There was a much simpler, more innocent time a couple of months ago when "The Interview" was just another enjoyably dumb comedy coming down the line from Seth Rogen and James Franco. Now, it’s at the center of a national security maelstrom, media frenzy, and ongoing discussion about how the entertainment industry should handle threats to their art and product, with George Clooney the highest profile name to publicly put his opinion out there. And now, things have taken another twist.
USA Today reports that the hacker group known as Guardians Of Peace issued a message last night, stating that "The Interview" could be released…but only if changes were made. Here is the anonymously posted message:
However, this runs counter to another message reported by CNN, that said it was a "very wise" decision by Sony to pull "The Interview," and then asked for more compliance, under the threat of more sensitive information being released. "Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy," the message stated. "And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."
The latter statement may explain why clips, trailers and promos for the film have been pulled from Sony’s YouTube page.
As you might surmise, there is a lot conflicting information floating right now about just exactly what’s going on with the hacker group and what Sony’s play moving forward will be regarding "The Interview." But some if it may be cleared up this afternoon during President Obama’s press conference where he’s expected to announce the hack was done by North Korea via computer networks in China.
