Now, I'm hearing the Counter-Strike voice going "Terrorists win" in my head, but let's open this up for discussion.
Basically, after threats from hackers from North Korea — who were apparently responsible for major leaks with Sony emails earlier — about the movie "The Interview," a comedy film in which Seth Rogen and James Franco plan to assassinate Kim Jong-un, Sony has backed down and is cancelling the film's release.
So what do we think? Should Sony have gone through with it, or was Sony right to back down?
My personal opinions are pretty squarely on the side of free speech in the face of fear, and that backing down against threats of terrorism only emboldens terrorists and encourages more hacking. But let's open this up to debate.
No one is exempt when it comes to satire...unless you cry hard enough, apparently. I do despair for a world where satire and social commentary can be silenced because the thin-skinned tyrants can't handle the idea of having their image stripped bare, leaving them vulnerable to a good mocking. I have read that human rights activists plan to air drop copies of the movie into North Korea for the citizenry. Hopefully it will get some of them to question their god-king...I'd really hope they get the courage to fight back if the tyrant sends his poor cronies out to confiscate copies of the film.
Could you ask for a better free viral marketing campaign for your movie than this? When it's released for download or streaming it will shatter records.
It sounds like it was the theaters' decision to stop the release, not Sony's. The only reason Sony decided to delay the release is that they can't get enough theaters to show it, so they want to wait until they're sure the movie will actually reach the audience before they try to release it.
Also, have the hackers actually been confirmed to be from North Korea? Last I heard it was still pretty unclear what they wanted or if the hack was related to the movie in any way.
Could you ask for a better free viral marketing campaign for your movie than this? When it's released for download or streaming it will shatter records.
It sounds like it was the theaters' decision to stop the release, not Sony's. The only reason Sony decided to delay the release is that they can't get enough theaters to show it, so they want to wait until they're sure the movie will actually reach the audience before they try to release it.
Also, have the hackers actually been confirmed to be from North Korea? Last I heard it was still pretty unclear what they wanted or if the hack was related to the movie in any way.
They've made terroristic threats against any theater that shows the movie. And North Korean mouthpieces are like, "We have no idea who those incredibly smart, handsome, and righteous people are." It's pretty much beyond any doubt.
But you're right, this isn't Sony's fault. They're responding to the theaters' decision in the most financially responsible way they can, after already taking a huge beating for having the balls to make this movie in the first place. North Korea won't take it this way, but the world has long been giving in to North Korean temper tantrums in much more substantial ways than canceling a movie release. This won't change anything. It's just yet another farcical chapter in the history of North Korean international relations.
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Could you ask for a better free viral marketing campaign for your movie than this? When it's released for download or streaming it will shatter records.
But you're right, this isn't Sony's fault. They're responding to the theaters' decision in the most financially responsible way they can, after already taking a huge beating for having the balls to make this movie in the first place. North Korea won't take it this way, but the world has long been giving in to North Korean temper tantrums in much more substantial ways than canceling a movie release. This won't change anything. It's just yet another farcical chapter in the history of North Korean international relations.
Very valid points.
But that being said, why not make the movie available in avenues that are not theaters? Why not release it for digital download? I get that they can't release the movie in theaters that won't show it, but why refuse to release it at all?
But that being said, why not make the movie available in avenues that are not theaters? Why not release it for digital download? I get that they can't release the movie in theaters that won't show it, but why refuse to release it at all?
I can only speculate here. It may actually be a good sign that they're still holding out hope for an eventual theatrical release - you can't really do that with the same impact once the cat's already out of the bag with DVDs and downloads. But it may also just be anticipating further terrorist threats against retailers carrying the DVDs which result in them pulling the product just like the theaters did. And as for digital download... the enemy is hackers. Maybe not a good idea.
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Paramount Pictures has pulled theatrical screenings of its 2004 comedy Team America: World Police, making it another casualty of the Sony hacking scandal.
A handful of cinemas around the United States had planned to screen the film, some in place of The Interview, the controversial comedy at the centre of the hacking scandal, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco and depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Sony announced on Wednesday it would not release The Interview after the hackers made terrorist threats against cinemagoers. On Thursday, the company cancelled all public tours of its studio until further notice, the Guardian has confirmed.
Paramount has contacted cinemas to inform them Team America, which depicts the death of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, has been pulled from release.
A spokesman for the Capitol Theatre in Cleveland told the Guardian the studio did not offer any reason for the film’s removal. The cinema had booked Team America back in October for a late-night cult screening.
