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Top Five Theaters Won't Show "The Interview" Sony Cancels Release 589

Posted by samzenpus from the nothing-to-see-here dept.
tobiasly writes The country's top five theater chains — Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Carmike Cinemas and Cineplex Entertainment — have decided not to play Sony's The Interview. This comes after the group which carried off a massive breach of its networks threatened to carry out "9/11-style attacks" on theaters that showed the film. Update: Sony has announced that it has cancelled the planned December 25 theatrical release.
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Top Five Theaters Won't Show "The Interview" Sony Cancels Release More

Top Five Theaters Won't Show "The Interview" Sony Cancels Release

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  • Home of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:24PM (#48621571)

    Uh huh...

    • Home of the financially weary.

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:28PM (#48621613)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re:Home of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Mirar ( 264502 ) on Thursday December 18, 2014 @03:12AM (#48623993) Homepage

          If they show it, and then something happens at one theatre, they will still get sued for millions.

          I bet they would show it if there wasn't a huge culture of suing everything out of everything.

    • Re:Home of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:27PM (#48621607)

      Yep, this only emboldens the bad guys, now that some hackers have actually gotten companies to run away screaming from a fictional movie.

      The movie theaters have just fscked themselves. Now they can't present any controversial material out of fear.

      Like the old counterstrike game:

      "Terrorists win."

      • The movie theaters have just fscked themselves. Now they can't present any controversial material out of fear.

        Sure they can. Just not any "controversial" material that bothers Muslims or dictators.

    • Sony is a modern Japanese company. Hari-kari isn't on the agenda.

    • Re:Home of the brave? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Obscene_CNN ( 3652201 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:57PM (#48621921) Homepage
      So if 9/11 style threats against theaters will stop a movie from being released, Why the hell didn't someone think of that when Twilight was released?

    • Re:Home of the brave? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by bughunter ( 10093 ) <bughunter.earthlink@net> on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @06:44PM (#48622331) Journal

      Humans are brave, and motivated by ideals like liberty and honor.

      Corporations are risk averse, and motivated solely by profit.

    • Re:Home of the brave? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @09:39PM (#48622821)

      Well, SONY might not be as "All-American" as "Home of the Brave" implies.

      But, while the terrorists have won, SONY could do their part to rob the terrorists of their victory. Since they have decided NOT to release the movie to theaters anyway, they could score a great public relations victory by giving away lots of free copies. Imagine free DVDs at lots of retailers and/or sent to anyone who signs up for a free DVD on a Sony website getting a copy in the mail, delivered by an agent of the U.S. Government. And, of course, free digital downloads for people who don't care about quality. And it would send a nice message to all munchkin dictators. Hack us because you don't like what we say, you don't get to silence us, you get us to send out our movie to even more viewers than would have seen it before.

      Not that I expect Sony to do something that would have such a positive effect; I expect them to allow the terrorists to win and focus on making money. Just saying that it is what I would do if I ran Sony. I do not.

  • Terrorists Win (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mcolgin ( 818580 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:25PM (#48621579) Homepage
    Terrorists seem to win over and over.

    • These "terrorist" fellows seem to know how to get the US to do what they want!

      They've got moxie, I'd like to be one of those guys!

      • ... or a brilliant PR move. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by rwa2 ( 4391 ) * on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:47PM (#48621827) Homepage Journal

        I don't know what this movie is, and I don't follow or watch movies in general, but I suddenly almost want to find out more about this movie is all about now.

        Almost.

      • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by johnlcallaway ( 165670 )

        It seems that the terrorists also seem to know how to get the UK/Germany/France/Other EU country to pay millions in ransom to ISIS.

        I'd rather live in a country where an inconsequential movie is dumped over a country stupid enough to pay a ransom.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 )

          It seems that the terrorists also seem to know how to get the UK/Germany/France/Other EU country to pay millions in ransom to ISIS.

          I'd rather live in a country where an inconsequential movie is dumped over a country stupid enough to pay a ransom.

          Appeasment only works for a while - and the UK should know better.

      • Re:Terrorists Win (Score:5, Insightful)

        by AchilleTalon ( 540925 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @06:01PM (#48621967) Homepage
        The US? I believe the US is larger than Sony. Just in case you are not aware of it, the decision was not made by the White House, the Congress or the Senate. So, keep it to the right proportions.

    • Re:Terrorists Win (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:39PM (#48621731) Homepage

      "A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once." – W. Shakespeare

  • Sets a precedent (Score:5, Insightful)

    by guytoronto ( 956941 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:26PM (#48621593)
    Now every terrorist organization around the world will see how easy it is to control North American media.

    • Re:Sets a precedent (Score:5, Funny)

      by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:29PM (#48621623)

      And you don't even need to get elected to do it!

    • True, it's a bad precedent but on the other hand it's also questionable whether a lousy comedy is worth that some people die. If this was like Chaplin's The Great Dictator or Lubitsch's To Be Or Not To Be I would think otherwise, but judging from the trailer it's really just trash.

    • I thought the three-letter agencies were spying on all of us to prevent things like this - you know, stop the terr'ists, protect our freedoms, etc. etc.

