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  • The Interview Has Made $31M Online, Still Won’t Break Even

    The Interview Has Made $31M Online, Still Won’t Break Even

    If the metric of success for Sony regarding The Interview is recouping its money (which at this point it’s probably not), then the film will likely fall short. But by any other metric, the Seth Rogen/James Franco film has been a pretty big hit.

    Sony has announced that the film, which was released online on Christmas Eve, has since raked in over $31 million in streaming revenues. It’s been rented or purchased more the 4.3 million times. That means that it’s doubled its opening weekend take – which was around $15 million.

    These numbers are even more impressive when you consider piracy, which surely cut into Sony’s earnings. In the first two days following official availability, The Interview was downloaded over 1.5 million times via torrent sites.

    With $31 million, The Interview is officially Sony’s biggest online release ever. It was the most-talked about nugget of pop culture for a couple weeks. By these metrics, it’s a success.

    Post by The Interview.

    Of course, a Christmas Day wide release (what was originally planned) would have likely been much better. To date, the movie has only grossed about $5 million in theaters – but that’s due to a severely limited release.

    At this point the Sony hack, which started the ball rolling and ultimately led to the film’s cancellation and subsequent revival, most certainly has prevented the film from breaking even. The Interview was made on a $44 million budget, and Sony is said to have spent at least $35 million on marketing efforts.

    Image via The Interview, Facebook

  • ‘The Interview’ Nabs $15M Online in First Weekend

    ‘The Interview’ Nabs $15M Online in First Weekend

    Sony’s decision to release the now-controversial film The Interview online seems to have paid off – at least financially.

    According to the company, the film has already generated over $15 million in sales, having been downloaded or rented over two million times in the past few days. By comparison, it’s made about $3 million in theaters (though it did have a rather limited release).

    A couple of days before its scheduled-then-canceled Christmas Day release, Sony announced that it would premiere the film in a handful of theaters nationwide, saying,

    “We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we’re excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day. At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.”

    The first wave of the theatrical release wound up hitting around 300 locations.

    But the theatrical release isn’t where Sony made its money over the weekend. On Christmas Eve, it decided to release the film online – on YouTube, Xbox Video, Google Play, and SeetheInterview.com (a Sony site).

    You can buy it for $15 or rent it for $6.

    “In addition to the strong turnout for its limited theatrical release over the holiday weekend, after only four days, The Interview already ranks as Sony Pictures #1 online film of all time,” said Sony in a release.

    The $15 million pull in its first few days of availability is pretty impressive, considering the total was likely hampered, at least in some part, by piracy. Torrent Freak reports that in just two days, The Interview was downloaded over 1.5 million times via torrent sites.

    Image via The Interview, Facebook

  • Idris Elba Tweets About 007; Rush Limbaugh Can Shut Up

    Word on the street has been that Idris Elba could be tapped to play James Bond in the future. According to emails stolen in the recent big Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, studio co-chairman Amy Pascal wants Idris Elba for the role of James Bond once Daniel Craig’s run is over.

    Ever since the rumor surfaced, response has been shocking. Some fans were hip to the idea, but Rush Limbaugh was not.

    “James Bond is a total concept put together by Ian Fleming. He was white and Scottish. Period. That is who James Bond is, was,” Limbaugh said. “But now (they are) suggesting that the next James Bond should be Idris Elba, a black Briton, rather than a white from Scotland. But that’s not who James Bond is.”

    “I know it’s racist to probably point this out,” he said.

    Trouble is, Limbaugh doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he were to get the role, Idris Elba would be the first black James Bond, but not the first Briton. In fact there have been three Brit Bonds, one Aussie, one Irish, and only one Scottish. In the novels, Bond’s family heritage was only mentioned in a much later story, after Sean Connery had played the role on film. He was then said to be of Scottish heritage.

    Actors who have played Bond include (Eon-produced only):

    Sean Connery – Scottish
    Roger Moore – English
    George Lazenby – Australian
    Timothy Dalton – English
    Pierce Brosnan – Irish
    Daniel Craig – English

    Craig still has Spectre to do, which is just now shooting. He is contracted to one more after that. But Craig told Rolling Stone back in 2012 that he is done.

