8 ms·

If Sony Hack Wanted to Stop 'The Interview' Release, It Worked

54 points by sammorrowdrums 12y ago

james33 12y ago
It is really sad what kind of precedent this is setting. Hollywood is already too risk-averse as it is, and now it is going to get even worse.
- matti3 12y ago
  Agreed... This is a terrible precedent that only show everyone in the world how easily we fall back on our principles and values. I think that Judd Apatow and Jimmy Kimmel said it best on twitter.. "I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?" - Judd Apatow " @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent." - Jimmy Kimmel https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/545311021443715072 https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/545311021443715072
- xienze 12y ago
  While I agree in principle, put yourself in the shoes of #1 at Sony. This movie has unleashed a massive hack upon your company. Tons of damage has been done. Now the hackers say releasing the movie is going to result in violence against movie theaters that show it. Logically you know this can't happen, but there is certainly a chance some psycho acting on his own behalf could attack a screening after all the publicity this has generated. Do you take the chance of releasing a mid-budget stoner comedy knowing that you will ultimately be held responsible if some crazy dude attacks a theater?
k-mcgrady 12y ago
Pretty amazing that they've been able to stop this. It's amazing in all the wrong ways. P.S. Actual article title: "Sony cancels The Interview release amid threats"
- DamnYuppie 12y ago
  I am truly saddened for free speech. Doesn't anyone realize that capitulating to threats is the worst thing one can do, it only emboldens the idiots further.
  - yuncun 12y ago
    This isn't really a matter of free speech. Unless of course, you are suggesting that North Korea (accused) is infringing on your freedom of speech. In that case, maybe we can organize a sit-in or something.
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    Although I don't think it's a matter of free speech (private businesses can choose what they want to show) it's sad that threats the police aren't even taking seriously have to be taken seriously by companies most likely because if something did happen people would sue them. I will never understand the people who would sue if something happened but they are the reason businesses are so damn careful about things like this.
PaulHoule 12y ago
What's the magnet URI for it?
sremani 12y ago
They are able to stop not because they are worried about another 9/11, but if something happens, the class-action suits will fly all over, that scares the theaters. So, in essence its not the North Korean dictator or his minions, but the good old lawyers of US&A.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- 3am 12y ago
  What you are doing is "victim blaming". It's not Sony's fault. It's not the theaters' faults. It's not the lawyers's faults. It is the fault of the people threatening violence against moviegoers. edit: I'm not commenting on the overly litigious culture of the US or easily panicked mentality over any threat. Those are fair critiques of the US. However, both of those would be moot if it were not for a credible threat of violence from some person/group. This philosophy of culpability pre-dates the US legal system.
  - ploxiln 12y ago
    A certain amount of victim-blaming is appropriate, IMHO. You can't make the world a perfect place, and if you tried, you'd likely make it much worse (Orwellian). The US needs a more sane legal system and the world needs an appreciation of higher quality software systems, made more slowly and carefully. EDIT: "made more slowly and carefully" is more specific and simplified than I needed there, feel free to ignore it...
  - anextio 12y ago
    A combination of the aggressors and the system they were able to exploit.
  - na85 12y ago
    No, the fault really does lie with the overly-litigious culture of the US. Did you know that if you graduate from med school in Canada, they advise you not to step forward if you're on a US flight and someone asks if there's a doctor on the plane? Because you'll get sued.
shawndumas 12y ago
they should make it available for downloading. that would protect their partners and defy the hackers all in one shot.
- cyphunk 12y ago
  that makes for an interesting americanism: if you don't torrent the film, the terrorists win
- codezero 12y ago
  Yep, I think that would be genius, and top it off by allowing a "pay what you like" option. This is a great opportunity for Sony to try something new.
- mayneack 12y ago
  Some critics have seen it, so there might be some screeners out there floating around waiting to be uploaded: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/
  - baddox 12y ago
    I believe that the reviews are coming from press screenings in cinemas. I don't think screeners for (intended) wide releases are generally sent to critics before the theatrical release.
- rconti 12y ago
  They already made it available for downloading, as the hack demonstrated.
sammorrowdrums 12y ago
I'm not even sure that was the goal of the hackers, but either way the fear of lawsuits certainly carries a scary level of influence. Not sure that I like that.
nickhalfasleep 12y ago
I could imagine them taking a patriotic tack and inviting everybody to show up well armed to the showings. Or heck, put it up for streaming at $15 on all the major providers, let the terrorists hit every data center between here and Pyongyang.
- Someone1234 12y ago
  > I could imagine them taking a patriotic tack and inviting everybody to show up well armed to the showings. Because more guns is always a key to reducing violence...
  - nsxwolf 12y ago
    I've never seen an instance where armed law abiding citizens made a terrorist attack or mass shooting worse. If you know of any, I'd love to hear about them.
    - yongjik 12y ago
      Forget law abiding citizens. Armed law enforcing officers kill more Americans than terrorists. And you think more guns would make it better?
    - Someone1234 12y ago
      I cannot. I can name numerous situations where one "armed law abiding citizen" has shot another "armed law abiding citizen." If people came armed to a movie, I wouldn't go, not because I fear a "terrorist" attack, but because I fear armed individuals in general. And statistics back me up, the number of people in the US killed in terrorist attacks is insignificant relative to the deaths from gun violence.
chaostheory 12y ago
Overall, this is just great publicity for the movie. I predict that in the long run, it will be successful financially. Before, I just wanted to wait for it to get to Netflix or Amazon. Now I want to see it when possible.
- Someone1234 12y ago
