I wouldn't be surprised if Sony jumped at this opportunity pull the cost of showing it in theaters and only put it out on VOD here in America

I mean the movie really looked like it sucked, but I feel that way about most of the comedies released these days.

which is not terrible. Dumb and Dumber 2 was tore up in the reviews but was still released.

Not in the movie business I assume??

They would of made that decision weeks ago. Not recently. The "cost" would of already been spent!

Where do you get this stuff?

But there is a difference between review screenings and test screenings. Review screeners are for the press and critics, test screenings are in theory for regular people who might go see the movie.

Bryant

there is no threat to anyone except some Sony execs egos and reputations. me thinks there's a disgruntled ex employee behind this but what the hell do I know

So, I don't think blackmail is plausible.

Part of me thinks it is silly to take the threat of harm seriously is the movie is shown. But, another part of me understands how nervous the theaters would be to threats after dealing with the actions of a lunatic in Colorado.

folders of Sony executives and their political allies?

Far less disruptive to not open the movie and now they promise never to show it??

Sound suspiciously like an extortion payment.

My Spidey senses are tingling on this one as well.
.

for public consumption.

fundie billionaire.....what motives might this Fox News addicted asshat have for storing things up?

There are layers to this onion, I am helping to peel them back.

Could this all be a political ploy to try to make Obama look bad?

NK governments official response is the opposite of what you might expect.

FBI blames N.K?

Where is the beef? Show me the beef.

The recent NK response was interesting. Yep, there's far more going on here IMO than what meets the eye at a glance.

main concern.

I admit that this was my initial reaction as well, but upon reflection I simply don't see how any court would find SONY liable for a criminal or terrorist act taking place at the screening of one of their films.

I'm thinking more of a "failed to provide security" kind of thing, especially on the theaters' part.

maybe they actually got the photos from a single source. The first thought I had is maybe those photos were stored on a high level director or producer's computer.

Could the earlier photo hacks be tied into this Sony deal?

Wouldn't that make for some interesting conversation?

Whatever this hack revealed, it has some Sony executives running scared.

a whole network of something best not revealed behind them.

A big cover your ass move by Sony.

Everybody's curiosity is piqued now, and a lot of people are going to be digging. Also, I can't imagine that the hackers, no matter what demands might be met, can resist releasing what they have forever.

What a mess! A fake threat to cover their behinds, with more scandalous info waiting in the wings. I hope they do release the info, what we have seen so far is probably small potatoes.

NK for it all is just too convenient a cover story IMO. There is just far too much dirt at Sony being revealed, some group seemed to really know what Sony had to hide. And, I don't think those that did it will remain silent forever, there will be, as you say, "Everybody's curiosity is piqued now, and a lot of people are going to be digging."

Sony employees. Its a revelation to see how racist entitled the actor/producer/director classes are. They might make PC correct movies but they are railing racists.

but I think that a great many of them are the "do as I say not as I do" types. They have all these ideas about how we should live and think, but they are special and therefor above that.

Just my opinion, and again, I'm sure that's not true of all.

It is all just a marketing ploy to boost dvd and on demand sales?

It just seems to me that most of their movies (comedies at least) really suck, but they still draw in big bucks. Yeah, your theory is definitely a possibility.

They knew the movie was a dog and wouldn't bring in the money to cover the production costs. So they make up this idiotic story in order to bring it within some item covered by the insurance policy.
Has anyone seen the insurance policy or heard whether an insurance claim will be filed?

I'm not ruling anything out at this point.

Sounds like a stupid movie anyway.

People should be able to go see it and decide for themselves.

people should be able to see for themselves. It's not like I was dying to see the movie, but I don't like someone caving to pressure not to show it.

Particularly because it is looking like Sony is running scared about any other info the hackers may have.
Caving like this is bad, bad news.

With the publicly stated threat (credible or not), if Sony released the film and any of the movie house chains played it and any sort of attack took place, Sony and the movie house chains would be exposed to an incredible level of legal exposure.

the avalanche of lawsuits would completely devastate Sony and any movie chains that exhibited the film and more than likely wipe out these companies.

Expect a lot of corporate records to vanish because of those damned evil hackers and terrorists.