Sony's 'The Interview' Packs Theaters Without Promised Violence

[rangerrebew]

Sell-out Crowds Line Up for 'The Interview' as FBI, Police Buttress Security


Thursday, December 25, 2014 12:40 PM




By: REUTERS

"The Interview," the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 cinemas across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing sell-out audiences in many theaters where outspoken patrons said they were championing freedom of expression.

Seth Rogen, who co-stars in the low-budget comedy with James Franco, and co-director Evan Goldberg surprised moviegoers by appearing at the sold-out 12:30 a.m. PT (0830 GMT) screening of the movie at a theater in Los Angeles where they briefly thanked fans for their support.

Sony Pictures this week backtracked from its original decision to cancel the release of the $44 million film after it became the target last month of the most destructive cyberattack ever on a U.S. company.

The United States blamed the attacks on North Korea.

Major movie chains had refused to release the film after threats of attacks on theaters and audiences by hackers.

But movie theater managers and patrons alike said they believed there was nothing to fear.

Nick Doiron, a 25-year-old engineer from New York's borough of Queens, said he had been planning to stream the movie online, but decided to see it in the Cinema Village theater in New York's Greenwich Village.

"The controversy itself was ridiculous," Doiron said. He said he was interested in North Korean news and had been following the story closely. "I want to be part of the message that this is how censorship ends."

The film is available online in the United States on Google Inc's

 

POLICE, FBI INVOLVED

Cinema Village manager Lee Peterson said the New York Police Department planned to have officers outside the theater. He said he had also heard from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, though he declined to provide details of security precautions.

"A week ago we didn't think this was going to happen. Let freedom ring. Nobody's going to tell us what we can or can't see," Peterson said to raucous applause as he addressed the theater's first audience of the day.

There was no visible police presence outside or inside the Cinema Village for Thursday's first screening at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), which was not sold out

In Los Angeles, where the film drew a sell-out crowd for the 12:30 a.m. showing, people who held cups of warm cider as they waited for the theater to open said they came to show support for freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

The movie, which is playing in theaters in major metropolitan areas as well as in smaller cities ranging from Bangor, Maine, to Jasper, Indiana, features Rogen and Franco as journalists who get recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader.

Sony decided to release the film after U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney and Republicans and Democrats in Washington, raised concerns that Hollywood was setting a precedent of self-censorship.

Many of Thursday's screenings sold out within hours on Wednesday as the controversy over the film made it front-page news around the world.

"You know, this is a film I probably would not have come to see but because of the controversy I thought I would come out tonight to stand up for freedom of speech," said Tamsin Hollow, in Los Angeles.

 

MOVIE FANS HAPPY

Fans who saw "The Interview" called it a great, funny movie.

"It's a farce of the highest level," said Matt Orstein as he left the theater in Los Angeles. "I would equate it to something like 'Airplane!' or 'Hot Shots!' you know. I mean it's funny but it's definitely nothing that could topple a monarchy."

Fans hailed the appearance by Rogen and Goldberg.

"It was a great movie, it was really funny, they did a fantastic job. It was really great that Seth came out, Seth Rogen himself came out and greeted everybody. Hey, go America," said Tom Sopit.

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/the-interview-sellout-audiences-rogen/2014/12/25/id/614951/

[mystery-ak]

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Newsmax
Sony's 'The Interview' Packs Theaters Without Promised Violence
Thursday, December 25, 2014 04:53 PM

By: Christopher Palmeri and David McLaughlin

Sony Pictures’ “The Interview,” the Seth Rogen comedy that sparked a cyber attack linked to North Korea and threats of violence in theaters, filled cinemas in a limited Christmas Day release across the U.S. without incident.

The film opened in more than 300 locations after becoming available for rent and purchase at Google Play and other websites, according to Sony Corp.’s Culver City, California- based entertainment division. Estimates for ticket sales won’t be available until tomorrow morning, Jean Guerin, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

The fictional account of a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became a First Amendment rallying cry when voices from President Barack Obama to the Republican National Committee criticized Sony for canceling the debut. The film has become the rare big-budget movie released simultaneously in theaters and online, and it tests the longheld show-business maxim that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

“We didn’t like the fact that someone wanted to tell us we couldn’t see a movie,” said Brian Story, 41, who went with friends to a sold-out showing at the West End Cinema in Washington. “This wouldn’t be the first movie on our list but we decided to come see it just because we could.”

While the movie’s release went without incident, the company was hit with another attack, this time by hackers who caused connection failures on its PlayStation Network as well as Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Live. A group called Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for hacking the Internet services, which video gamers use to play online, and said it would “stop hitting” them if users called attention to the attack by retweeting its statements.

Major cinema chains dropped “The Interview” after the Guardians of Peace hacker group invoked Sept. 11 in threats of attacks on theaters that show the film. Sony then canceled today’s planned debut, before reversing course this week when independent theaters offered to screen the picture.

“There is something to exercising one’s right to see even silly films without being intimidated by anyone,” said Joel Snyder, 61, who also attended the showing in Washington.

Ricki Kanter, 58, said she bought tickets for the movie as soon as they went on sale. Showings of “The Interview” at the West End are also sold out tomorrow and Saturday, according to the theater’s website.

“It’s my way of taking a stand that I’m not going to be intimidated by terrorists,” Kanter said.

Hackers last month broke into Sony’s computer systems, releasing contracts, e-mails and other confidential data onto the Internet. The cyber-terrorists were linked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to North Korea, which condemned the movie while denying it was behind the attack.

After announcing on Dec. 23 that “The Interview” would play in a select number of independent theaters, Sony said it would also be made available online. Consumers can find it at Google Play, YouTube Videos and other websites at a price of $5.99 to rent or $14.99 to buy.

“It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech,” Sony Pictures Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton said in a statement yesterday.

Reviewers haven’t been kind. Patrick Clark labeled the film “stupid” in Bloomberg Businessweek and said the questions raised by the cyber attack on Sony give “The Interview” heft that the movie doesn’t deserve.

“It’s fascinating stuff, and well worth the $5.99 it cost to stream ‘The Interview.’ Even if the actual movie plays less like a climax and more like the outtakes that filmmakers sometimes roll after the credits,” Clark wrote.

The studio spent an estimated $80 million making and marketing the film, according to Wade Holden, an analyst at Kagan Research.

Sony Pictures is unlikely to recoup its costs given the limited theatrical distribution and the revenue from downloads, which must be shared with distributors, according to Eric Wold, an analyst at B. Riley & Co. in San Francisco.

“I don’t think they end up getting back all of their costs,” he said.

[mountaineer]

Someone I know who saw it said she liked it. Other reviews say it's not very funny.