Hollywood outraged over The Interview cancellation
Celebrities including Judd Apatow and Rob Lowe have expressed their outrage at Sony bosses after they decided to scrap plans to release Seth Rogen and James Franco's controversial new comedy The Interview following threats from hackers.
Executives at the major movie studio announced on Wednesday (17Dec14) that the release of the film, about two Americans who set out on a mission to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, would not be released on Christmas Day (25Dec14) as scheduled.
The move came after activists, who hacked into Sony's database last
month (Nov14), threatened to carry out 9/11-style terrorists
attacks on any theaters screening the film.
The concerning email prompted the cancellation of the film's New
York premiere on Thursday (18Dec14), as well as all of Franco and
Rogen's promotional appearances.
Chiefs from five of America's top movie theater chains announced
they would not be screening the comedy, and Sony bosses soon pulled
the plug on the film all together.
The statement released by Sony representatives reads: "We respect
and understand our partners' decision and, of course, completely
share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and
theater-goers.
"Sony Pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal
assault against our employees, our customers, and our business...
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."
Now, slew of stars has taken to social media to express their
frustration with the decision, including Apatow, who is a frequent
collaborator of Rogen and Franco's.
He took to Twitter.com and wrote, "I think it is disgraceful that
these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any
movie that gets an anonymous threat now? What if an anonymous
person got offended by something an executive at Coke (Coca-Cola)
said. Will we all have to stop drinking Coke?
"We also don't know that it isn't a disgruntled employee or a
hacker. Do we think North Korea has troops on the ground in the US?
Ridiculous. This only guarantees that this movie will be seen by
more people on Earth than it would have before. Legally or
illegally all will see it."
Rob Lowe, who is in The Interview, wrote, "Wow. Everyone caved. The
hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.
"Saw @Sethrogen at JFK (New York airport). Both of us have never
seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville
Chamberlain proud today," referring to the British Prime Minister
who famously conceded acquiesced to Adolph Hitler's demands in the
lead-up to World War Two.
Actress Mia Farrow shared her disappointment by writing on the
microblogging site that the "bad guys won", while comedian Jimmy
Kimmel called it an "act of cowardice", and actor Dax Shepherd
wrote, "While I understand the necessity to pull The Interview, it
makes me furious. Free speech is the most admirable tenet in our
constitution."
Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore tried to make light
of the subject, and added, "Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run
Hollywood, I'd also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay
movies and no more Transformers."