Some movie theater chains are pulling Sony's film "The Interview" from their lineups in the face of the threat of a Sept. 11-style attack against theaters who screen the upcoming movie. Hackers who go by the name Guardians of Peace and who stole untold amounts of sensitive data from Sony Pictures Entertainment made the threat on Tuesday. The hackers oppose the release of Sony's comedy, which portrays the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Sony reached out to movie theater owners following the threat to say the studio is going forward with plans to release the film, but that it would support theaters' decisions not to show the movie, sources told NBC News. Carmike Cinemas, which has 238 theaters in 41 states, told Sony it was pulling the film, sources said. Hours later, a Landmark Theatres spokesperson said it was cancelling the movie's New York City premiere, scheduled for Thursday night at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
The stars of "The Interview," Seth Rogen and James Franco, have also cancelled media appearances, including a scheduled appearance for tonight on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said Tuesday the agency was aware of the threat, but had "no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States."
IN-DEPTH:
—Julia Boorstin and Joe Fryer
First published December 16 2014, 11:10 PM
