Considering North Korea's reaction, I think you have your answer.

No, but corporate America is stocked full of cowards, even more now than ever before.

Y'know, I was in a hotel room at some point and saw about 30 minutes of Everything Must Go, and I have to say I was intrigued. I kind of want to see the whole thing.

1. North Korea found out about this movie and said it should not be made.
2. Sony ignored them and produced the movie.
3. North Korea threatened to respond if Sony didn't pull it from the schedule.
4. Sony ignored them and planned the release, anyway.
5. North Korea hacked into Sony's network and threatened to release info.
6. Sony, again, ignored them.
7. North Korea began releasing embarrassing emails, obtained information about every Sony employees, threatened to post five unreleased films, as well as the $300 million budgeted Bond 24 script.
8. Sony threatens a 9/11 type of response if the film was released theatrically.
9. Exhibitors decided against showing the film.
10. Sony pulled it altogether.

North Korea has followed through with every threat. Do you really believe that Sony should have ignored the threat of violence, with possible loss of life, over a dopey movie?

Yes. But, to be fair, I was born with a working set of testicles.

Apparently, you were born without a brain.

Uh wut

http://ifitandhealthy.com/wp-content...-shirtless.jpg

No, that was working fine, too. It still is.

I just don't buy that NK has the ability to do a 9/11 style attack

I don't think Seth Rogan is funny, so...North Korea may be doing us all a huge favor.

I do believe they have the ability to hire people to open fire in movie theater such as the Chinese Theater or any theater in major city.

The risk for Sony was far too great. What if there was bloodshed over a dopey movie? That would be the end for Sony, it's employees and shareholders.

It's an entertainment company, not a militia or army.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>&#39;Team America&#39; screenings, added after &#39;The Interview&#39; cancellation, also pulled from theaters: <a href="http://t.co/OEcu7JyXVk">http://t.co/OEcu7JyXVk</a></p>&mdash; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/545695219149471745">December 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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So you think that, on short notice mind you, that NK could "contract" out with individuals who would need to come to the United States and purchase a firearm and then coordinate an attack on a movie theater.

OR

Contact someone loyal here in the US who may or may not have to go purchase a firearm and carry out a coordinated attack.

Sounds like a lot to do on a couple days notice...unless you are saying that an active NK terror cell resides in the US currently

Any of the above.

When they've followed through with every threat, why would it be unthinkable that they wouldn't follow through one more time?

Just so I'm clear, you are claiming that North Korea follows through on their every threat?

No.

They've followed through on every threat regarding Sony.

So I guess all those "free speech" and "freedom of the press" Liberals out in La-La land just shit their pants and decided to fold up the tents.

How admirable!

Dumb

Maybe they should issue some more threats/demands to see what other businesses they can bully. No reason to stop now.

Hans Brix!!!!

Every threat = 1 threat

I keep hearing leaks about things in the movie that were "of concern", and they all sound hilarious.

I presume you meant NK instead of Sony on Item 8.

There's also a massive difference between hacking and actually committing an act of war against the United States.

Followed through with every threat to hack a computer.....is a big difference than following through with a terrorist attack

Besides if they could they would have teamed up with the Taliban and ISIwhatever and done it already

This country is officially scared of its own shadow

:)

I have zero belief that they would carry anything physical out on U.S. soil. If I didn't have better things to do I would have been fine going to see the movie myself at it's opening in spite of the threats, because they are about as meaningful to me as Kim Jong Un saying he is going to nuke L.A.

I think they were trying to use fear to scare the American people into not going to see the movie opening, thus damaging Sony's ability to make money off of it. Ironically the drama surrounding this has probably increased the film's money-making potential 100-fold.

So, apparently, the vocal majority of Chiefsplanet feels like Sony should have ignored the threat and just opened the movie in eight days, correct?

:facepalm:

It's not just one country's citizens at stake here: Sony is a Japanese owned company and with their very frosty relations with North Korea, there could be repercussions there as well.

As a former exec in the entertainment business, not the terror or military or police business, erring on the side of caution is a better solution than to put lives at risk, especially when the White House states that this incident was a threat to national security.

They are. Seth is shit and has done barely anything that was actually funny. Maybe we should not piss off crazy countries like NK? Is it worth possible deaths for this idiotic movie to be played? Hell no.

So the terrorists have won.

And Sony didn't believe that their system could be hacked

I'll say this. If North Korea so much as issues a press release condemning Star Wars Episode 7, I will be calling for President Obama to pick up the red phone.

