It may have been the last shopping weekend before Christmas, but for the folks at Sony, they’ve been busy dealing with the lump of coal the controversy around Seth Rogen and James Franco‘s "The Interview" has brought them. The story seems to change by the hour, and has even seen folks like George Clooney and President Obama weigh in, but Sony has been going on the offensive lately. First, they hit back at the President’s comments that the studio "made a mistake" in pulling the release of the movie, clarifying that it was actually cinema owners who forced their hand by refusing to play the film, and adding that no VOD company stepped up to take on the movie either. And then over the weekend, Sony’s attorney David Boies hit NBC’s "Meet The Press" to say that "The Interview" will still be coming.
“Sony only delayed this,” he said (via The Wrap). “Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. How it’s going to be distributed, I don’t think anybody knows quite yet. But it’s going to be distributed.” A story from the New York Post was picked up over the weekend suggested that Sony’s digital service Crackle would make the movie available, but that won’t be the case. “Sony is still exploring options for distribution,” Sony spokeswoman Lauren Condoluci said (via Re/code).
Meanwhile, perhaps picking up on Clooney’s shaming of the industry for failing to rally behind Sony, the Directors Guild Of America issued a statement supporting "The Interview" directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Here it is in full (via Deadline):
As the events of the past weeks have made painfully clear, we are now living in an age in which the Internet can enable a few remote cyber criminals to hold an entire industry hostage. This unprecedented situation demonstrates that even basic rights such as freedom of expression can quickly fall prey to those who would misuse and abuse the Internet to steal from, intimidate and terrorize our industry and our nation, and stands as an excruciating illustration of the heightened need for the federal government to increase its efforts to protect our society against cyber crimes, terrorism and all of its implications.
But not everything is serious around "The Interview," and there are a few lighter sides to be looked at. Firstly, there is a Facebook campaign (via THR) mounting up in Canada to screen the movie in Toronto on January 8th and Montreal on January 15th, but there’s just one problem: the organizers don’t have a copy of the movie. But they are hoping Rogen or Franco will step up and provide them with one.
And of course, the porn industry never fails to jump on an opportunity if they see one, and Hustler has announced a porn parody, "This Ain’t The Interview XXX," is in the works. “If Kim Jong-un and his henchmen were upset before, wait till they see the movie we’re going to make,” Larry Flynt told EW. “I’ve spent a lifetime fighting for the First Amendment, and no foreign dictator is going to take away my right to free speech.” And given how quickly porn movies are churned out, perhaps this will street before the actual movie it’s parodying does.
Lastly, Mike Myers returned to "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, reprising his role of Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" films. It’s thoroughly unfunny, but if you’re in need of jokes that reference Walkmans and Trapper Keepers, this will have you covered. Watch below.