The Alamo Drafthouse cinema in Dallas had booked a screening of the film after The Interview was dropped, but announced on Twitter this too had been pulled “due to circumstances beyond our control”. The Plaza cinema in Atlanta also tweeted it had pulled a screening of Team America.
A spokeswoman for Paramount Pictures declined to comment on the pulled screenings.
The 2004 film, which sees Kim Jong-il played by a puppet and killed after he is impaled on the spike of a bavarian helmet, grossed over $50m at the box office. After his death, Kim is revealed to be an alien cockroach from the fictional planet Gyron.
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This is absurd. I can't imagine N. Korea actually having the balls, or being that ******* insane for that matter, to attack people on U.S. soil.
This was an empty threat.
The threat of attack was probably empty, but I wouldn't doubt they would spew Sony's data all over the interweb (they still might). The threat of physical violence allows Sony to save a bit of face, because they can claim they're capitulating in order to protect movie-goers.
One thing I would like to point out is that The Interview's theatrical release has been axed, but Sony is not scrapping the movie.
After President Obama weighed in on Sony's hack, Sony responded that the only reason the movie was pulled was because theater chains turned away the movie after threats to their theaters. While a wide scale release is not their priority anymore, they do not intend to just be bullied into not releasing the movie.
I think nothing would be more fitting that just releasing the movie for free, so that even more people would see it than if North Korea had just left it alone.
I imagine that the challenge would be making such a release hack-proof.
so a couple of days ago (4 days if i recall correctly) i saw this film pop up in file sharing sites...
So good job "Guardians for Peace" you achieved nothing the film is now out in the open and due to the Streisand effect you caused it will now be seen by millions.
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Now, I'm hearing the Counter-Strike voice going "Terrorists win" in my head, but let's open this up for discussion.
Basically, after threats from hackers from North Korea — who were apparently responsible for major leaks with Sony emails earlier — about the movie "The Interview," a comedy film in which Seth Rogen and James Franco plan to assassinate Kim Jong-un, Sony has backed down and is cancelling the film's release.
So what do we think? Should Sony have gone through with it, or was Sony right to back down?
My personal opinions are pretty squarely on the side of free speech in the face of fear, and that backing down against threats of terrorism only emboldens terrorists and encourages more hacking. But let's open this up to debate.
Also, have the hackers actually been confirmed to be from North Korea? Last I heard it was still pretty unclear what they wanted or if the hack was related to the movie in any way.
They've made terroristic threats against any theater that shows the movie. And North Korean mouthpieces are like, "We have no idea who those incredibly smart, handsome, and righteous people are." It's pretty much beyond any doubt.
But you're right, this isn't Sony's fault. They're responding to the theaters' decision in the most financially responsible way they can, after already taking a huge beating for having the balls to make this movie in the first place. North Korea won't take it this way, but the world has long been giving in to North Korean temper tantrums in much more substantial ways than canceling a movie release. This won't change anything. It's just yet another farcical chapter in the history of North Korean international relations.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
Wow, I didn't realize that. I can't imagine this will last very long, though. No company spends that much on a film and doesn't try to monetize it.
But that being said, why not make the movie available in avenues that are not theaters? Why not release it for digital download? I get that they can't release the movie in theaters that won't show it, but why refuse to release it at all?
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
- H.L Mencken
I Became insane with long Intervals of horrible Sanity
All Religion, my friend is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination and poetry.
- Edgar Allan Poe
The Crafters' Rules Guru
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
This was an empty threat.
Which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind
It will go and thou wilt go, never to return.
The threat of attack was probably empty, but I wouldn't doubt they would spew Sony's data all over the interweb (they still might). The threat of physical violence allows Sony to save a bit of face, because they can claim they're capitulating in order to protect movie-goers.
It would have gone from a terrible movie no one would have wanted to watch to a world wide phenomenon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
After President Obama weighed in on Sony's hack, Sony responded that the only reason the movie was pulled was because theater chains turned away the movie after threats to their theaters. While a wide scale release is not their priority anymore, they do not intend to just be bullied into not releasing the movie.
Source.
P.S. Mitt Romney suggested releasing the movie for free streaming online in a tweet.
P.P.S. Is there really a debate here? This feels more like a Water Cooler topic to me.
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~~~~~
I imagine that the challenge would be making such a release hack-proof.
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So good job "Guardians for Peace" you achieved nothing the film is now out in the open and due to the Streisand effect you caused it will now be seen by millions.