Tonight is the premiere of Seth Rogen’s and James Franco’s new movie, The Interview, in which they play entertainment reporters attempting to assassinate Kim Jong-un. North Korea is unhappy about the existence of this movie, and many people assume it’s the impetus behind the Sony Hack, but so far, no conclusive evidence linking North Korea to the attack has been found. Whether North Korea was involved or not, the fallout from the Sony Hack has been devastating. Which is why there won’t be press at tonight’s premiere. Broadcast media is not invited.
It’s really not surprising. All questions would be about the hack, about the emails, about the embarrassment, and whether or not Franco and Rogen feel bad for bringing this down on Sony (maybe). A premiere is meant to promote a movie, but The Interview’s premiere is now about a lot more than that. It’s Sony’s first time showing its public face since the hack—they need to look strong and in control, not spend all night answering repeated questions about Scott Rudin and Angelina Jolie.
So far, the fallout from the Sony Hack has been embarrassment over the leaked emails, including this one in which Rogen and Amy Pascal go back and forth about a particular scene in The Interview, and you can tell Rogen isn’t happy about bowing to pressure from North Korea to change the movie. But now we’re seeing the practical result, the effect this will have on Sony’s press relations. It might be a while before Sony really opens itself up to public questions.
