It seems that Sony is now taking North Korea’s strenuous objections over the upcoming Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy "The Interview," which is said to feature a faux assassination of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, quite seriously. With the nation calling for the movie to banned, stating that the release of the movie is akin to "sponsoring terrorism," moves are being made to appease North Korean concerns.
THR reports that Sony —which recently pushed back the release date of the film from October to Christmas Day— will be digitally altering scenes from ‘The Interview.’ First, buttons worn by soldiers in the movie honoring Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Il will be altered, as such images are potentially "blasphemous" to North Koreans. But that change would small potatoes to what may be the biggest edit.
A sequence in which Kim Jong Un’s (Randall Park) face is melted in graphic slow motion may be cut altogether. The studio claims that "the filmmakers are just trying to gauge whether it’s funny," and that no pressure is coming from Sony Japan, which has an interest in keeping relations with North Korea nominally copacetic, but…c’mon.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Hollywood has gone back to the editing room to prevent offense in different marketplaces overseas. Somewhat ironically, MGM changed the villains in their "Red Dawn" remake to North Koreans from Chinese a few years back, as they feared alienating audiences in the latter country, a global economic powerhouse.
So we’ll see if these cosmetic makeovers will appease North Korea. But clearly the bigger issue is the entire premise of the movie, which minor edits are unlikely to change.
WHAT THE HELL? F NORTH KOREA MAN. THEY HAVE NOTHING ON US. SO THEY CAN SHOW IN TEAM AMERICA WHAT THEY DID TO US BUT IF WE DO IT TO THEM THEY GET ANTSY ABOUT IT? THAT FAT MELTING HIPPO NEED TO GET A HOBBY OR EAT SOME TWINKIES AND SHUT THE HELL UP. WE HAD ENOUGH OUT OF HIM. SO NOW THEY ARE DICTATING OVER WHAT WE PUT IN OUR MOVIE ENTERTAINMENT NOW. GUESS WHAT NORTH KOREA WE AMERICANS AINT YOUR BITCH SO BUG OFF AND DEAL WITH YOUR LITTLE NON EXIST COUNTRY AND LEAVE US ALONE LET LONE JAMES FRANCO AND SETH ROGEN. KIM JUNG UN OR WHAT EVER THAT TURD NAME IS JUST WHINING AND COMPLAINING. FAT MELTING HIPPO!!!
I guess they'll eventually take to the internet to distribute the original cut of the film then or would this not carry over to eventual disc release?
Either way, this is another Christmas box office bomb.
If North Korea didn't do anything over TEAM AMERICA, I'd doubt they're going to do anything over this (yeah, I know there's a new leader, but still). At the end of the day, filmmaking is a freedom of speech, however dumb or in bad taste it may be.
F*CK NORTH KOREA! WE DON'T NEED THEM SO WHY THE F*CK ARE WE BENDING OVER FOR? If THEY can show a video of New York burning, WE can show a movie of that f*ggot dictator melting!
Er, um… F*CK NORTH KOREA! Who are we trying to please here? I see no reason to bend-over backwards for a rogue, totalitarian nation that does everything it can to veer into self-parody anyway. Screw 'em. (Although I would think it's mighty hysterical should a James Franco/Seth Rogen stoner comedy start a nuclear war).
I don't care about spoilers if they are in an article, I just skip the whole thing.
But in the title? Come on Kevin, that was low.
We have officially become an Idiocracy.
Spoiling the end of the movie?! And for the sake of a "maybe" news article? That's pretty low.
You guys should know better than to put spoilers in the headline.
Well, now I know the ending of the movie.
Thanks…