Yes. Absolutely and unequivocally.

Won what, exactly?

Do you think this is the first time in history that a group of people stopped the release of art of any kind, whether it's music, art, film, TV, books, etc.?

Sony could have avoided this situation from the beginning by changing NK to a fictional country, something that's been happening in film for decades. They have no one to blame but themselves.

They achieved their objective.

I seriously doubt that. I've never once heard of any company, even the brightest and boldest in technology, making a claim that they "couldn't" be hacked. You do the best you can to defend, but there are too many angles that make it easy for people to do from halfway around the world.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3k4ydjqjY1r4z8sp.gif


Nobody ****s with Star Wars.

This is a much funnier and more provocative concept. Kim Jong Un is an absolute monster. People are frustrated by his very existence and the fact that he apparently will just get to keep on with his brutal reign for the entirety of his life.

A fictional country would not carry the weight. Part of the hilarity and charm of it is directly making a mockery of this specific piece of shit.

Caving to demands like this is always a good thing, because it never leads to a repeat.

Yes, they did. Fox also cancelled a NK-based feature film today that was to star Steve Carrell. They're already dealing with one hacking case.

Could you imagine the aftermath of an NK based hack of Fox? Apparently, they did and aren't taking that chance.

Altered our daily lives, kowtowed to the enemy.

I was just answering your question.

Yeah, it's just the CP loony bin. Google 'interview celebrity tweets.'

FTR - I'm no fire breather on this one, Sony made a craven corporate decision but it's not like its an actual national disgrace.

:thumb:

Bill Maher, Rob Lowe, Steve Carrell, Jud Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel, Michael Moore, Michael Ian Black......

Who knew they were CP posters, right?

Corporations now have countries as enemies?

That seems like a question to ask North Korea.

Corporations have never "kowtowed" to people's demands?

And it seems to me that Sony only screwed themselves.

I can guarantee you that if it was announced that this film featured China or Russia's head of state as the target, the results would have been the same or worse.

It was a dumb move on Sony's part and now, they're paying the price.

This is what I find concerning.

They are only paying the price because they are willing to pay the price, it seems.

In these situations, you have to look at the veracity of the threat. If you really think that NK would attack us over a movie, basically declaring war, then you aren't very well-versed in the history of the regime. New Dear Leader or not.

Exactly. If NK were really willing to commit an act of war in response to peaceful freedom of expression in the U.S., then we would end that regime once and for all, and it would be their own doing.

IMO, the biggest issue here isn't the threat of violence, it's the threat of releasing personal information including bank info, SSN's, medical history, etc. along with the extremely valuable theft of five upcoming and unreleased Sony movies, as well as scripts, including the $300 million dollar Bond film.

Sony's best bet was to cancel the release of this film and hope that NK doesn't release that info.

Right. Because the US military continually unleashes its nuclear arsenal.

I wonder what will happen if a film maker decides to do a documentary on North Korean political prisons. Is North Korea in hysterics over this movie because it ridicules North Korea or because it ridicules Kim Jong-Un? Is the world now not allowed to say anything negative about North Korea, and if so, will that soon extend to Iran and other bad guys?

The biggest issue here is that NK hacked into Sony's system and stole massive amount of data and IP. I supposed that if Iran were able to hack in and hold a corporation hostage over the release of a film about assassinating their Prime Minister or Ayatollah, the result would be the same.

People in the Middle East get crazy over comics. I'm pretty sure they'd get even crazier over this type of film.

Didn't that stuff already get leaked? I thought at least the Bond one was.

No, they threatened to release it but it wasn't released

If the release of that information was the main reason for your agreement, that's fine. If your main reason for agreement with Sony's action is to prevent an act of war, I completely disagree with you.

This NEVER, EVER works out well. If this is a stall tactic by Sony while they do damage control then I can completely understand... but if they REALLY are relying on certain info not getting out... they are morons.

I also don't think the Bond script is nearly as big an issue as you do. The VAST majority of people who would go see the movie will still go see it even if the script is out in the wild. I see zero reason why this would have a significant impact on sales.

The smart play for Sony is to assume EVERYTHING will be made public at some point and to take steps to limit the damage when it does. As soon as those steps are in place, they need to pivot completely and take a "**** you" attitude. Hell, if it were me I'd go so far as to offer bounties. Free Playstations and 4k TVs for freelancers who go after NK hackers.

