According to The Wrap, the AMC theater chain will not to show the comedy “The Interview.”
A source confirms this includes the AMC Mayfair Mall 18, although the theater has made no official announcement.
A preview screening scheduled for Thursday night has also been cancelled.
The Carmike, Regal, Cineplex and Cinemark chains have also cancelled plans to show the film. They and AMC are the top five theater chains in North America, and represent as many as 40,000 screens.
According , the cancellations are causing Sony Pictures to consider releasing the film on Video on Demand (VOD).
Milwaukee-based chain Marcus Theaters did not reply to questions about its plans for the film. On Wednesday, both Marcus and AMC still listed showtimes for “The Interview” – which opens Dec. 25 – on their websites.
“The Interview,” a comedy with James Frano and Seth Rogen, portrays the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. An unknown group that hacked into the computers of Sony Pictures, the films distributor, is believed to have done so in retaliation for the film. They also threatened acts of 9-11 type violence if Sony does not withdraw the film.
Sony, meanwhile, told exhibitors that they would be allowed to cancel showing the film on video on demand.
See my earlier item on the controversy over the film, and my short history of political assassination films.
Preview screenings were also cancelled in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit and Austin.
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