After Hacker Threats, Sony Cancels North Korea Movie

Sony Pictures Entertainment handed a victory to its tormentors Wednesday, announcing it would pull a movie that has angered North Korea, amid reports that U.S. intelligence has connected the Thanksgiving hack on the studio to the isolated Communist state.

In a statement, Sony said it decided not to release “The Interview” on Christmas Day as planned, “in light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film.”

Five of the top theater chains in North America already announced earlier Wednesday that they would not screen “The Interview” after hackers threatened terrorist attacks at theaters showing the comedy, raising the specter of the Sept. 11, 2001 suicide hijacking attacks.

In a TV interview Wednesday, President Barack Obama called the Nov. 24 hack attack on Sony Pictures “very serious,” but still urged Americans to continue to go to the movies.

“The cyberattack is very serious,” Obama said on ABC’s “World News with David Muir.” “We’re investigating and we’re taking it seriously. We’ll be vigilant.” Earlier in the week, DHS officials said there was no credible intelligence about a terror plot against movie theaters.

“If we see something we think is serious and credible, then we’ll alert the public,” Obama said, “but for now my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.”

The Associated Press and other media outlets reported later Wednesday that U.S. intelligence had connected the attack — which essentially destroyed Sony’s computer network — to North Korea. Some reports said the White House was debating whether to publicly blame Pyongyang and that an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

Neither the FBI, CIA nor the White House were prepared to comment.

Despite doubts about the credibility of the terrorist threat, it was apparently enough for Sony to offer theater chains the option of pulling out from their usually cast iron distribution deals with the studio.

A message uploaded to two online message boards Tuesday warned that “We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places ‘The Interview’ be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.”

“The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001,” the messaged added, also calling the film “awful.”

The film, staring Seth Rogen and James Franco, revolves around a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un, who is depicted as a buffoonish tyrant in the film. It ends in Kim’s graphically depicted assassination.