      Seems like a vote of no confidence from various businesses here...

  • Boycott (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ottawanker ( 597020 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:30PM (#48621641) Homepage

    Well, I'm boycotting any theatre that isn't showing this movie because of a terrorist threat. If they don't want to show it because it's crap, that's fine with me.. But not because of some threat.

  • Recipe (Score:2, Interesting)

    by NetNed ( 955141 )
    1/2 a dash of PR


    1/2 a dash of bullshit (fresh)


    Two sprigs of the Smith Mundut act repeal


    1 whole FUD, chopped


    1 government w/control issues


    Mix ingredients in a large water cammode briskly then flush on to American public

  • What happened to (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kruach aum ( 1934852 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:33PM (#48621671)

    "we do not negotiate with terrorists."?

    Dude, you don't understand. This is like acknowledging your stalker. It will never stop now.

  • I can easily see how to capitalize on this by releasing it via pay per view/on-demand or other services (assuming, of course, these providers can do a better job at protecting their servers than Sony did in the first place). Who says you have to sit in a physical movie theater with a bunch of strangers that you don't talk to in order to enjoy this movie?

    • Re:So stream it... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jandrese ( 485 ) <kensama@vt.edu> on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:39PM (#48621733) Homepage Journal
      Sony should say screw you to North Korea and release the entire movie for free on the internet. Make sure everybody has a chance to see it. Of course they won't because they still have to monetize it somehow, but it would be something to say "we're not going to give in".

      • They don't have to monetize it at all.In fact, by not monetizing it, they can claim North Korean Economics in the process, in a double slam. Screw the commie bastards.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Matheus ( 586080 )

        Um... that already happened (of course ti was against Sony's will but none-the-less it's out there if you want to see it!)

    • I'd be more likely to buy it streaming or DVD than going to a theater. Frankly, the "theater experience" sucks anyway.

  • Edited for Slashdot (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tobiasly ( 524456 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:38PM (#48621717) Homepage

    Not sure why they truncated my submission but the questions this raises was more interesting to me than the news itself.

    For posterity: What should Sony do? Cut their losses and shelve it? Release it immediately online? Does giving in mean "the terrorists have won"?

    • The terrorists will take it that way, yes.

      Sony should release, even in a limited way. Online would be great.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dalias ( 1978986 )
      Post it on a torrent site. That's about the best possible PR they could do.
    • Sony should give free license to the South Korean groups that send balloons over the North Korean border to include DVD copies of this movie.

  • I don't like Rogan or Franco, don't like that kind of film, but was planning to go anyway just because I was pissed off at a bunch of script kiddies pretending to be a tinpot dictator's henchmen. Sony should have acquired some 'nads and shown it anyway. At least in the theaters courageous enough to put it on the marquee.

  • All they've done is taught attackers that they can force our media around.

    Really disappointed in everyone involved here. Especially the cinemas. At least Sony *was* going to follow through.

  • Sad (Score:2)

    by nytes ( 231372 )

    I couldn't have cared less about the movie. It didn't really sound like my kind of humor.

    But after the threat was made, I was planning on seeing it just to show the (newly become) terrorists what I think of them.

    I'd have liked this to be Sony's most successful release of the year.

    I'm getting mixed messages from the news, though. Has the release been completely scrubbed, or are they just canceling the formal premier?

  • Brilliant. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hey! ( 33014 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:43PM (#48621779) Homepage Journal

    Now that Sony has cancelled the premier, if I want to see this movie I'll have to find a pirated copy.

  • Jeez (Score:2)

    by Xaemyl ( 88001 )

    As an American, when did Americans become such fucking pussies?

  • I'm confused (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rik Sweeney ( 471717 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:45PM (#48621807) Homepage

    Are we backing Sony at the moment?

    • I was planning to go see this, not that I'm interested in the movie, but to show that I won't kow-tow to terrorists and extortionists. But since Sony has caved by deferring its release, Sony has joined the ranks of the chicken-droppings.

      Several sites have called for Sony to release this on the Internet, and that's what I think they should do. And someone needs to make "we don't negotiate with Young Weasel" stickers with Kim Jong Un's face in the background.

    • Unfortunately. Screw North Korea for making me feel sympathy for Sony Pictures.

    • on this issue, yes.

      reason, when your right, your right. Censorship is bad, regardless who does it.

  • Opposite of the reaction they should have (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:45PM (#48621809)
    They should be advertising the sht out of this movie as the film that terrorists are afraid of, including funny made up quotes from bogus North Korean hackers and party officials, etc.

    They should be running to the fire on this, not away. It could send a message and increase their sales at the same time. The ONLY people in the whole world who really care about this two-bit movie are the North Koreans. They're not going to pull off any real terrorist attacks. Their hack of Sony was impressive, and I can understand the studios being wary of that, but really, some consulting dollars could mitigate a lot of that risk. Run a security blitz at the studios and poke NK in the eye. It's what they deserve.

  • No winner here, except for us all (Score:3, Informative)

    by gman003 ( 1693318 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:49PM (#48621849)

    It's pretty transparent that these hackers are North Korean. Fuck North Korea.

    On the other hand, fuck Sony. I can't say that enough - FUCK SONY.

