While most Americans have to go to the internet to see the controversial comedy “The Interview” Wendover residents can see the film on the big screen this week thanks to Wendover Cinema owner Jim Trammel.
The Interview is a political comedy staring SethRogen and James Franco as journalists instructed to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (played by Randall Park) after booking an interview with him.
In June 2014, the North Korean government threatened “merciless” action against the United States if the film’s distributor, Columbia Pictures, went ahead with the release. Columbia delayed the release from October 10 to December 25, and reportedly edited the film to make it more acceptable to North Korea. In November, the computer systems of parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment were hacked by the “Guardians of Peace”, a group the FBI believes has ties to North Korea. After leaking several other then-upcoming Sony films and other sensitive internal information, the group demanded that Sony pull The Interview, which it referred to as “the movie of terrorism”. On December 16, 2014, the Guardians of Peace threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that played The Interview.
On December 17, after a number of major North American cinema chains canceled screenings in the interest of safety, Sony canceled the theatrical release of The Interview, drawing criticism from the media, Hollywood figures and U.S. President Barack Obama. After initially stating that it had no plans to release the film, Sony made The Interview available for online rental and purchase on December 24, and via a limited release at selected cinemas on December 25.
While most theater owners were running away from the film Trammel eagerly accepted a last minute offer from the movie’s distributor to show the film.
“We will start showing it Wednesday (December 31st) and run it for a week,” Trammel said Tuesday, obviously unconcerned about having to face a North Korean hit squad.
Normally Trammel and Wendover have to wait at least two weeks and often much longer before a first run movie is available.
According to news reports that damed day Trammels bravado was justified.
US cybersecurity experts say they have solid evidence that a former employee helped hack Sony Pictures Entertainment’s computer system — and that it was not masterminded by North Korean cyberterrorists.
One leading cybersecurity firm, Norse Corp., said Monday it has narrowed its list of suspects to a group of six people — including at least one Sony veteran with the necessary technical background to carry out the attack, according to reports.
The investigation of the Sony hacking by the private companies stands in stark contrast to the finding of the FBI, which said Dec. 19 its probe traced the hacking — which ended up foiling the planned wide release of the Hollywood studio’s “The Interview” — to North Korea.
The initial demands by the group calling itself Guardians of Peace were extortion, rather than pulling the movie from release, said Kurt Stammberger, senior vice president at Norse Corp, one leading cybersecurity firms.
The information found by Norse points to collaboration between an employee or employees terminated in a May restructuring and hackers involved in distributing pirated movies online that have been pursued by Sony, Stammberger told Bloomberg.
