James Franco and Seth Rogen, the lead stars of The Interview, also rose to the rescue of the controversial movie that was nearly cancelled but received a revival courtesy of a surprise Christmas Day release mainly through online streaming.
A few minutes ago, the leading men gave it another boost with a streaming live-tweeting interview with Franco and Rogen in another promotional bid to popularise the movie positively.
The movie's production led to the hacking of Sony's computers by groups that American intelligence traced to North Korea. This situation led to the release of damaging and confidential information about the internal workings of the corporation and its stars on one hand, and state of affairs within the multinational itself. One email exchange revealed how Angelina Jolie was dubbed merely a "celebrity" who is "minimally talented". Another detailed a racist convo among Sony's top management where a list of recent movies having African-American leads were proposed for President Barack Obama's viewing pleasure if the US president wishes to relax with one. Such include The Butler, Djago Unchained and 12 Years a Slave.
After creating a massive PR disaster for Sony, the issue escalated with issuance of terror threats on US soil that will rival September 11, 2001 especially, against theatres showing the movie if it is released. Consequently, Sony stopped its release.
The decision however, caused a spat between Sony and Obama. The White House apparently disliked the foreign policy implications of surrendering to North Korea's whims and sharply reprimanded Sony for doing so. Judging from results from US media houses which conducted opinion polls on the matter, the decision also was unpopular among majority of Americans.
Consequently, Sony re-examined its options and decided to make a free online release of it over the yuletide. And undoubtedly limiting its negative publicity with love tweets from Franco and Rogen. Judging from the attendant buzz this action caused it's clear this is a smart move, isn't it?
