N. Korea hacks Sony in revenge for Seth Rogen's film "The Interview"

[CountDeMoney]

North Korea slams U.S. over Internet shutdown, calls Obama a 'monkey'
By Simon Denyer December 27 at 11:16 AM
Washington Post

BEIJING — North Korea on Saturday compared President Obama to a "monkey in a tropical forest" as it blamed the administration for disrupting its Internet access amid a hacking dispute related to the movie "The Interview."

The North Korean government has been fiercely critical of the film, a comedy involving a plot to assassinate its leader Kim Jong Un, but has denied responsibility for a recent cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

Facing a threat of terrorist attacks from hackers, and the subsequent refusal of large cinema halls to screen the movie, Sony initially canceled its release earlier this month.

But after Obama criticized the company for caving in to pressure from North Korea , Sony released the movie Christmas Day in selected independent cinemas. It played to packed houses and took in nearly $1 million in opening day ticket sales.

In a statement on Saturday, North Korea's ruling body, the National Defense Commission, said Obama was "the chief culprit" for the movie's release.

"Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest," an unnamed spokesman for the commission said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

It wasn't the first time North Korea has used racist language to refer to Obama or indeed used crude insults against other top U.S. and South Korean officials. In May, its official news agency called Obama a "crossbreed" and "a wicked black monkey," while referring to South Korean President Park Geun-hye as "an old prostitute."

In August, it called Secretary of State John F. Kerry a wolf with a "hideous lantern jaw."

Obama had threatened retaliation against North Korea over the cyberattack on Sony, but it is not clear if last week's disruption of the country's Internet access was carried out by the U.S. government or by independent hackers.

North Korea on Saturday demanded evidence that it was behind the attack on Sony, while blaming the United States for its own Internet problems.

"The United States, with its large physical size and oblivious to the shame of playing hide and seek as children with runny noses would, has begun disrupting the Internet operations of the main media outlets of our republic," it said.

The U.S. administration, it said, had "feigned ignorance" of the attack.

Earlier, it had warned that any U.S. punishment over the cyberattack on Sony would lead to retaliation "thousands of times greater."

The United States has also requested China's help in punishing its ally North Korea, but Beijing has appeared reluctant to get involved, condemning cyberattacks but arguing there was no proof of who was responsible for the attack on Sony

The movie has proved a surprise success in China, with tens of thousands of people downloading it — most illegally — within hours of it being made available online.

Some Chinese netizens left positive reviews online, even without seeing the movie, as a gesture of protest against censorship, while others appeared to enjoy the lampooning of the North Korean regime. The country's leader is often mockingly referred to by Chinese Web users as "Fatty Kim III."

That popular reception was something of an embarrassment for the nationalist Global Times newspaper, which had earlier accused the United States of "senseless cultural arrogance" over the movie.

On Friday, the state-owned newspaper was forced to admit that some Chinese netizens had "criticized North Korea for lacking a sense of humor," and that they had called the movie's release an "act of justice."

Still, the newspaper insisted the movie's popularity would be short-lived, calling it "low quality." The movie, the paper insisted, represented the West's "distorted view of North Korea."

[MadBurgerMaker]

We are talking about PSA, though. Quite often an independent cinema will have larger screens than screen #37 of your local multiplex.

Dude you just mentioned The Neighbors a couple of posts ago.  Why would the next Seth Rogan flick be relegated to the shittiest screen in the back of the joint at the multiplexes on opening day?

E: And Alamo Drafthouse doesn't have more seats than the multiplexes.  They've got better beer though.  That's the only independent cinema here I can think of (they showed the movie and reported lots of ticket sales).

[celedhring]

We are talking about PSA, though. Quite often an independent cinema will have larger screens than screen #37 of your local multiplex.

Dude you just mentioned The Neighbors a couple of posts ago.  Why would the next Seth Rogan flick be relegated to the shittiest screen in the back of the joint at the multiplexes on opening day?

No, but it wouldn't get the biggest ones either, with the Hobbit and other family-friendly stuff around, those do better than stoner comedies in Christmas. Anyway, what I mean is that a lot of films that open in arthouses do pull off some pretty big PSA's, a lot of those cinemas aren't small at all, since they follow the old non-multiplex model. I just looked up and in NYC The Interview is, for example, being shown at the Walter Reade. That's the largest screen in the Lincoln Center; just filling up one showing is enough to get more than 3000 bucks.

How the fuck does a Seth Rogen flick get shown at the Lincoln Center anyway? 

Anyway, we're talking a bit in circles. What I meant is that all the publicity hasn't really helped the film at all, and those numbers aren't really that big given the hype.

[MadBurgerMaker]

No, but it wouldn't get the biggest ones either, with the Hobbit and other family-friendly stuff around, those do better than stoner comedies in Christmas.

