@Riverwolf007 said:
the world can't wait to jump on the **** free speech bandwagon.
please, give them all your money.
what the **** do you care about supporting cowards?
I want to point out this entire fiasco is upsetting as I'm a big believer in free speech. HOWEVER, you are directing the anger towards Sony when it's the Terrorists fault...not to mention Sony was last to acquiesce when they realized their movie was going to fail due to multiple theatre chains pulling the film. Sony already spent over $20 million on advertising and an estimated $40 to make the movie. They were invested in showing their product. Regal and AMC (& other theatre chains like Carmike, Cineplex, Bow Tie, Cinemark, etc) already said they wouldn't air the film. The film would have done poorly without all the major theaters airing it not to mention the risk of potential lawsuits if there was an actual terrorist strike in a theatre. Sony Pictures was victimized for daring to create and green light this project with North Korea as a subject. It could have been any film studio/company. Sony Pictures didn’t pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theaters said they were not going to run it. Sony Pictures said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these screenings, then Sony was going to be responsible.. It's best that they scrap it to avoid any possible future controversy. You are spinning this terrorist event towards some sort of odd vendetta against Sony (which on SW you have demonstrated) but it seems to me you don't have all the facts. You are blaming the victim for a cowardly act of terrorism and you are scapegoating Sony when the theatres stood up and closed out this movie. Let me break it down by explaining how huge AMC and REGAL are and then show you other chains that scrapped the movie. Sony was unable to convince any of these chains to reverse their decision and it was a domino effect as more and more chains hopped on the "safety of the citizens" bandwagon.
AMC is an international company with that sees 200 million guests annually through the doors of its more than 300 locations.
Regal is the United States largest movie chain.
Here's a timeline:
Carmike theatres became the first theater chain to scrap showing The Interview. It was a PR move and other chains saw it also as a way to guarantee their guests safety.
Next, AMC and Cineplex has made their pulling of The Interview official.
Next, Regal and Cinemark pulled the film.
Next, Bow Tie Cinemas and Carmike Cinemas that they also are pulling the movie.
Eventually, Sony had no choice but to pull the movie rather than show it in a few tiny theatres.
There's more: Paramount Cancels ‘Team America’ Showings, Theaters Say. No one wants to take on North Korea now.
George Clooney is speaking up on the matter and here's what he had to say yesterday:
https://deadline.com/2014/12/george-clooney-sony-hollywood-cowardice-north-korea-cyberattack-petition-1201329988/
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George Clooney has the answer. The most powerful people in Hollywood were so fearful to place themselves in the cross hairs of hackers that they all refused to sign a simple petition of support that Clooney and his agent, CAA’s Bryan Lourd, circulated to the top people in film, TV, records and other areas. Not a single person would sign. Here, Clooney discusses the petition and how it is just part of many frightening ramifications that we are all just coming to grips with.
DEADLINE: How could this have happened, that terrorists achieved their aim of cancelling a major studio film? We watched it unfold, but how many people realized that Sony legitimately was under attack?
GEORGE CLOONEY: A good portion of the press abdicated its real duty. They played the fiddle while Rome burned. There was a real story going on. With just a little bit of work, you could have found out that it wasn’t just probably North Korea; it was North Korea. The Guardians of Peace is a phrase that Nixon used when he visited China. When asked why he was helping South Korea, he said it was because we are the Guardians of Peace. Here, we’re talking about an actual country deciding what content we’re going to have. This affects not just movies, this affects every part of business that we have. That’s the truth. What happens if a newsroom decides to go with a story, and a country or an individual or corporation decides they don’t like it? Forget the hacking part of it. You have someone threaten to blow up buildings, and all of a sudden everybody has to bow down. Sony didn’t pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theaters said they were not going to run it. And they said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these, then you’re going to be responsible.
We have a new paradigm, a new reality, and we’re going to have to come to real terms with it all the way down the line. This was a dumb comedy that was about to come out. With the First Amendment, you’re never protecting Jefferson; it’s usually protecting some guy who’s burning a flag or doing something stupid. This is a silly comedy, but the truth is, what it now says about us is a whole lot. We have a responsibility to stand up against this. That’s not just Sony, but all of us, including my good friends in the press who have the responsibility to be asking themselves: What was important? What was the important story to be covering here? The hacking is terrible because of the damage they did to all those people. Their medical records, that is a horrible thing, their Social Security numbers. Then, to turn around and threaten to blow people up and kill people, and just by that threat alone we change what we do for a living, that’s the actual definition of terrorism.
DEADLINE: I’ve been chasing the story of the petition you were circulating for a week now. Where is it, and how were these terrorists able to isolate Sony from the herd and make them so vulnerable?
CLOONEY: Here’s the brilliant thing they did. You embarrass them first, so that no one gets on your side. After the Obama joke, no one was going to get on the side of Amy, and so suddenly, everyone ran for the hills. Look, I can’t make an excuse for that joke, it is what it is, a terrible mistake. Having said that, it was used as a weapon of fear, not only for everyone to disassociate themselves from Amy but also to feel the fear themselves. They know what they themselves have written in their emails, and they’re afraid.
DEADLINE: What happened when you sent the petition, and who did you ask to sign it?
CLOONEY: It was a large number of people. It was sent to basically the heads of every place. They told Bryan Lourd, “I can’t sign this.” What? How can you not sign this? I’m not going to name anyone, that’s not what I’m here to do, but nobody signed the letter, which I’ll read to you right now.
On November 24 of this year, Sony Pictures was notified that it was the victim of a cyber attack, the effects of which is the most chilling and devastating of any cyber attack in the history of our country. Personal information including Social Security numbers, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers and the full texts of emails of tens of thousands of Sony employees was leaked online in an effort to scare and terrorize these workers. The hackers have made both demands and threats. The demand that Sony halt the release of its upcoming comedy The Interview, a satirical film about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Their threats vary from personal—you better behave wisely—to threatening physical harm—not only you but your family is in danger. North Korea has not claimed credit for the attack but has praised the act, calling it a righteous deed and promising merciless measures if the film is released. Meanwhile the hackers insist in their statement that what they’ve done so far is only a small part of our further plan. This is not just an attack on Sony. It involves every studio, every network, every business and every individual in this country. That is why we fully support Sony’s decision not to submit to these hackers’ demands. We know that to give in to these criminals now will open the door for any group that would threaten freedom of expression, privacy and personal liberty. We hope these hackers are brought to justice but until they are, we will not stand in fear. We will stand together.
DEADLINE: That doesn’t sound like a hard paper to sign.
CLOONEY: All that it is basically saying is, we’re not going to give in to a ransom. As we watched one group be completely vilified, nobody stood up. Nobody took that stand. Now, I say this is a situation we are going to have to come to terms with, a new paradigm and a new way of handling our business. Because this could happen to an electric company, a car company, a newsroom. It could happen to anybody.
DEADLINE: You said you won’t name names, but how many people were asked and refused to sign?
CLOONEY: It was a fairly large number. Having put together telethons where you have to get all the networks on board to do the telethon at the same time, the truth is once you get one or two, then everybody gets on board. It is a natural progression. So here, you get the first couple of people to sign it and … well, nobody wanted to be the first to sign on. Now, this isn’t finger-pointing on that. This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made. Quite honestly, this would happen in any industry. I don’t know what the answer is, but what happened here is part of a much larger deal. A huge deal. And people are still talking about dumb emails.
Understand what is going on right now, because the world just changed on your watch, and you weren’t even paying attention.
A LOT MORE IN THE LINK.
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