After several theater chains decided against showing the comedy “The Interview,” Sony Pictures has decided not to release the film, The film was scheduled to open Dec. 25.
The decision followed threats by an unknown group that hacked into the computers of Sony Pictures in retaliation for the film. They also threatened acts of 9-11 type violence if Sony released the film.
“The Interview,” a comedy with James Franco and Seth Rogen, portrays the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
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).
Although “The Interview” is a moving target at this point the online showtime listings for Marcus Theaters and the currently list the controversial film as playing at their theaters .
Neither Marcus or Mayfair Mall, where the AMC theater is located, have responded to requests for comment.
After terrorist-like threats were made against the film this week Sony Pictures told exhibitors they had the option not to show the film.
According to the the Carmike chain, the fourth largest in the US with 278 theaters and 2917 screens in 41 states has chosen to cancel showings of “The Interview,” which is scheduled to open Dec. 25.
There are more bridges and staircases in “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies” than in an Escher lithograph.
And a battle is fought on each one. Yet there are no narrative bridges to connect what we are seeing to what came before.
This disjointed, top heavy third film based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien relies on familiarity with the franchise. Anyone who has not seen the first two films will feel adrift, as will anyone who can’t remember previous developments.
It is not the sum total of what preceded it or of any creative urge, but of a pathological need to squeeze every dime out of the franchise at the cost of narrative cohesion and momentum.
A new monthly pass program allows customers to see a movie for as little as $1 a day.
The MoviePass subscription program charges as little $30 for a monthly pass, that allows customers to see a new 2-D movie every 24 hours.
According to the firm’s website there are 3,700 participating theaters in the US with 33,000 screens. The site lists Marcus and AMC chains as participants in the Milwaukee area.
The service requires subscribers use an Android or iPhone to access the MoviePass App, but: “It is not until the user purchases a ticket at the theater that the seat will be reserved and confirmed for the title and showtime selected,” according to the site.
The Federal Communications Commission authorized the transfer of Journal Communications radio and TV stations to E. W. Scripps Co. Friday, according to TVNewsCheck.
According to the story, the new company will retain the Scripps name, and its shareholders will have voting control.
The deal will make Cincinnati-based Scripps the nation’s fifth-largest independent TV station group, with 34 stations in 24 markets, including WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) in Milwaukee, covering 18% of U.S. TV households.
With the overseas box office for films in the 60% range, Hollywood studios treat foreign countries with kid gloves, so as not to alienate audiences, nationalist sensibilities or foreign investors.
Two films this season fly in the face of this perceived wisdom.
“Unbreakable” “Unbroken,” opening Christmas Day, paints a painful portrait of the mental and physical hardship endured by the American soldier, and Olympic athlete who was a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II. Nationalist groups there are organizing a boycott.
Two films opening Friday are about people lost in the wilderness. “Wild” is the one not based on the Bible.
It is about a woman, grieving the death of her mother and battling self-destructive behavior, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in search of herself.
“Walk the Line” Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, plays Cheryl Strayed – she chose her new last name after her divorce – who lost the thread of her life.
After the death of her mother, played by Laura Dern, she self medicated with random sex and heroin before reaching that place where her options were change or die.
I do not know if its a signifier of race or age – probably both – that my list of top five rappers begins and ends with the Beastie Boys. And maybe Kanye.
But at a time when an all American institution like “The Tonight Show” has The Roots as its house band, its obvious the mainstream has become diverse and inclusive.
In a similar way Chris Rock’s heartfelt “Top Five” is so culturally specific as if preaching to the converted, while also contextually universal without missing a beat or sacrificing its street cred.
When Hollywood thinks Bible it thinks Old Testament. With its stories of violence and miracles the OT is OG.
It reminds us mankind’s infatuation with magic and bloodshed is nothing new. Hollywood’s renewed interest, of course, is related to the digital technology that allows old stories to be told in new ways and their commercial potential.
So if you believe in things that you can’t understand “Exodus: Gods and Kings” may feel a little secular to you.
It is persuasive blockbuster storytelling in scale in and scope but without conviction for anything beyond its big bad, in 3D – where available – Biblical self. The scriptural subject matter simply offers action packed narrative in the public domain, of the sort director Ridley Scott excels in, and in the epic vein of his Oscar winning best picture “Gladiator.”