In June, North Korean officials called on the White House to stop the release of the film, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco. A statement released by a Pyongyang spokesperson said “a movie of a plot to hurt our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated.”
They added that the release would provoke a “merciless counter-measure.”
The initial threat had its impact: the U.S. release date was postponed from October to December and the studio took out a scene in which Kim Jong-Un’s face is melted off. They also edited out military decorations that North Korean soldiers wear to honor their Dear Leader, the showing of which North Korea has said would be blasphemous.
That wasn’t enough, however, and a “counter-measure” was taken. Turns out that meant hacking into Sony Pictures, deleting files and then distributing confidential documents — and several unreleased movies — online for all to see.
— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) December 1, 2014
A North Korean diplomat wishing to remain anonymous denied their involvement Thursday in New York, but sources say Sony will soon officially name North Korea as the source of the hack attack. If they are indeed responsible for the move, it was effective. Sony will likely lose millions in revenue as fewer people will pay to see movies like the new Annie.
However, the plan also backfired.
News broadcasts, in their coverage of the incident, have played the trailer for The Interview over and over and national papers and websites have linked to it. There’s likely no American awake who hasn’t been informed that the movie exists and that it might actually be funny. Sony couldn’t have paid for this kind of publicity. (This writer, for one, had no desire to see the film before but now, after all this forced exposure, he fully plans on catching it opening day.)
North Korea — again, if it was them — may have also missed the mark. The depiction of Kim may actually have actually raised his stature in the eyes of Americans. While most people here think of Kim as a bungling sadist who fed his uncle to wild dogs, the trailers for the film show him as “a master manipulator” who gives puppies away to his new friends.
And he listens to Katy Perry.
Apparently films like Red Dawn nor Olympus has Fallen — both of which depict North Korean attacks on the United States — weren't worthy of the invective with which the North Koreans responded to The Interview. Perhaps they enjoyed the idea they might have the capacity to attack the U.S., even if it proved unsuccessful.
Whether the (now even more anticipated) Christmas Day release of The Interview will makeup for the losses Sony experienced from the attack remains to be seen, but North Korea certainly upped its promotion.
Who knows, maybe that was the intention?
