Hackers’ threats of launching a 9/11-style attack on cinemas has led Sony Pictures to cancel its release of The Interview, previously scheduled to open in theaters this Christmas, but some Hollywood stars are far from being on the same page as the studio.
Upon news that Sony has nixed plans to put the motion picture out next week, A-listers have begun lashing out against the movie house and its decision to drop the film over alleged threats.
“Wow. Everyone caved,” actor Rob Lowe tweeted on Wednesday this week, adding that the decision to scrape the comedy about a plot to kill North Korean President Kim Jong Un amounts to “an utter and complete victory” for the supposed state-sponsored hackers who drove Sony to do as much. According to IMDB, Lowe makes an uncredited appearance in the movie.
“I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview,” added Judd Apatow, a writer and director who has worked previously with the cancelled flick’s producers but is not credited with any involvement with the film. “Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?”
Scandal has surrounded Sony Pictures since earlier this month when it first became apparent that hackers had compromised the studio’s computer network and subsequently pilfered a trove of sensitive files, including unreleased movies and internal emails, the likes of which have since been shared online. Threats concerning the scheduled release of The Interview surfaced soon after and, before long, the culprits of the compromise were alleged to be acting on behalf of North Korea.
“The world will be full of fear,” hackers purported to be involved in the compromise wrote recently, should The Interview be released as planned. “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.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.”