    “I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it,” Craig said. “But they won’t let me go, and I’ve agreed to do a couple more, but let’s see how this one does, because business is business and if the shit goes down, I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with.”

    Elba himself has finally weighted in on the whole mess with a tweet.

  • Amy Adams Cut From ‘Today’ Show Over Her Refusal to Discuss Sony Hack

    Amy Adams’ appearance on the Today show was cancelled Monday after she refused to discuss the North Korean hack of Sony and the consequent fallout.

    Adams was scheduled to appear on the morning show to promote her role in Tim Burton’s new film Big Eyes, but producers pulled the plug on the segment after the actress said she wasn’t willing to answer questions pertaining to the Sony hack.

    “As a news program, the Today show doesn’t allow guests to put restrictions on interviews. In this case, after hours of discussion we felt uncomfortable with the demands being made, and we determined the best course of action for all parties involved was to cancel the interview,” a Today spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter.

    Today likely wanted Adams to respond to questions about the revelation that surfaced through hacked emails that she and her American Hustle co-star Jennifer Lawrence were paid less than their male counterparts in the Academy-Award nominated film.

    The studio that produced the film, the Weinstein Company, supported the actress’ decision to remain tight-lipped about the Sony hack and said her opinion should be respected.

    “We firmly stand behind Amy Adams. We’ve been lucky enough to have had her talents grace several of our films. We are certain her fellow actors and directors would all agree, she is nothing but the consummate professional both on and off set,” they told Just Jared. “Amy decided to speak up for herself and express her disappointment that Today would feel the need to ask her a question she did not feel comfortable , and rather than respect her opinion or continue the discussion, the reaction was to pull her appearance from the show.”

  • North Korea Denies Sony Hack, Makes Threats

    The point of North Korea’s lengthy, rambling denial of involvement in the recent Sony hacks is pretty clear – but the way they get to that point is anything but.

    Per usual, broken English is the method of delivery for “The Policy Department of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK”, which has released a statement of sorts re: Sony Hacks and the recent blame placed on them by US officials.

    The statement, titled “U.S. Urged to Honestly Apologize to Mankind for Its Evil Doing before Groundlessly Pulling up Others”, begins by calling the US an “ill-famed cesspool of injustice” and doesn’t really let up from there.

    According to North Korean officials, the US is wrong to blame the country for the recent cyberattacks that targeted Sony Pictures, and eventually led to the dissemination of private documents and had everything to do with the indefinite postponement of the film The Interview.

    “The NDC of the DPRK highly estimates the righteous action taken by the ‘guardians of peace,’ though it is not aware of their residence,” reads the statement.

    Last week, the FBI said it had enough evidence to say that North Korea was behind the attacks.

    “We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there. Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States. Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart. North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior,” said the FBI.

    Although the North Korean government denies involvement in the hacks (as it would no matter their level of involvement), it praises the so-called “Guardians of Peace” for their actions.

    “The grounds cited by the FBI in its announcement were all based on obscure sci-tech data and false story and, accordingly, the announcement itself is another fabrication. This is the DPRK’s stand on the U.S. gangster-like behavior against it,” said the statement.

    But it’s not just denial it’s going for. The threats begin late in the response.

    The DPRK has already launched the toughest counteraction. Nothing is more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction. Our target is all the citadels of the U.S. imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans.

    The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the U.S. in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels.

    Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the “symmetric counteraction” declared by Obama.

    Though President Obama has called this an act of “cybervandalism” as opposed to using the “war” word, he’s said that the US will have an appropriate response to the act – but what that means, exactly, is yet to be seen.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ‘The Interview’: NYC Comedians Plan a Live Read ‘in the Name of Free Speech’

    Who knows when you’ll get to see The Interview?

    Last week Sony execs decided to cave to vague, terroristic threats and postpone the release of the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy indefinitely. According to reports, Sony was not alone in its cowardice. At this point nobody knows when the film, which was originally scheduled for a Christmas Day release, will see the light of day. Sony has no immediate plans for DVD or VOD release. The internet is calling for someone like Netflix to buy the rights, but that seems unlikely.