  I doubt Sony care at this stage. The damage this has done is far more significant than one single movie. Even if the movie is a runaway success, they won't look back on this episode fondly.
searine 12y ago
I don't believe for a second that the Sony hack was North Korea. It was a made up story to cover up their shitty security.
- dharbin 12y ago
  If true, what's the motive of the hack? lulz? Was there some kind of extortion attempt?
- owenwil 12y ago
  The only people who ever said it was North Korea was the media, not Sony or even the FBI!
  - sammorrowdrums 12y ago
    I think that's correct. Either innocuous (somebody tried to think what it might be and reported it as if it were likely / truth), or insidious (government saw chance to increase negativity towards North Korea)... Still, crazy how much of a shit storm this has created!
  - mbesto 12y ago
    You realize how easy it is for a business the size of Sony to get the media's attention right?
- seanalltogether 12y ago
  "Guardians of Peace" sounds like an elaborate troll. Yes the hack was significant, but I can't imagine the people responsible can do any damage to these movie theaters beyond ordering a bunch of pizzas to their address.
  - yongjik 12y ago
    Yeah it sounds more and more like someone doing it "for lulz". North Korea will never bomb an American theater, unless they developed a suicidal urge for sudden and forceful "liberation". Maybe, given the hyperbolic rhetoric they are fond of using, they might feel perfectly OK threatening to unleash "a sea of fire" on the US, but I doubt even North Koreans are taking these expressions seriously.
cyphunk 12y ago
We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. I hope the spirit of "the American public" is not too badly damaged and that they will rise above this very trying episode.
- cyphunk 12y ago
  it should be obvious at this point that sony's gamification of this event is part of the problem and deserves some ridicule.
DamnYuppie 12y ago
They aught to release it in Texas, Molon Labe!
hellbanner 12y ago
Where are these sources for "no credible intelligence" says US Government. Says who? Why is this implicit & anonymous?
- sammorrowdrums 12y ago
  Well, even when they have 'credible intelligence', they don't tell us, and if they did, it would not be the whole truth, if true at all. That statement is meaningless. It's just the gov saying "if something does happen, we swear we didn't know, but we're not saying it's going to happen"...
MrZongle2 12y ago
Profiles in courage.
brianstorms 12y ago
What would be so cool is if theatres all got together and screened the other THE INTERVIEW, the one starring Hugo Weaving. It's a 1998 Australian thriller that got very good reviews when it came out. I doubt anyone's seen it in the U.S. But it has Mr. Smith / Elrond starring in it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview_%281998_film%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview_%281998_film%29 So join with me and petition your local theatre to show THE INTERVIEW, you know, the Hugo Weaving flick!
- feld 12y ago
  Mr Smith? Elrond? WHO? I think you mean Mitzi Del Bra!
- patrickster 12y ago
  Nice try, Hugo Weaving!
- secabeen 12y ago
  I doubt enough prints remain of that film to show it in more than a few theaters, and it probably doesn't exist in a digital-projection format.
- brianstorms 12y ago
  Aww I post a little humor and I get downvoted. Sigh.
jonpaul 12y ago
Have any of you read the book: Trust Me I'm Lying (http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/1591846285 http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...)? I have not, but have had many discussions with friends who have read it. It's my understanding that the premise of the book is that mainstream media isn't as relevant as they use to be due to the rise of blogs; mainstream media picks up stories from a lot of blogs. Many of these stories are planted there by media manipulators to drum up controversy and thus increase sales. Admittedly, I don't have evidence to suggest this, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a publicity stunt. Edit: I'm not claiming the hack was a publicity stunt, I'm claiming that I wouldn't be surprised if the cancelation of the movie was a publicity stunt.
- skwirl 12y ago
  You think Sony leaked their employees' SSNs and salaries as part of a publicity stunt?
  - jonpaul 12y ago
    No, of course not! I wasn't referring to the hack as a publicity stunt, I was referring to the cancelation of the movie.
    - dmix 12y ago
      Totally agree, this is going to do wonders for movie sales. This is almost legendary PR to have for a film, despite the big cost of the hack (for which it will still no doubt be net negative).
ChildOfChaos 12y ago
This makes me so ing angry it's unreal. Sony needs to grow some balls, this is growing into a complete and utter joke. This is the entire problem with the world right now complete and utter risk aversion, red tape and politics. If i was the CEO of sony, I would not dumb down the death scene, I would make it more extreme, I would edit the film and add recent events into it along with some dialogue that says "Screw North Korea, screw The guardians of peace", as the credits roll up there would be a scene with some computer geeks, a "guardians of peace banner" and something amusingly horrible happening to them all, like being annally rapped to death by a pack of gorillas while trying to hack into the sony website from there underground hacking bunker. After the credits, maybe a crying Seth Rogen after he discovers the true damage that the guardians of peace have done... they have deleted is midget porn collection!!! I would do my upmost to get it in every theatre in the world that could and any chain that refused to show it, I would withdraw rights for them to show future big Sony releases, because basically screw them. If they're not willing to have the balls to be awesome, then they aren't important enough to have anything else. This is a joke, oh no... someone read some emails and leaked them on the internet... on no there is a movie script or two and some unrealised movies. Oh noes they hacked our network, BIG ing deal.. nobody cares, it makes no difference to anyone. Sony just got frapped and went crying to mommy. Sony come out of this looking pathetic, I will avoid this brand in the future unless they do something more awesome soon.
- krapp 12y ago
  Sony is not a political entity, they're a global multimedia conglomerate. It's not their job to make "awesome" statements defending free speech, or to turn against their distributors, or to rage against the machine. Their job is to make money selling, in this case, a comedy which has turned out to be more trouble for them than it's worth (which given the unlikely franchise potential of comedies, probably isn't much.)

