MOSCOW, December 17 (Sputnik) – Sony Pictures has cancelled the premier of its new comedy “The Interview” about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Tuesday amidst threats from a hacker group, Reuters reported.
The premier was planned to have taken place in New York on Thursday. However, amidst threats from the hackers, the event organizers decided to cancel the event due to safety concerns. The hackers call themselves Guardians of Peace. The group threatened to attack all US cinemas that would show Sony Pictures’ “The Interview”, the BBC reported.
Yay! “@ThePlaylist: Review: Assassination Comedy ‘The Interview’ Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, And Lizzy Caplan http://t.co/DTm59tTtca”
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) 15 декабря 2014
The hacker group said people who chose to go and see the film could expect “bitter fate”, going as far as hinting that another 9/11-style attack could be expected.
“Remember the 11th of September 2011. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time,” Guardians of Peace wrote in a message on Tuesday, according to the BBC. “If your house is nearby, you’d better leave. Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.”
Wow, NYC premier of "The Interview" canceled and Rogen and Franco cancel press because 9/11. #GOP http://t.co/DkymuZfYxU
— Jano (@Electric_Jano) 17 декабря 2014
Executives from Sony said they would not object if cinemas chose not to show their film. Carmike Cinemas, the company that owns 278 venues across the United States, has reportedly cancelled all their planned screenings, the Guardian said.
An official from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said investigators did not find anything concrete to validate the threat. “At this time there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States,” the DHS officials said, quoted by the Daily Mail.
North Korea has denied its involvement in the situation. Earlier, the North Korean government complained in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling the film a sponsor of terrorism and an act of war, the Daily Mail said.