    It’ll probably work its way online at some point. Some recent rumors pointed to Sony releasing the film, for free, on Crackle – but those were shot down. Sony has said that it’s considering releasing the film, but there’s definitely no timeframe. Whatever happens, this is a big loss for Sony and for some, an even bigger loss for the idea that we, as a people, won’t be threatened out of our freedom of expression.

    Sure, it’s just a movie (of questionable quality at that) – but this is not a good precedent to set, right?

    What do you think about the decision to pull The Interview? Let us know in the comments.

    Sony has made its decision. Before that, a handful of major theater groups made theirs. The film is simply too toxic to distribute right now. At this point, theaters and Sony are engaging in a bit of a back-and-forth over who is truly to blame for the film’s indefinite postponement. Some lawmakers are calling for its release. The President has input his two cents. The situation’s a mess – but it’s a fluid mess. The movie could find its way to the big screen – or at least your small screen – at some point.

    But you might not get to see The Interview anytime soon. However, if you’re in New York City next weekend, you can watch the next best thing.

    No, not Team America: World Police. Everyone’s too scared to show that either. What you can watch is a group of actors, who “feel very strongly about bringing this film to you by whatever means necessary”, perform a live read-through of the script.

    The Treehouse Theater in NYC will host A Live Read of The Interview on Saturday, Dec 27. It’s free and open to the public. I recently got the opportunity to talk to the show’s producers – Dave Hensely, Benny Scheckner, and Sean Perrotta – three friends and improv actors who just so happened to get hold of an earlier copy of the script.

    “There are three of us that are planning this show,” said Hensley, Scheckner, and Perrotta. “We’re all friends who take classes at a well-known improv school in New York [the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre]. The Treehouse Theater opened just recently. We asked and they said yes. The people there have been extremely supportive — they love that we’re doing this, and we can’t thank them enough for allowing us to use their space.”

    WPN: I know you probably can’t say too much about how you got hold of the script, but are you pretty sure it’s a final copy? Is what you have what’s on the screen?

    HSP: The script is not the final draft, but it very closely agrees with what we know about the movie (from the trailer, press coverage, etc.).

    WPN: What are your thoughts on Sony’s decision to yank the film?

    HSP: We’re huge fans of the filmmakers, and we understand that Sony was in a difficult position, and that they have been strong armed by theater chains. But ultimately, we can’t let threats of terrorism from a foreign nation inhibit free speech here in America. That’s the most important thing.

    WPN: So, have you read through the script yet? Thoughts?

    HSP: Yeah, it’s great. We think the movie is extremely positive for the people of North Korea (if not their leader).

    WPN: What do you hope to accomplish with the read-through?

    HSP: We hope the read makes people feel empowered, as well as entertained. And we hope to remind them that, as we found out a few days ago, free speech isn’t a given — it’s something we need to fight for.

    The live read has been cast, and will kick off at 7pm. It will be immediately followed by Fuck You Kim Jong Un! A Comedy Show to Benefit the People of North Korea – an improv show “based on awful North Korean propaganda films”. Admission to that is $5, all of which will go to Human Rights Watch.

    “Our feelings are that Kim Jong-un already does enough censorship in his own country, and we don’t need him deciding what movies we can and can’t watch here in the US,” said Hensley, Scheckner, and Perrotta. “Americans understand the importance of free speech. But again — and this is really the heart of the issue — we can’t have free speech if we let fear inhibit it and dictate our decisions.”

    In late November, Sony Pictures fell victim to a massive hack – one which exposed private information, including some pretty embarrassing emails from studio execs. A group that called themselves ‘Guardians of Peace” took credit for the hack. As the group dumped more and more data from the hack, it began to threaten any and all theaters who dared show The Interview.

    “The world will be full of fear,” the message read. “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)”

    The hacker group is reportedly incensed over the content of the movie, which depicts the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

    Soon after, a handful of high-profile theaters announced cancellations of The Interview showings. And that led to a blanket decision from Sony to yank the film entirely.

    “We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public,” Sony said in a strangely contradictory statement. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.

    “We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theatergoers.”

    It’s still unknown what role, if any, North Korea had in the Sony cyberattacks. The FBI is saying there’s enough evidence to conclude that North Korea was behind it.