It is really sad what kind of precedent this is setting. Hollywood is already too risk-averse as it is, and now it is going to get even worse.

matti3 12y ago
Agreed... This is a terrible precedent that only show everyone in the world how easily we fall back on our principles and values. I think that Judd Apatow and Jimmy Kimmel said it best on twitter.. "I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?" - Judd Apatow " @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent." - Jimmy Kimmel https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/545311021443715072 https://twitter.com/jimmykimmel/status/545311021443715072
xienze 12y ago
While I agree in principle, put yourself in the shoes of #1 at Sony. This movie has unleashed a massive hack upon your company. Tons of damage has been done. Now the hackers say releasing the movie is going to result in violence against movie theaters that show it. Logically you know this can't happen, but there is certainly a chance some psycho acting on his own behalf could attack a screening after all the publicity this has generated. Do you take the chance of releasing a mid-budget stoner comedy knowing that you will ultimately be held responsible if some crazy dude attacks a theater?

k-mcgrady 12y ago

Pretty amazing that they've been able to stop this. It's amazing in all the wrong ways. P.S. Actual article title: "Sony cancels The Interview release amid threats"

DamnYuppie 12y ago
I am truly saddened for free speech. Doesn't anyone realize that capitulating to threats is the worst thing one can do, it only emboldens the idiots further.
- yuncun 12y ago
  This isn't really a matter of free speech. Unless of course, you are suggesting that North Korea (accused) is infringing on your freedom of speech. In that case, maybe we can organize a sit-in or something.
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  Although I don't think it's a matter of free speech (private businesses can choose what they want to show) it's sad that threats the police aren't even taking seriously have to be taken seriously by companies most likely because if something did happen people would sue them. I will never understand the people who would sue if something happened but they are the reason businesses are so damn careful about things like this.

