Guess that's not happening… #TheInterviewMovie pic.twitter.com/yBZnIWlNt7
— Ninette Cheng (@ninettecheng) December 18, 2014
“The Interview,” a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has been canceled by Sony Pictures on Wednesday following threats made to theaters that had been scheduled to show the film.
The comedy, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, had been slated for Christmas release. Major theater chains canceled the showings after a group called the “Guardians of Peace” threatened an attack on movie theaters, invoking the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to Variety.
The threats followed a widespread hack of Sony Pictures in November, which resulted in the release of emails that embarrassed Sony executives.
According to NPR’s The Two Way blog, U.S. investigators believe that the origin of the hack and the threats can be traced to North Korea.
Seattle Twitter users responded to the furor around the movie over the past few days:
Guess that's not happening… #TheInterviewMovie pic.twitter.com/yBZnIWlNt7
— Ninette Cheng (@ninettecheng) December 18, 2014
Not even direct-to-video? MT @BreakingNews: Sony Pictures has 'no further release plans' for 'The Interview' @Variety http://t.co/cr06aJttVX
— ((Benjamin Lukoff)) (@lukobe) December 18, 2014
I didn't even want to see The Interview before. Now I HAVE to see it, because Murica! #freedom
— Huggy Cris (@ElCrisRod) December 17, 2014
if not for the embarrassing leaked data, after reading that i'd be assuming this whole sony thing was a hoax to promote the interview
— Anthony Schmidt (@manicpop) December 16, 2014
https://twitter.com/JoetheHammer/status/545379150572167168
There needs to be a # to get #TheInterviewMovie movie released to any theaters brave enough to show it, any ideas? #sony #freespeech
— Tim Clifford (@tcliffsnotes) December 17, 2014