    What should Sony do? What should individual theaters do? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via The Interview, Facebook

  • Anonymous Takes Aim at North Korea After Sony Hack; George Clooney, Sean Penn Pile On

    When Sony Pictures first found its email and other networked systems compromised, it looked like another hacker prank. Emails were leaked, unreleased movies were set free on file sharing sites, and embarrassing inside info made its way to headlines.

    But the world soon learned that it looked like the hack was the work of an official government cyberattack. As bizarre as it sounds, North Korea was angry about an upcoming Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy movie in which the pair kills North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

    The Interview is not the first film released in America to poke fun at or portray North Korea and its leadership as villainous. Team America did it. The Red Dawn remake did it. North Korea has become the megalomaniac villain go-to in Hollywood when jihadi terrorists are just too real to portray. They are the old Soviet Red Tide of yesteryear.

    But for some reason North Korea seems to have taken particular exception to Rogen and Franco in The Interview. So — if the official story is to be believed — they hacked Sony and threatened to bomb theaters that showed The Interview. So Sony pulled the movie.

    Now hacktivist group Anonymous — insomuch as such a construction can be called a “group” — is declaring an “operation” against North Korea. Anonymous “members” have shown their hacking acumen in the past, and they now vow to bring that to bear against North Korea in retaliation for the Sony hack.

    Exactly what they plan to do has not been outlined in detail. But Anonymous may be able to bring considerable muscle to bear on the country.

    Other reactions around the country seems to follow the same theme: The mighty U.S.A. should not capitulate to a snot-nosed joke like North Korea, not over matters of national security, not over international finance issues, and not even over some silly movie.

    George Clooney was vocal about his opinion on what this development could mean for businesses all over the United States.

    “Here, we’re talking about an actual country deciding what content we’re going to have. This affects not just movies, this affects every part of business that we have. That’s the truth. What happens if a newsroom decides to go with a story, and a country or an individual or corporation decides they don’t like it? Forget the hacking part of it. You have someone threaten to blow up buildings, and all of a sudden everybody has to bow down.

    “We have a new paradigm, a new reality, and we’re going to have to come to real terms with it all the way down the line. Because this could happen to an electric company, a car company, a newsroom. It could happen to anybody.”

    Clooney points out that this hacking was not just about some silly movie. North Korea showed that they were able and willing to realease potentially damaging information about American citizens.

    “The hacking is terrible because of the damage they did to all those people. Their medical records, that is a horrible thing, their Social Security numbers. Then, to turn around and threaten to blow people up and kill people, and just by that threat alone we change what we do for a living, that’s the actual definition of terrorism.”

    Clooney even acknowledges that there was a strategy to how North Korea released the information they did. First they made Sony a national joke by releasing emails that showed company execs making racist and derogatory statements about the people who would normally likely rush to their defense: actors and President Obama.

    “Here’s the brilliant thing they did. You embarrass them first, so that no one gets on your side.”

    Clooney’s opinion on what should happen now?

    “Stick it [The Interview film] online. Do whatever you can to get this movie out. Not because everybody has to see the movie, but because I’m not going to be told we can’t see the movie. That’s the most important part. We cannot be told we can’t see something by Kim Jong-un, of all fucking people.”

    Sean Penn warned of even further repercussions, these straight from terrorists that we take more seriously. He said in a statement to Mother Jones:

    “This week, the distributors who wouldn’t show The Interview and Sony have sent ISIS a commanding invitation. I believe ISIS will accept the invitation. Pandora’s box is officially open.

    “The decision to pull The Interview is historic. It’s a case of putting short term interests ahead of the long term. If we don’t get the world on board to see that this is a game changer, if this hacking doesn’t frighten the Chinese and the Russians, we’re in for a very different world, a very different country, community, and a very different culture.

    “This matter should be before the UN Security Council today.”

  • Obama: Sony ‘Made a Mistake’ by Canceling The Interview

    President Obama has officially weighed in on Sony’s decision to pull the new film The Interview, due to threats made by a hacker group which previously exposed company documents.

    “Sony’s a corporation. It suffered significant damage. There were threats against some of its employees,” he said “I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.”

    “I wish they had spoken to me first,” he continued.

