George R.R. Martin Slams Sony's 'Corporate Cowardice' For Canceling 'The Interview'
In a LiveJournal post titled "Corporate Cowardice," Martin says: " The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me."
He adds that his own independent theater in Santa Fe, the Jean Cocteau Cinema, would have been more than happy to screen "The Interview."
Read Martin's post below:
This one is surreal...
I mean, really? REALLY?? These gigantic corporations, most of which could buy North Korea with pocket change, are declining to show a film because Kim Jong-Un objects to being mocked?
The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me. It's a good thing these guys weren't around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR. If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes.
Even Sony, which made the movie, is going along. There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely.
I haven't seen THE INTERVIEW. I have no idea how good or bad a film it is. It might be hilarious. It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the 'outrageous' part). It might be all of the above.
That's not the point, though. Whether it's the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.
For what it's worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema [Martin's theater in Santa Fe] will be glad to screen THE INTERVIEW (assuming that Sony does eventually release the film for theatrical exhibition, rather than streaming it or dumping it as a direct-to-DVD release), should it be made available to us. Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we'll show your film for you.
Martin owns the the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, where, in a follow up blog post, the author says he tried to show "Team America" instead of the yanked "Interview."
But that all fell apart on Thursday when that movie was pulled, too. He writes:
The cowardice is contagious, it would appear.
In the comments to my last post, several of my readers suggested that we follow the lead of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin and show TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE at the Cocteau, since Sony has wimped out and pulled THE INTERVIEW.
It sounded like a great idea, so we took immediate steps to do so.
Only to learn that Paramount has now decided to withdraw TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE from exhibition. We won't be allowed to show the film, and neither will Alamo, nor any of the other independent venues that wanted to use TA:WP to replace THE INTERVIEW.
Regal. AMC. Cinemark. Sony. And now Paramount. Where does it end?
I guess I should contact our new North Korean masters to ask them what movies we will be allowed to show at the Cocteau.
Check out more of George R.R. Martin's opinionated LiveJournal here. Current mood: "pissed off."