PaulHoule 12y ago

What's the magnet URI for it?

sremani 12y ago

They are able to stop not because they are worried about another 9/11, but if something happens, the class-action suits will fly all over, that scares the theaters. So, in essence its not the North Korean dictator or his minions, but the good old lawyers of US&A.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
3am 12y ago
What you are doing is "victim blaming". It's not Sony's fault. It's not the theaters' faults. It's not the lawyers's faults. It is the fault of the people threatening violence against moviegoers. edit: I'm not commenting on the overly litigious culture of the US or easily panicked mentality over any threat. Those are fair critiques of the US. However, both of those would be moot if it were not for a credible threat of violence from some person/group. This philosophy of culpability pre-dates the US legal system.
- ploxiln 12y ago
  A certain amount of victim-blaming is appropriate, IMHO. You can't make the world a perfect place, and if you tried, you'd likely make it much worse (Orwellian). The US needs a more sane legal system and the world needs an appreciation of higher quality software systems, made more slowly and carefully. EDIT: "made more slowly and carefully" is more specific and simplified than I needed there, feel free to ignore it...
- anextio 12y ago
  A combination of the aggressors and the system they were able to exploit.
- na85 12y ago
  No, the fault really does lie with the overly-litigious culture of the US. Did you know that if you graduate from med school in Canada, they advise you not to step forward if you're on a US flight and someone asks if there's a doctor on the plane? Because you'll get sued.

shawndumas 12y ago

they should make it available for downloading. that would protect their partners and defy the hackers all in one shot.

cyphunk 12y ago
that makes for an interesting americanism: if you don't torrent the film, the terrorists win
codezero 12y ago
Yep, I think that would be genius, and top it off by allowing a "pay what you like" option. This is a great opportunity for Sony to try something new.
mayneack 12y ago
Some critics have seen it, so there might be some screeners out there floating around waiting to be uploaded: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/
- baddox 12y ago
  I believe that the reviews are coming from press screenings in cinemas. I don't think screeners for (intended) wide releases are generally sent to critics before the theatrical release.
rconti 12y ago
They already made it available for downloading, as the hack demonstrated.

sammorrowdrums 12y ago

I'm not even sure that was the goal of the hackers, but either way the fear of lawsuits certainly carries a scary level of influence. Not sure that I like that.

nickhalfasleep 12y ago

I could imagine them taking a patriotic tack and inviting everybody to show up well armed to the showings. Or heck, put it up for streaming at $15 on all the major providers, let the terrorists hit every data center between here and Pyongyang.

Someone1234 12y ago
> I could imagine them taking a patriotic tack and inviting everybody to show up well armed to the showings. Because more guns is always a key to reducing violence...
- nsxwolf 12y ago
  I've never seen an instance where armed law abiding citizens made a terrorist attack or mass shooting worse. If you know of any, I'd love to hear about them.
  - yongjik 12y ago
    Forget law abiding citizens. Armed law enforcing officers kill more Americans than terrorists. And you think more guns would make it better?
  - Someone1234 12y ago
    I cannot. I can name numerous situations where one "armed law abiding citizen" has shot another "armed law abiding citizen." If people came armed to a movie, I wouldn't go, not because I fear a "terrorist" attack, but because I fear armed individuals in general. And statistics back me up, the number of people in the US killed in terrorist attacks is insignificant relative to the deaths from gun violence.

chaostheory 12y ago

Overall, this is just great publicity for the movie. I predict that in the long run, it will be successful financially. Before, I just wanted to wait for it to get to Netflix or Amazon. Now I want to see it when possible.

Someone1234 12y ago
I doubt Sony care at this stage. The damage this has done is far more significant than one single movie. Even if the movie is a runaway success, they won't look back on this episode fondly.

searine 12y ago

I don't believe for a second that the Sony hack was North Korea. It was a made up story to cover up their shitty security.

dharbin 12y ago
If true, what's the motive of the hack? lulz? Was there some kind of extortion attempt?
owenwil 12y ago
The only people who ever said it was North Korea was the media, not Sony or even the FBI!
- sammorrowdrums 12y ago
  I think that's correct. Either innocuous (somebody tried to think what it might be and reported it as if it were likely / truth), or insidious (government saw chance to increase negativity towards North Korea)... Still, crazy how much of a shit storm this has created!
- mbesto 12y ago
  You realize how easy it is for a business the size of Sony to get the media's attention right?
seanalltogether 12y ago
"Guardians of Peace" sounds like an elaborate troll. Yes the hack was significant, but I can't imagine the people responsible can do any damage to these movie theaters beyond ordering a bunch of pizzas to their address.
- yongjik 12y ago
  Yeah it sounds more and more like someone doing it "for lulz". North Korea will never bomb an American theater, unless they developed a suicidal urge for sudden and forceful "liberation". Maybe, given the hyperbolic rhetoric they are fond of using, they might feel perfectly OK threatening to unleash "a sea of fire" on the US, but I doubt even North Koreans are taking these expressions seriously.

cyphunk 12y ago

We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. I hope the spirit of "the American public" is not too badly damaged and that they will rise above this very trying episode.

cyphunk 12y ago
it should be obvious at this point that sony's gamification of this event is part of the problem and deserves some ridicule.

