Updated 10.19 pm
SONY HAS DECIDED to cancel the planned release of a new comedy about North Korea after mysterious computer hackers threatened attacks on theatres showing the movie.
“The Interview”, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, is understood to have offended North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un with its plot to assassinate him.
After hacks on Sony, the studio behind the film, and subsequent threats to cinemas, major theatre chains took a decision not to show the madcap movie.
As a result of this, Sony has this evening decided not to release the film as planned on Christmas Day.
A red-carpet premiere scheduled for this week at New York’s Landmark chain’s Sunshine Cinema had already been cancelled, industry journal Variety reported.
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) backed chains who decided to cancel screening plans.
“We are encouraged that the authorities have made progress in their investigation and we look forward to the time when the responsible criminals are apprehended,” it said in a statement.
“Until that happens, individual cinema operators may decide to delay exhibition of the movie so that our guests may enjoy a safe holiday movie season experiencing the many other exciting films we have to offer.”
9/11 attack threat
Skittishness about attending the movie followed threats by the so-called GOP (Guardians of Peace) hacking group, which invoked the September 11, 2001 attacks in an ominous warning to any movie-goers planning to see the film.
The group warned in a message written in broken English that a “bitter fate” awaits any who attend the film.
“Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear,” the statement warned.
It added: “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)”
US officials have played down the threat.
“There is no credible intelligence backing this up at this point in time,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told CNN.
Additional reporting by © – AFP 2014
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