The threat of physical violence is a nonstarter. If they are truly afraid of anything it sure as hell isn't that.

I'm not sure I agree with that, but we would certainly respond militarily.

The number one thing that a corporation has to avoid above all else is to be hated. Not just disliked or evolved away from, but really reviled. People still equate Exxon with the Valdez, and BP with the oil spill. The people who run the company work for the shareholders, and if they ruin the brand, they get fired. The result is that, a lot of the time, they play public-opinion defense; that's why Aflac canned Gilbert Gottfried, that's why the NFL is cracking down on wife-beaters, and that's why just about everyone is getting the hell away from Bill Cosby now that he's so toxic.

And all of those things pale in comparison to the bad juju they theater chains would have to eat if they ran The Interview, and someone shot up or bombed one of its showings. Every paper, every 24-hours news station, every website and blog, and every Twitter hound would drag their name through the mud, and their stock would bottom out overnight. Then, they'd get sued.

After the four chains dropped out, Sony sure wasn't going to risk their already-precarious future on a stoner comedy. Of course they bailed on it; it is a terrible Rubicon to cross in terms of homeland security and free speech and American freedom, but as a business decision, they probably felt that they had to.

No corporation will take an F-U attitude, nor will they stand up for what's right. They stand up for what makes them money. That's what they do. That's all they do. That's also what they will keep doing.

Sony is getting a metric ton of hate for pulling the movie. There are people talking about boycotts etc... As a corporation it was a bonehead move if their concern was violence. That is just idiotic. #1 The vast majority of people wouldn't blame Sony ... they would blame the nutjobs #2 you are saying that it is better to avoid a ridiculously unlikely catastrophe and instead choose a guaranteed public relations disaster instead. In no world is this a good idea. Ever.

Which is why this line of thinking is probably irellevent. As Dane pointed out, this is more likely about IP than it is about violence.

Remember though that Sony only pulled it after the four major theater chains did; I think they were the ones who made the decision based on knee-jerk fear of attack moreso than Sony. I'm also not convinced that they thought of an attack as being ridiculously unlikely (remember they made their decisions to pull the movie before the US announced that North Korea was behind the hacks), and in either case I think they'd rather take a more likely PR disaster than a less likely company-ending catastrophe.

All of that said, I do agree with you 100% on
I'm also sure that they are thinking about all of this on several levels, and IP is absolutely one of them. They have to have a long-term strategy for all of this, and if nothing else, with the support that shitty Rogen-Franco stoner flick is getting now, once they wait it out, it will make ten times the sales it would have before. You can't ask for better publicity than this, if you can be patient.

How did Parker and Stone get away with it? There were another couple satires using saddem and gaddafi, if memory serves correct

I'm sorry the movie won't be shown. And wow, the "I don't liek this guy, or that guy" bullshit in this tread is laughable.

The word now is that Sony has killed it permanently.

No PPV, no DVD, no theatrical and no TV. They're sweeping it under the rug as if it never existed.

That's somewhat unexpected to me.

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That would imply that it's not about a threat of violence at theaters at all. If you release it to Netflix and TV, you still make some money. So it's about something else, most likely personal information and protecting other movies, as others have suggested here.

The former, not the latter.

That's what I've been saying from the start.

I also just heard that the main reason the exhibitors refused to show the film is that they were concerned that the threat of violence would affect their other films, namely The Hobbit.

Ron Fournier @ron_fournier In defiance of terror, Obama should personally attend the premier of "The Interview" -- in Havana. Melt internet.

NK could see it that way, maybe. NK likes to bluster and Japan wants no controversy. Don't want to be embarrassed. Perfect PR storm.

This will move the thread to DC.... BUT, we have a coward for a president that did a global we are sorry tour and this is what happens. I would give my next years salary to see what Bush would have done in this situation. Atleast he had balls and regularly showed his american nuts to the world.

It's about the insurance on the picture. By not putting it out at all, they get to be cowards on the front end, and recoup losses on the back end. The whole "employees and stockholders" issue gets punted to the insurance company. That's the company that will get to take the bath because of Sony's cowardice.

one post from a n00b who's rep is red as hell doesn't make threads move anywhere.

I've been on here for a few years.

There is no insurance for choosing not releasing a film and quite frankly, that's an absurd notion.

Liberal nut swinger that makes shit for money and swings on obamas dick? Gotcha

How hard do you think it is to buy a gun?

LMAO You seem nice.