 years ago. No one backed down over that. But then, that was before 9/11 and theater shootings. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/129 "2014-12-19T03:07:36Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I don’t watch Fox News because…well…I’m human, but the channel happened to be on it this evening and they broke to an ad with “Obama caves in on Cuba and North Korea in one day! When we get back” > > COME ON! Are you objecting to the term _caves in_? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/130 "2014-12-19T03:34:21Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Governments _can_ have courage. That doesn’t mean they will. John Kiriakou is in jail right now for speaking out against war crimes committed by the CIA because the current executive branch are cowards. > [@madsircool](#): > > Freedom of expression is protected by the government from only the government…yet, there are examples where the government is happy to squash expression. Just try leading a prayer in a public school. Governments do not have any more courage than corporations. The government will be more than happy to violate your rights if you allow them. I bow before your superior logic. :rolleyes: Yes, governments don’t always show courage and corporations aren’t always cowards. But that’s the way to bet. And madsircool, I’d argue that in your example governments are showing tremendous courage in protecting the rights of minorities against the oppression and bigotry of the majority. One of thousands of such examples. ETA: And of course, it is not and never has been illegal to pray in school or even lead a prayer. It only is a problem if the school (i.e. its representatives) itself causes, sanctions, or leads the prayer in its official capacity. But let’s not introduce facts into such an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/131 "2014-12-19T04:45:18Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Are you objecting to the term _caves in_? 😕 I’m objecting to the idea that Obama has anything to do with Sony’s decision. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/132 "2014-12-19T14:38:44Z")
Has anyone seen or heard of the movie The Red Chapel? Buzzfeed has an article "[You Can’t See “The Interview,” So Watch This Comedy About North Korea Instead,"](http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonwillmore/you-cant-see-the-interview-so-watch-this-comedy-about-north#.noVZgVVa2) and it sounds interesting. > [@](#): > > Luckily, there’s one comedy involving North Korea that everyone can and should watch right now, and it’s sharper, darker, and more empathetic about the surreality and awfulness of life under the dictatorship. It’s called The Red Chapel, it’s currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime, and it needs no exaggeration for comic effect — it’s a documentary. > [@](#): > > Brügger, who narrates the film, says he wants to “achieve what no one had done before — expose the very core of the evilness of North Korea,” which he calls “the most heartless and brutal totalitarian state ever created.” What he and his pair of comedians find over their two-week trip isn’t surprising, but it is unforgettably disturbing and sometimes upsetting in its transparently scripted strangeness. It sounds good, I’m going to try to watch it this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/133 "2014-12-19T16:02:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ironically, governments have courage. Governments stand up to threats. Freedom of expression is protected by governments, not corporations. There can never be a corporate libertopia. It’s only sad that it takes something like this to open peoples’ eyes to what should have been obvious from the first moment. Freedom of expression is a _limitation_ on the power of government, insisted on after centuries of hard-won experience that governments were very often **not** benign and were (like any human institution) most often courageous in protecting the prerogatives of their leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/134 "2014-12-19T17:10:40Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > I was under the impression that the distributor takes most of the box office from the theatre and the theatres themselves make next to nothing and rely on concession sales and pre-movie advertising to make their money. Nope, The studio takes about 50 to 55% of the total box office. (in North America) So if something does 100 million domestic, then the studio, eventually, collects about 55 million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/135 "2014-12-19T17:16:08Z")
Look, Americans invented hacking. Can’t we just have folks hack them back? I mean, publish a list of Kim’s favorite porn titles? Hack into the doubtless myriad of security cams that they must have? Etc. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/136 "2014-12-19T17:17:49Z")
First off, it’s not SONY caving it. It’s the theater chains. Once Regal, AMC and Cinemark said ‘no thanks’ the film didn’t stand a chance. Those three circuits represent the majority of theaters in America. The 50 Cent movie was basically rejected by Regal when it come out. They took a much smaller number of runs due to ‘security concerns’ but they were the only chain to do so. Now I’m wondering, what movies are going to benefit from this? Will theaters take on extra prints of Into the Woods or hold movies that were going to drop off a little longer? Suddenly there is a huge gap that has to be filled with something. Those screens won’t be dark. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/137 "2014-12-19T17:29:34Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Nope, The studio takes about 50 to 55% of the total box office. (in North America) So if something does 100 million domestic, then the studio, eventually, collects about 55 million dollars. Not to complicate things, but this gets even more labyrinthine when the production studio (Columbia in this case) and the distributor (Sony) are different. The distributor does collect that 50%-55%, then they deduct some pre-agreed costs for P&A (prints and advertising), and then they’ll have some kind of deal with studio…they’ve either leased it in return for some % of the revenue, or come to some sort of agreement on profit share. I haven’t seen anything on how the Columbia-Sony deal is structured, but I’ll bet it’s out there in the 38 million files that were stolen. Given that Columbia is a sub of Sony it may not matter to the top line, but it matters to SPE. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/138 "2014-12-19T17:36:16Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Not to complicate things, but this gets even more labyrinthine when the production studio (Columbia in this case) and the distributor (Sony) are different. The distributor does collect that 50%-55%, then they deduct some pre-agreed costs for P&A (prints and advertising), and then they’ll have some kind of deal with studio…they’ve either leased it in return for some % of the revenue, or come to some sort of agreement on profit share. I haven’t seen anything on how the Columbia-Sony deal is structured, but I’ll bet it’s out there in the 38 million files that were stolen. Given that Columbia is a sub of Sony it may not matter to the top line, but it matters to SPE. Actually, thinking through this further, it all washes out for Sony, so why would they care? Never mind. :o ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/139 "2014-12-19T17:59:42Z")
> **[FBI: North Korea Was Behind the Sony Hack](https://gizmodo.com/fbi-north-korea-was-behind-the-sony-hack-1672489503)** > > The FBI is now officially blaming North Korea for the attacks that have ravaged Sony Pictures for the past weeks. Per the FBI (emphasis added): As a > [@](#): > > The FBI is now officially blaming North Korea for the attacks that have ravaged Sony Pictures for the past weeks. > > **Per the FBI (emphasis added)**: > 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 FBI reports that it has been working directly with Sony Pictures Entertainment since shortly after the attacks began. In the course of the investigation, the FBI has found the malware that infected Sony is similar to other malware known to be written and deployed by North Korean actors in the past, down to specific lines of code. Is anyone else not 100% there? Every day I use code generated in Redmond, WA, but I’ll be damned if Microsoft gets credit for my work. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522/140 "2014-12-19T18:00:30Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Freedom of expression is a _limitation_ on the power of government, insisted on after centuries of hard-won experience that governments were very often **not** benign and were (like any human institution) most often courageous in protecting the prerogatives of their leaders. Oh my, an Originalist! Spare me. In today’s world, either the government protects your freedom of expression or you have none. Corporations don’t enter into this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theater-chains-cancelling-the-interview/707522.md?page=8)