North Korea previously labeled it an “act of war” for Kim Jong-un assassination plot

Aug 8, 2014 07:09 GMT  ·  By
Seth Rogen and James Franco will be in theaters this December with the action comedy “The Interview”
   Seth Rogen and James Franco will be in theaters this December with the action comedy “The Interview”

Sony Pictures was supposed to release a new comedy with James Franco and Seth Rogen, in which they played two television people traveling to North Korea as undercover CIA agents to assassinate Kim Jong-un, in October this year. The release date has been officially pushed back, to the busy Christmas season.

Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit like plans to assassinate one of the world’s most feared political leaders.

Deadline informs that Sony made this decision after moving Cameron Crowe’s untitled project from Christmas 2014 to summer 2015, which left an open spot for “The Interview.” This way, the latter gets more exposure by coming out in the middle of the busy holiday season.

“The combination of Seth, Evan, and James is pure comedic magic,” Rory Bruer, president, Sony’s Worldwide Distribution for the studio, says in a statement to the trade publication.

“In our early screenings of The Interview, we’ve seen that they’ve delivered yet again, and we’re thrilled to be making the move to Christmas — one of the most important moviegoing days of the year and the perfect date to show off their brand of comedy,” Bruer adds.

However, there could be another reason for the move: shortly after the first trailer for the film came out (you will find it embedded below), North Korea issued the first warning for the US government, saying something along the lines of “change the story or else.”

Said warning got even sterner in the following weeks, with politicians from North Korea even saying that leader Kim Jong-un considered the release of the film as advertised by the trailer a direct “act of war,” for which all America would have to suffer the consequences.

As you can find out from the trailer, the film sees the two comedy actors play two not-so-bright TV-types: Franco is a TV talk show host, while Rogen is his producer. At some point, through some twist of unbelievable luck, they land an interview with Kim Jong-un himself, but as they prepare for the dangerous trip to North Korea, they’re intercepted by the CIA and tasked to assassinate Jong-un.

Naturally, the real-life Kim Jong-un couldn’t be counted on to see the humor of this hypothetical situation, so he told whoever would listen that, if the US government let Hollywood make a mockery out of a political figure, they would all have to pay the price.

Still, he added, he would still watch the movie. He probably wants to see if he escapes the attempt on his life.

While it’s unlikely that this is Sony’s way of backing down to pressure from North Korea, the timing is strange, especially since it would allow the studio some time to do some last-minute editing to the film and thus remove potentially very offensive bits from it.

If not, at least by moving the film into the busy Christmas season, Sony is making sure to compensate for whatever box office hit it would take from not being able to release it on other markets. Like, you know, North Korea.