    The President declined to discuss any possible actions, saying only that “we will respond, we will respond proportionally, and in a place and time that we choose … it’s not something that I will announce here today at this press conference.”

    Obama closed with a sort of ‘slippery slope’ argument.

    “We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States. Imagine what they could do if they see a documentary they don’t like or news they don’t like. Even worse, imagine if producers or distributors start engaging in self-censorship because they don’t want to offend the sensibilities of someone whose sensibilities probably need to be offended. That’s not who we are. That’s not what America’s about,” he said.

    The FBI has announced that it feels the hacks were of North Korean origin, saying that its investigations have turned up “enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions.”

    “We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there. Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States. Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart. North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior,” said the FBI.

  • FBI: North Korea Responsible for Sony Hack

    FBI: North Korea Responsible for Sony Hack

    According to the FBI the November hack of Sony Pictures, which led to the leak of tons of company data as well as influenced the company’s recent decision to yank the film The Interview from theaters, was the work of North Korea.

    From the FBI:

    As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions. While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based, in part, on the following:

    – Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed. For example, there were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks.

    – The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. government has previously linked directly to North Korea. For example, the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack.

    – Separately, the tools used in the SPE attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea.

    The FBI says this is deeply troubling.

    “We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there. Further, North Korea’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States. Though the FBI has seen a wide variety and increasing number of cyber intrusions, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart. North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves. Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior. The FBI takes seriously any attempt – whether through cyber-enabled means, threats of violence, or otherwise—to undermine the economic and social prosperity of our citizens.”

    Though the FBI doesn’t give us any information on its next move, we do expect President Obama will speak on the issue today.

    Image via The Interview, Facebook

  • Theater to Show ‘Team America: World Police’ in Lieu of ‘The Interview’

    While it’s still up in the air whether or not the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy The Interview will ever see a theatrical release, we do know that it won’t happen anytime soon.

    Since Sony pulled the plug on the film’s Christmas premiere due to vague threats from alleged Sony hackers, one regional theater is doing the next best thing to showing the new film – showing an old film that also mocks a North Korean dictator.

    The Alamo Drafthouse in the Dallas/Fort Worth area has decided that, instead of showing The Interview, it’ll show Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s new-classic Team America: World Police. The film was released a decade ago.

    “Sure, you can celebrate your independence the usual way: slow sipping a beer as you stand over a grill while people you have only mild contempt for wait inside for their free meal. OR you can join The Action Pack as we celebrate the GREATEST MOVIE MADE ABOUT AMERICAN PATRIOTISM EVER and celebrate its 10th anniversary!” says the Drafthouse.

    “So celebrate your indendence this year with the Action Pack. We’ll have subtitles for all the songs and all of our favorite quotes, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to scream out “AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!” at the top of your lungs. And yeah, we will have American flags, red white and blue streamers, balloons, and more for everyone. And THAT is how true American heroes will be celebrating this year, but if you want to let the terrorists win…well, that’s your prerogative.”

    The ‘terrorists winning’ likely references Sony’s decision to yank the movie, which came earlier this week. After a massive cyberattack resulted in tons of leaked documents from Sony, the hackers responsible made vague, 9/11-referencing threats concerning any theater that screened The Interview.

    In the film involves a plot where a television host is recruited to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. US officials are now saying that they have evidence that North Korea was in fact behind the Sony hack.

    According to some of the leaked documents, some execs at Sony weren’t all that excited about The Interview anyway. We know that Team America: World Police is a great movie. Just watch that instead. Maybe other cinemas across the country will follow suit and show it instead.

    Image via YouTube

  • Ghostbusters 3: Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt Multi-Film Possibility?

    While Ghostbusters 3 has been talked about for weeks, especially due to the possibility of an all-female Ghostbusters team, some leaked Sony emails have raised the possibility of new news on the Ghostbusters front.

    Channing Tatum reportedly has his own ideas about doing a Ghostbusters film. A leaked email revealed that he was stoked about the idea and wanted to rally Sony to do it.

    “Let us show the world The DarkSide and let us fight it with all the glory and epicness of a HUGE BATMAN BEGINS MOVIE,” wrote Tatum. “I know we can make this a huge franchise. Fun adventure craziness. COME OONNNN!!!”