    This doesn't help NK in any way. Oh, this movie is blasphemous to their state-mandated religion, worshipping the rotting corpse of Kim I and Kim II? This movie was never going to be seen by anyone in that entire country, if for the simple reason that so few of them can even afford it. I doubt they can even use this hack as internal propaganda, because the simple fact that such a movie exists shows how little the outside world cares about North Korea. And nobody's fooled by their disavowal - this is just more proof that they're a bunch of thugs.

    This hurts Sony. First the humiliation of the hack. Then the financial damage. Then the humiliation of acceding to terrorist demands. They may have had a bad reputation in our circles for years now, but they've now lost face in the mainstream media, too.

    So yeah, our enemies are fighting and both of them are losing. Time to break out the popcorn.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by spitzak ( 4019 )

      Except NK denied being behind the hacking.

      Now there is no reason to believe anything NK says, but I would think they would be very proud of their computer achievements if they had been behind it.

      The reason they don't falsely claim they are behind it is because they are worried the actual hackers would be found and then it would be clear they were lying.

    • Re:No winner here, except for us all (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jbolden ( 176878 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @09:43PM (#48622845) Homepage

      Sony are sometimes jerks regarding stuff like DRM. They don't starve millions of their own people to death. I'm not unclear about which side I'm on in this one.

  • Since Sony is going to eat the production costs anyway, why not declare the movie to be in the public domain and make it downloadable by anyone at no charge?

    That'll piss off the terrorists, but they'll be powerless to stop its distribution.

  • Do we have reason to believe... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nine-times ( 778537 ) <nine.times@gmail.com> on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @05:59PM (#48621935) Homepage

    Do we have reason to believe that this group is actually capable of or prepared to carry out the attacks that they're threatening? If theaters around the country showed the movie, can these terrorists bomb them all?

    Or did all these companies simply buckle to a random threat without anything behind it? Because, yeah, I guess if someone calls in a bomb threat to the local high school, you might have to go evacuate the school while the police check it out, but you should have some plan for keeping the kids from calling in new threats every day and shutting the school down permanently.

  • Hyperbole Much? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Irate Engineer ( 2814313 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @06:01PM (#48621965)
    '9/11 style attacks'? So if these movies are screened, attackers will sneak in, fueled up with convenience-store-bought Raisinets and armed with box knives? Or are they going to crash an airliner into each theater?

    We've become a nation where a college kid wishing to avoid a final exam can call in a bomb threat to close a campus. All threats, however implausible, must be taken seriously, just in case it truly is a real threat and an attack occurs. 99.999% of the time the threat is bogus, but if one doesn't act hysterically and it turns out to be the 0.001% situation, you're screwed (more likely by lawyers after the fact, not so much by the attack itself).

    By caving to the threat, they are validating the use of this strategy, and are ensuring that they will get more threats like this in the future. It works.

  • I am cynical (Score:3, Insightful)

    by aepervius ( 535155 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @06:03PM (#48621981)
    I have the feeling the reason the show was cancelled , was because the pre-release feedback was very negative, that it was a bad film, but with those threat they saw an opportunity, and now they are priming the US market for a massive "buy it to spite terrorrist !" direct to DVD.

    • Nope (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Controlio ( 78666 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @09:52PM (#48622889)

      I work for a sizable sports network. Sony had a ton of inventory purchased across many networks to promote the release. They pulled ALL of it, ridiculously close to airtime. Way closer than we normally allow.

      They were negotiating down to the wire to not have to cancel this movie. And why wouldn't they? They stand to lose tens of millions unless they're smart about how they do a private release now.

      Trust me. Sony has released FAR shittier movies than this. This one had buzz going for it. Remember that months ago, NK declared it an act of war.

      This looks completely legit. A ridiculously weak - and in my mind completely wrong - move, but legit.

  • This nation is run by idiots (Score:3)

    by davydagger ( 2566757 ) on Wednesday December 17, 2014 @06:07PM (#48622011)
    The other side of promoting this fear mongering over terrorism, is that people get so scared, they believe their own bullshit. What decades of fear mongering have done is made us a nation of cowards, unable to cope with idle threats, most likely by people incapable of pulling them off. the largest army in the world, the most advanced weapons, the biggest navy by far, with the most amount and most advanced carriers, and we are still scared of unspecified threats on the internet. Sweet Jesus fuck. I think instead of spending millions on tanks, and Jets, and aircraft carriers, and shit that won't protect us, lets spend some time learning not to be affraid, and sticking up for what we believe in, instead of paying the defense industry out the nose for what ultimately won't protect us?

    • The DOD tried procuring stiff upper lips. But the analyst contractors they hired put together a 30 minute power point presentation outlining the how and why they were incompatible with our current military strategy. Ending with the simple fact that a retrofit would slash everyone's budget across the board.

      So, this is what we get.

  • Jesus this is embarassing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DRMShill ( 1157993 ) on Thursday December 18, 2014 @01:38AM (#48623801)

    Borderline despicable behavior on Sony's part actually. The movie industry makes an enormous amount of money because of the freedom of speech. But when it comes time to defend that freedom this is how they behave.

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