As Andrew reported earlier tonight, Sony gave individual theater chains the option not to show The Interview after the latest 9/11 threats from the hackers. Shortly thereafter, Carmike Theaters, the fourth largest theater chain in the nation, announced they wouldn’t be showing the film.
The majority of the busiest theaters are in shopping malls, and the landlords of those sites put pressure on the theaters to drop the film, according to insiders familiar with the discussions. [TheWrap]
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports that Sony is still considering plans to scrap the release entirely. It was initially reported that Arclight Cinemas in LA also wouldn’t screen The Interview, but they quickly responded that they hadn’t yet made a decision. What we do know, however, is that the New York premiere of the film has been canceled. I have a press screening scheduled, which I assume is still on until someone tells me otherwise, but we’ll know more tomorrow.
Like most people, my first response to this news was “WELL F*CK THAT, I’M GOING TO WATCH ALL OF THE SETH ROGEN MOVIES FOR FREEDOM!” My second response is to wonder, is this move cowardly, or do Sony and these theater owners just know something that we don’t? Because if North Korea is behind the hack like it seems, it would be a strange move to suddenly be afraid of a country with whom we’ve technically been at war since the fifties. If North Korea actually had reasonable capabilities to attack within the US, people would’ve been freaking out way before now.
Maybe the shopping mall landlords and such cited in the Wrap story think the hack was carried out by someone besides North Korea, someone who does have the capability to attack. Or, maybe the real concern is more data leaks. I have a hard time believing that people are legitimately scared of a “9/11-style attack” from the Guardians of Engrish and Contradictions or whatever they’re called, a much less hard of a time believing that what they’re really scared of is more data leaks. Which the culprits, whoever they are, have already proved capable of.
Phew, that’s a lot of speculation. Look, all I know is, Serial better lock down their servers, because if hackers disrupt the finale there’s going to be riots in the streets. People throwing pumpkin lattes through Crate and Barrel windows, pandemonium.