(PCM) After the latest threat from the Guardians of Peace, the hackers behind Sony’s scandalous hacking, several theater chains have decided to pull Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview.
Carmike Cinemas announced on Tuesday that they would not be screening the comedy about an assassination attempt on the leader of North Korea in any of its 238 theaters across 41 states.
Several hours later, Landmark Theaters announced the cancellation of the New York City premiere of The Interview, scheduled for Thursday night in Manhattan at Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema.
The cancellations are due to the Guardians of Peace’s latest threat that, according to Variety, promises a 9/11 style attack on theaters that screen The Interview on the film’s release day, December 25th.
This hasn’t deterred some movie-goers though; many are brushing the threats off and planning on seeing The Interview and attending theaters on Christmas.
The recent threat has proven to be just as calculated as the leaks of damaging executive emails, the release of employee personal information, and the leaks and deletions of Sony’s unreleased projects. With Christmas day being one of the most popular movie-going days in the U.S., pressure is on for theaters to keep audiences filling their seats.
Disney’s musical Into the Woods, Tim Burton’s Margaret Keane biopic Big Eyes, Angelina Jolie’s intense Louis Zamperini biographical drama Unbroken, Ava DuVernay’s Martin Luther King Jr. biographical drama Selma, Clint Eastwood’s drama starring Bradley Cooper, American Sniper, and Rupert Wyatt’s drama starring Mark Wahlberg, The Gambler, are all slated for a Christmas day release.
With all of these prestige titles slated for release on the same day as The Interview and in light of the recent threat, it won’t be that surprising if more chains pull the film from their theaters. Sony released a statement to theater owners, announcing that they were moving forward with the scheduled December 25 release of The Interview but support theaters who pull the film.
Stars Seth Rogen and James Franco also cancelled all of their scheduled press appearances since the latest threat. When questioned about the threat, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told NBC news that there was “no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States.”
Stay tuned for more updates!
The post Theater Chains Pulling “The Interview” After Latest Threat also appeared on PCM Reviews.