Has North Korea Effectively Silenced Hollywood with Sony Cyber Attack?

Sony Pictures has decided to cancel the release of “The Interview” due to the fact many movie theaters decided not to show the film due to the various threats made online against anyone showing it.  This decision has upset celebrities because it appears North Korea who the US government has supposedly linked to the hack has been able to silence free speech in the US:

Celebrities expressed their outrage at Sony Picture’s decision to cancel plans to release “The Interview” on Christmas Day on Twitter.

The news comes after many major theater owners canceled next week’s screenings of the controversial film, which depicts the assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. investigators appeared ready to blame North Korea for the crippling hack attack at Sony Pictures, which saw the leak of internal emails and personal information that escalated to a threat that people should avoid going to theaters where “The Interview” is playing.

When the film was pulled, celebrities vented their disappointment and raised concerns about the precedent it would set for controversial films in the future.

Actor Judd Apatow, a friend of one of the film’s lead actors Seth Rogen, tweeted: “I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?

West Wing actor Rob Lowe, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film said: “Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them.  [CNN]

You can read much more celebrity feedback at the link. However, I cannot blame the theaters because I think they are less worried about a bomb attack, but instead more worried about being hacked like Sony was.  I’m sure all these movie companies are probably now doing huge reviews of their network security right now.  Yes if North Korea was behind this attack they have effectively been able to silence Hollywood and even silence future movies about North Korea:

The shockwaves from the Sony hack have finally reached Hollywood’s development community, as New Regency has pulled the plug on its Steve Carell movie “Pyongyang,” which Gore Verbinski had been prepping for a March start date, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.

Based on the graphic novel by Guy Delisle, “Pyongyang” is a paranoid thriller about a Westerner’s experiences working in North Korea for a year.  [The Wrap]

A plus for all of this out this hack is that the Kim regime has saved us from watching what reviewers are calling not a great movie. On a downside it looks like there will never be a Team America Part 2.