Sony famously canceled its Christmas Day theatrical release of The Interview, but back in olden times, a “theater” was also the name of a place where people saw “plays.” Now, a theater in New York is drawing on that history to resurrect a currently dead The Interview in the form of a live show. Produced by Upright Citizen’s Brigade vets Dave Hensley, Sean Perrotta and Benny Scheckner, the live read takes place at 7 pm this Saturday at the Treehouse Theater in Chelsea.
In a phone interview, Scheckner said that the idea for The Interview live reading came about when he and the other producers were talking recently about the controversy at Sony.
“We were horrified by the complications this carries for free speech,” Scheckner said. He added that they were able to download a version of the screenplay online. “It was not that hard to find.”
The three producers have had no contact with Sony or the screenwriters. [LA Times]
So if they stage a live read of a script obtained through the same massive data leak that eventually shut down the release of the movie, as a protest against not releasing that movie, would that be considered irony? I’m asking seriously, I honestly don’t know anymore.
It makes a lot of sense though. Tarantino pulled the same stunt with The Hateful Eight, and with all the musical adaptations of Hollywood movies playing Broadway, theater is pretty much movies’ gay cargo cult these days anyway.