Obviously it won't be in the very biggest with the competition, but it won't be on screen 37 next door to shit that's going to the dollar theaters next week.  It would probably stay around it's current level.  Nothing spectacular, but let's not get carried away and start talking about 8 or 10 million like it's crap for one day.  Pretty sure Sony would have been cool with that.

I was actually looking at the Drafthouse showtimes for this one.  The one in the shittier part of town has the most showings.  More than Unbroken, the same as The Hobbit (that one is also showing the horrible new Annie movie, neither of the other two locations have that one).  The one on the nicer side of the city is only showing it twice. 

What I mean is that a lot of films that open in arthouses do pull off some pretty big PSA's, a lot of those cinemas aren't small at all, since they follow the old non-multiplex model. I just looked up and in NYC The Interview is, for example, being shown at the Walter Reade. That's the largest screen in the Lincoln Center; just filling up one showing is enough to get more than 3000 bucks.

How the fuck does a Seth Rogen flick get shown at the Lincoln Center? 

Anyway, we're talking a bit in circles. What I meant is that all the publicity hasn't really helped the film at all, and those numbers aren't really that big given the hype.

But that's the thing. They are pretty good numbers, which is why it's mostly being reported that way.  You mentioned it, but then didn't keep going with it: This is a pothead-ish movie released on Xmas day simultaneously with an online release, which is also supposedly doing well, that was immediately stolen.  They're showing it at these places because it will make them some money. 

[celedhring]

Sony was planning a 2500 screen release. If it ever kept the same PSA as now that's just 7.5m - not 8-10 million. And I'm pretty certain we'd be looking at a noticeably lower PSA in a saturation release.

But I'm really interested in seeing the online numbers - if they are made public. I'm open to the possibility that stoners preferred to watch it at home than to haul their asses to a place where they show European movies.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Sony was planning a 2500 screen release. If it ever kept the same PSA as now that's just 7.5m - not 8-10 million. And I'm pretty certain we'd be looking at a noticeably lower PSA in a saturation release.

They mentioned "around 3000." Whatever, we'll take your $7.5.  #3.  Sony: Happy.  E2:  Hell, they were also planning on releasing it at a much more...appropriate...time (a couple months ago), which would have helped it along a bit, but lol

But I'm really interested in seeing the online numbers - if they are made public.  I'm open to the possibility that stoners preferred to watch it at home that to haul their asses to a place where they show European movies.

There was some stuff about it being the most rented movie on YouTube currently, but.....do a lot of people tend to rent movies on YouTube?

E:  With these online rentals, how much of that $5.99 typically goes to, say, Google/the service providing the movie?  Any idea?

[katmai]

With Hallywood accounting the movie was going to be written up as loss no matter what.

[celedhring]

Sony was planning a 2500 screen release. If it ever kept the same PSA as now that's just 7.5m - not 8-10 million. And I'm pretty certain we'd be looking at a noticeably lower PSA in a saturation release.

They mentioned "around 3000." Whatever, we'll take your $7.5.  #3.  Sony: Happy.  E2:  Hell, they were also planning on releasing it at a much more...appropriate...time (a couple months ago), which would have helped it along a bit, but lol

But I'm really interested in seeing the online numbers - if they are made public.  I'm open to the possibility that stoners preferred to watch it at home that to haul their asses to a place where they show European movies.

There was some stuff about it being the most rented movie on YouTube currently, but.....do a lot of people tend to rent movies on YouTube?

E:  With these online rentals, how much of that $5.99 typically goes to, say, Google/the service providing the movie?  Any idea?

It depends on the movie, really. I.e.: with big movies the producers usually keep a larger share as they have better negotiating power, while on smaller ones they usually don't. A typical cut for the service is 30% - In Spain at least, I guess the US won't be that different.

[celedhring]

With Hallywood accounting the movie was going to be written up as loss no matter what.

A friend of mine was super-happy because he managed to get a 5% of profits when he sold a spec earlier this year. Poor chap, he won't see a dime even if the film cleans up.

[CountDeMoney]

Regardless of the box office, the true, lasting and measurable impact of all this is:  more Seth Rogan and James Franco movies. 

[MadBurgerMaker]

Regardless of the box office, the true, lasting and measurable impact of all this is:  more Seth Rogan and James Franco movies. 

Give the Nork hit teams some time, man. 

[Neil]

If Asians, who are often called monkeys, call a black person a monkey, is it like when black people call each other 'nigger'?

[KRonn]

Regardless of the box office, the true, lasting and measurable impact of all this is:  more Seth Rogan and James Franco movies. 

The terrorists have won.....

[garbon]

What a forgettable movie if not for all this free NK publicity.

[Josquius]

If Asians, who are often called monkeys, call a black person a monkey, is it like when black people call each other 'nigger'?

Calling people monkey must be a weird Korean thing. They always call the Japanese that. :s