14 DAY TRIAL // Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, who’s an avid supporter of BitTorrent, The Pirate Bay, and a censorship-free Internet, offered Sony $100,000 (€73,000) for the rights of “The Interview” movie, saying that if the deal is agreed on, he plans to releases it for free online.
“The Interview” saga more or less appears to come to an end soon, after Sony decided to pull the film and cancel the December 25 theatrical release due to threats of terrorist attacks in cinemas across the world during the movie’s premiere.
Coelho, however, wants to solve the whole case in a pretty unexpected way and purchase the rights of “The Interview” for $100,000, which would help Sony recover 0.01 percent of the $100 million (€73 million) budget granted for the movie.
If Sony agrees, Coelho wants to make “The Interview” available online at absolutely no cost, planning to release it via BitTorrent on his blog.
Still no response from Sony
Until now, Sony has remained completely tight-lipped on this offer, even though it’s pretty clear that the company would really lose a lot of money if it agrees to sell the movie for only $100,000.
Coelho, however, wrote on Twitter that Sony should contact him through his Brazilian division in case an agreement was planned, adding that the company was very unlikely to be afraid of terrorist attacks, but more of new email leaks.
“I believe they fear leaked emails,” he said in a short tweet, adding that “North Korean isn’t going to nuke the United States over a movie.”
Sony: we feel deeply saddened about this
“The Interview,” which was initially scheduled to make its debut in cinemas across the world on December 25, was canceled by Sony, after North Korean hackers threatened with terrorist attacks in case it was released in movie theaters. ”The world will be full of fear. We recommend you to stay away from the places at that time,” hackers said.
“The Interview” is a comedy film which imagines the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with the help of the CIA, so it’s easy to see where all these problems come from.
Sony, however, says that it has no other option than to cancel the film, explaining in a statement that it’s fully focused on ensuring everyone’s security all the time, so it doesn’t want to risk any terrorist attacks during the movie’s premiere.
“In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film 'The Interview,' we have decided not to move forward with the planned Dec. 25 theatrical release. We respect and understand our partners' decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theater-goers,” the company posted.
I offer @SonyPictures 100k for the rights of "The Interview" I will post it free on my blog. Pls get in touch with me via @SonyPicturesBr
— Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) December 18, 2014
