'Interview' pulled after threat; U.S. says North Korea behind Sony hack

The group, calling itself Guardians of Peace, issued a warning Tuesday that referred to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and instructed people to stay away from theaters showing "The Interview."

"We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave.)" the message read.

"Team America" offered in place of "The Interview", then pulled

Alamo Drafthouse defiantly replaced "The Interview" with a Dec. 27 screening of the 2004 satire after "The Interview" was yanked from screens over a terrorist threat. However, Paramount Pictures, the studio behind "Team America," will not offer it for exhibition.

"We can confirm that the screening of 'Team America' was canceled as the film was pulled from release," Alamo Drafthouse said in a statement. "We are issuing refunds to those that purchased tickets."

It's a sign that Hollywood may be wary of further stirring up the politically charged situation surrounding "The Interview."

Carmike Cinemas, the nation's fourth-largest theater chain, announced late Tuesday that it would not show the film, and the top three exhibitors — Regal, AMC and Cinemark — followed suit Wednesday.

Sony subsequently announced it was pulling the film, saying in a statement: "Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale — all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like. We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

A scheduled press/promotional screening Thursday night at the ShowPlace ICON Theatre off Roosevelt Road also was canceled.

Obama: 'Go to the movies' 

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, President Barack Obama called the cyberattack on Sony "very serious" but suggested the administration has yet to establish the hacker threat to moviegoers as credible. "For now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies," he said. The FBI, meanwhile, advised in a private document obtained by Reuters that theaters and other businesses associated with "The Interview" could be targeted in cyberattacks.

Former Sony Pictures spokesman Steve Elzer, who opened his own PR firm in May, said the ramifications extend far beyond his former company. "It's a nightmare not just for Sony but for any company working in the world today that is watching what's happening and asking themselves what they can do to go above and beyond the industry standards to protect their content and sensitive data."

More despair was being communicated online from across the political spectrum.

"Is that all it takes — an anonymous threat and the numbers 911 — to throw free expression under the bus?" tweeted HBO talk show host Bill Maher.

"No one should kid themselves," former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich tweeted. "With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very, very dangerous precedent."
"Wow," actor Rob Lowe tweeted. "Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow."

Still, Chicago securities attorney Andrew Stoltmann argued that movie theater operators' decision to pull showings of "The Interview" might have been prudent to protect themselves from lawsuits in the event of an actual attack.

"The fact that a theater is showing it, and there is arguably this credible threat out there, invites a massive sum of litigation and liability if something should happen," said Stoltmann, an adjunct securities law professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. He noted that if a violent incident took place, the theaters and Sony could "be on the hook."

Chris Johnson, chief executive officer of Downers Grove-based Classic Cinemas, said his chain had planned to show "The Interview" at seven of its 13 local locations until the threat was issued.

"When the threat became physical in nature and the hackers invoked 9/11, that changed it for me," Johnson said. "I don't have the resources to combat an unknown force. Does the decision bother me? Yeah, it bothers me. I've never, ever not played a film (because of controversy). But this has nothing to do with the film's content; it has to do with the threat of violence."

The movie, co-directed by Rogen and Evan Goldberg (whose previous collaboration was last year's apocalypse comedy "This Is the End"), received mixed reviews from its early screenings, with Variety's Scott Foundas on the negative end as he called it "about as funny as a communist food shortage and just as protracted." It is not the first film to depict the assassination of a sitting head of state, though the 2006 British mockumentary "Death of a President," which envisioned President George W. Bush's demise, grossed a mere $519,000.

As revealed in leaked emails, the filmmakers and studio had engaged in some tense negotiations over such issues as toning down the graphic nature of the North Korean leader's head exploding.

Before Sony's decision to pull "The Interview" was announced, McKay said he didn't think the conflict would have an impact on other movies getting made. "North Korea is a special and really horrifying case," he said. "It's the most twisted and malevolent dictatorship on the planet. … I still think Seth and Evan are spot-on. We should be talking about North Korea."

Yet Deadline.com reported Wednesday that New Regency has scotched plans for a North Korea-set thriller, "Pyongyang," to star Steve Carell, to be directed by Gore Verbinski and to begin shooting in March.

In response to an emailed request for comment, the movie's Chicago-based screenwriter, Steve Conrad, sent a photo of Charlie Chaplin as the spoofed, Hitler-like central character of 1940's "The Great Dictator."

"Hollywood is a city of fear," said Ron Falzone, associate professor of cinema at Columbia College Chicago. "You taste it when you get off the plane. So there's no question this will influence the kinds of comedies that get made."

Falzone added that while strong political satire has found a home on TV, movies have been shying away from it.

"Now for the first time in years, they're actually doing a political satire, and this terrible controversy is gathering around it," he said. "If you think we're going to see any more political satires from Hollywood for a long time, forget it."

David Fannon, executive vice president of the independent New York-based movie distribution company Screen Media Ventures, speculated that with video on demand (VOD) accounting for much of the revenue for many movies, Sony's decision to pull "The Interview" from theaters could become a windfall for the studio and the movie's producers.

"The amount of publicity that this is generating, it's probably going to do phenomenally well on VOD," Fannon said. "I think this is just a home run for them because everybody is going to want to see what the hell this movie is."

But amid general speculation that a cable company might worry of being targeted as well, Variety and other outlets reported late Wednesday that the studio had ruled out a VOD or DVD release, saying in a statement: "Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film."

Apatow expressed concern over where the newly toppled dominoes are headed.

"You can say (the threat) is a terrifying message, and we want to make sure there's no way anyone could get hurt, and that's completely understandable," Apatow said. "But what do you do when this happens again in three weeks?"

Tribune movie critic Michael Phillips, Reuters and the Tribune Washington Bureau contributed.

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