    And according to the leaked Sony emails, they were talking about whether to have Paul Feig go with Tatum’s idea, or stay with the all-female version.

    Or maybe both!

    In an email between Sony co-chair Amy Pascal and co-president of production for Columbia Pictures Hannah Minghell, the idea of putting Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt together in a Ghostbusters was considered. But they also were think about a multi-film arc that encompassed the all-female crew and the Tatum-Pratt crew.

    Minghell told Pascal;

    “So … in a curious turn of events — the Russos and Channing want to develop Ghostbusters as a vehicle for Channing and Chris Pratt to do together.

    “The Russos, Channing and Reid have been brainstorming ideas and want to create a whole new mythology that would support multiple movies (the way that Nolan reinvented Batman). To be clear — the Russos want to produce (not direct) and while Channing and Chris are looking for a movie to do together they haven’t mentioned this to him yet because they weren’t sure how we’d react.”

    “They want to make it simultaneously super scary while also super funny. They love the idea that they are mortal heroes who are believers in the paranormal and the only people who can defend mankind from a paranormal threat.

    “I know we’re mid negotiations with Paul [Feig]. I’m not sure whether we’d ever develop two different versions simultaneously. Joe Russo is open to the idea that both movies could be developed in partnership so they compliment one another within the same Ghostbusters universe. Apparently the Russos are very close to Paul and Joe suggested Paul could be attached to direct both. Personally I think it’s possible for the female version to co-exist with this other version so maybe they’re not mutually exclusive.”

  • Amy Pascal May Be On the Chopping Block at Sony Over Hacks and Leaks

    Amy Pascal of Sony has found herself in the hot-seat lately over hacks and leaks out of her company. While the hacking of copies of entire films is one thing, it was the presumed-confidential information in emails that caught lots of attention.

    Amy Pascal is co-chairman of Sony Pictures. She is known in Hollywood for having an instinct when it comes to picking movie projects that will become hits. Pascal started as a secretary in the film business, but clawed her way to the top by picking winners and never taking crap.

    When the Sony hacking attack started, email systems were compromised, Twitter accounts were hijacked, and entire movies were stolen and leaked onto file-sharing sites. Films like Fury, Annie, Still Alice, Mr. Turner and To Write Love on Her Arms are all out there for anyone who knows how to use Bittorrent with a VPN. This is a serious blow. Back in the summer, Expendables 3 got leaked like that and box office receipts were never up to expectations.

    Experts suspect that the hack was perpetrated by North Korea, which is angry over Sony Pictures’ recent release, The Interview. The film protrays Seth Rogen and James Franco as assassins who kill Kim Jon Un. The Korean government has called the film “a blatant act of terrorism and war” and would lead to “merciless” retaliation. The tech characteristics of the hack have features that North Korea has used in cyber activities before, leading to the suspicion that they are behind this one.

    But Pascal’s emails are what have been coming back to bite her.

    Pascal joked about whether President Obama prefers movies about freed slaves and other black themes. That led to an apology from her:

    “The content of my e-mails to Scott were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am,” Pascal said in a statement. “Although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended.”

    But other embarrassing things came out of the Sony hack. One is that men are paid more than women at Sony, even in the films. Jennifer Lawrence was paid less than her male co-stars for American Hustle. And Amy Pascal herself is the only woman at Sony who is paid more than $1 million in salary.

    Movie producer Scott Rudin called Angelina Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat.” Rudin was also involved in the emails about President Obama.

    Sony had collected lots of information about employees’ health issues, including premature births, cancer, and liver problems. Aliases of certain actors were revealed, as well as spoiler news about upcoming films.

    In the end, the question is whether Amy Pascal will still have a job at Sony when the dust settles.

    Deadline asked this week:

    “Is it possible their track records for quality, thoughtful films and collaborations with top talent can be set aside and that Rudin and Pascal could be tarred and defined by momentary lapses and poor attempts at humor that paint them as being racially insensitive, in e-mails meant to be private? … People in town are wondering how long Pascal and the studio can, under the guise of not dignifying the damage caused by these stolen documents, continue to weather an unprecedented media assault without saying anything.”