DamnYuppie 12y ago

They aught to release it in Texas, Molon Labe!

hellbanner 12y ago

Where are these sources for "no credible intelligence" says US Government. Says who? Why is this implicit & anonymous?

sammorrowdrums 12y ago
Well, even when they have 'credible intelligence', they don't tell us, and if they did, it would not be the whole truth, if true at all. That statement is meaningless. It's just the gov saying "if something does happen, we swear we didn't know, but we're not saying it's going to happen"...

MrZongle2 12y ago

Profiles in courage.

brianstorms 12y ago

What would be so cool is if theatres all got together and screened the other THE INTERVIEW, the one starring Hugo Weaving. It's a 1998 Australian thriller that got very good reviews when it came out. I doubt anyone's seen it in the U.S. But it has Mr. Smith / Elrond starring in it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview_%281998_film%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interview_%281998_film%29 So join with me and petition your local theatre to show THE INTERVIEW, you know, the Hugo Weaving flick!

feld 12y ago
Mr Smith? Elrond? WHO? I think you mean Mitzi Del Bra!
patrickster 12y ago
Nice try, Hugo Weaving!
secabeen 12y ago
I doubt enough prints remain of that film to show it in more than a few theaters, and it probably doesn't exist in a digital-projection format.
brianstorms 12y ago
Aww I post a little humor and I get downvoted. Sigh.

jonpaul 12y ago

Have any of you read the book: Trust Me I'm Lying (http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator/dp/1591846285 http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...)? I have not, but have had many discussions with friends who have read it. It's my understanding that the premise of the book is that mainstream media isn't as relevant as they use to be due to the rise of blogs; mainstream media picks up stories from a lot of blogs. Many of these stories are planted there by media manipulators to drum up controversy and thus increase sales. Admittedly, I don't have evidence to suggest this, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a publicity stunt. Edit: I'm not claiming the hack was a publicity stunt, I'm claiming that I wouldn't be surprised if the cancelation of the movie was a publicity stunt.

skwirl 12y ago
You think Sony leaked their employees' SSNs and salaries as part of a publicity stunt?
- jonpaul 12y ago
  No, of course not! I wasn't referring to the hack as a publicity stunt, I was referring to the cancelation of the movie.
  - dmix 12y ago
    Totally agree, this is going to do wonders for movie sales. This is almost legendary PR to have for a film, despite the big cost of the hack (for which it will still no doubt be net negative).

ChildOfChaos 12y ago

This makes me so ing angry it's unreal. Sony needs to grow some balls, this is growing into a complete and utter joke. This is the entire problem with the world right now complete and utter risk aversion, red tape and politics. If i was the CEO of sony, I would not dumb down the death scene, I would make it more extreme, I would edit the film and add recent events into it along with some dialogue that says "Screw North Korea, screw The guardians of peace", as the credits roll up there would be a scene with some computer geeks, a "guardians of peace banner" and something amusingly horrible happening to them all, like being annally rapped to death by a pack of gorillas while trying to hack into the sony website from there underground hacking bunker. After the credits, maybe a crying Seth Rogen after he discovers the true damage that the guardians of peace have done... they have deleted is midget porn collection!!! I would do my upmost to get it in every theatre in the world that could and any chain that refused to show it, I would withdraw rights for them to show future big Sony releases, because basically screw them. If they're not willing to have the balls to be awesome, then they aren't important enough to have anything else. This is a joke, oh no... someone read some emails and leaked them on the internet... on no there is a movie script or two and some unrealised movies. Oh noes they hacked our network, BIG ing deal.. nobody cares, it makes no difference to anyone. Sony just got frapped and went crying to mommy. Sony come out of this looking pathetic, I will avoid this brand in the future unless they do something more awesome soon.

krapp 12y ago
Sony is not a political entity, they're a global multimedia conglomerate. It's not their job to make "awesome" statements defending free speech, or to turn against their distributors, or to rage against the machine. Their job is to make money selling, in this case, a comedy which has turned out to be more trouble for them than it's worth (which given the unlikely franchise potential of comedies, probably isn't much.)