Sony appear to have buckled under threats from cyber-hackers.
Seth Rogen's anger at Amy Pascal and Sony after being asked to make edits to a particularly gory scene in The Interview was all too apparent in a recent leaked email. "This is now a story of Americans changing their movie to make North Koreans happy," he wrote to Pascal in an email dated 15 August. "That is a very damning story."
Seth Rogen [L] and James Franco [R] star in The Inteview, which will no longer be released
What would Rogen think now, then, after Sony cancelled the release of the comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korea's leader. The Sony hackers had been incensed by the film, threatening to continue to leak private documents from the studio unless it refrained from release the film, starring Rogen and Franco. The threats led many to assume the hackers were based in the controversial state. Sources suggest Washington are close to announcing that the North Korean government were behind the attack.
More: Sony terrified of "desperately unfunny" The Interview
"Sony has no further release plans for the film," a Sony spokeswoman said on Wednesday, effectively cancelling the Christmas Day release on thousands of screen.
"The North Koreans are probably tickled pink," said Jim Lewis, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Nobody has ever done anything this blatant in terms of political manipulation. This is a new high."
"With the Sony collapse, America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very, very dangerous precedent," said former Republican House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich on Twitter.
"By not releasing the movie, they won't be hacked again. Investors think that from here on, further damage probably won't be done," said Makoto Kikuchi, CEO of Myojo Asset Management. "Whether that justifies a 5 percent jump in Sony's stock, I'm not so sure."
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