3RD UPDATE, 10:25 PM: An ArcLight corporate rep told Deadline late tonight that company execs have not made a decision on whether to show The Interview. Asked why employees at multiple locations said they were told the film had been scheduled but had been pulled today, she said the employees in question had given “inaccurate” statements and that an official company statement is expected Wednesday.
2ND UPDATE, 8:50 PM: California’s upscale ArcLight Cinemas – including the flagship Sunset Boulevard theater located in the heart of Hollywood – has pulled the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview, employees confirmed to Deadline tonight. The ArcLight chain spans five multiplex locations in Southern California and is owned by The Decurion Corporation, which also owns the Pacific Theatres chain.
UPDATED, 6:45 PM: Sony’s The Interview won’t be playing in Carmike Cinemas following today’s missive from hackers who invoked 9/11 in their threats to moviegoers. Carmike, the first chain to pull the controversial comedy, operates 278 theaters and 2,917 screens in 41 states and is one of the largest exhibitors in the U.S. A source tells Deadline the Georgia-based company made the call after Sony told theater owners they’re going to release the film as planned, but will support exhibitors who choose to bow out. Sony’s now awaiting word from other chains on the fate of the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy, which is scheduled for a December 25 wide release.
PREVIOUSLY: Sony isn’t yet cancelling the Christmas release of The Interview, but the embattled studio has said it will support concerned theater owners who choose to drop the controversial comedy.
“We’re leaving it up to the discretion of the theater owners and chains and we will support their decision,” a well-placed source at Sony confirmed to Deadline.
Hackers threatened moviegoers who see the Seth Rogen and James Franco film in a message Tuesday morning, prompting Sony and exhibitors to scramble into emergency discussions on how to handle the new risk to the public. The threat, issued along with a new data dump containing emails stolen from Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton, specifically referenced The Interview for the first time since Sony’s crisis began on November 24.
Related: Cyber-Terrorists Threaten Theatergoers On ‘The Interview’
Tuesday’s message threatened theaters showing The Interview and invoked 9/11, escalating safety concerns and potential legal liability to theater owners who run the film as planned:
“We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places ‘The Interview’ be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to. Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY.”
So far the National Association of Theatre Owners has not publicly revealed what its members are doing to address Tuesday’s threat. As with news coming out of the Sony hack earlier today, NATO had no comment on this latest development.
Related: Sony Hit With Another Ex-Employees’ Class Action Over ‘Interview’ “Retribution”
Earlier today, one exhibition chain exec who declined to be identified told Deadline he still intends to present The Interview in his theaters. “Our first call was to the chief of police to get his assessment of the terrorist threat level,” he said. “He concurred with what is being reported in the media; the threat of terrorist action is extremely low. That said, the police department will be doing a security briefing with our managers and staff so that everyone is on the lookout for any suspicious behavior.”
The possibility of Sony removing The Interview from theaters altogether and instead releasing it on VOD is not yet a part of major conversations, an insider tells Deadline.
Sony had no comment.
Jen Yamato
