Sony, The Interview, and the No-Win situation

this been posted yet?

I'm very confused. Saw a headline saying select theaters Christmas Day. Is it a one day only thing? Or just those theaters but starting that day and running like normal? Very strange.

So they've decided they're going to put the film out after all.

Now I can't help but wonder if this was some elaborate marketing scheme :/

Stele wrote:

I'm very confused. Saw a headline saying select theaters Christmas Day. Is it a one day only thing? Or just those theaters but starting that day and running like normal? Very strange.

Right now only Alamo Drafthouses are planning on showing it on the 25th. Sony is also apparently in talks with the Arthouse Convergence, a loose coalition of about 250 independently owned movie theaters, to potentially release the film as well.

And it was also revealed that the five major theater chains didn't simply pull out from showing the film at all. Instead, they were asking Sony about doing a staggered release to see how things went before widely releasing it. Apparently Sony interpreted that as the movie theater chains refusing to show the film altogether.

FiveIron wrote:

this been posted yet?

Mister Bigglesworth has seen better days.

OG_slinger wrote:
Stele wrote:

I'm very confused. Saw a headline saying select theaters Christmas Day. Is it a one day only thing? Or just those theaters but starting that day and running like normal? Very strange.

Right now only Alamo Drafthouses are planning on showing it on the 25th. Sony is also apparently in talks with the Arthouse Convergence, a loose coalition of about 250 independently owned movie theaters, to potentially release the film as well.

Several of the local indie theaters here in Portland are showing it on the 25th as well.

Why do I get the feeling people are going to leave the theaters on Thursday wondering why there was so much fuss over that particular movie?

Rat Boy wrote:

Why do I get the feeling people are going to leave the theaters on Thursday wondering why there was so much fuss over that particular movie?

Because that's nearly certain to be the case

shoptroll wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Why do I get the feeling people are going to leave the theaters on Thursday wondering why there was so much fuss over that particular movie?

Because that's nearly certain to be the case

I see this as a repeat of The Dictator.

Security experts are still skeptical about blaming North Korea:

Bruce Schneier wrote:

I am deeply skeptical of the FBI's announcement on Friday that North Korea was behind last month's Sony hack. The agency's evidence is tenuous, and I have a hard time believing it. But I also have trouble believing that the US government would make the accusation this formally if officials didn't believe it.

Gremlin wrote:

Security experts are still skeptical about blaming North Korea:

Bruce Schneier wrote:

I am deeply skeptical of the FBI's announcement on Friday that North Korea was behind last month's Sony hack. The agency's evidence is tenuous, and I have a hard time believing it. But I also have trouble believing that the US government would make the accusation this formally if officials didn't believe it.

omg thanks for that morning laugh..

TheGameguru wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

Security experts are still skeptical about blaming North Korea:

Bruce Schneier wrote:

I am deeply skeptical of the FBI's announcement on Friday that North Korea was behind last month's Sony hack. The agency's evidence is tenuous, and I have a hard time believing it. But I also have trouble believing that the US government would make the accusation this formally if officials didn't believe it.

omg thanks for that morning laugh..

Right now I think the US government really believes NK was behind the hack. Once the US invades NK stating that they are an online terrorist threat, my mind may change.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/24/7447267/sony-will-release-the-interview-online-today-at-1pm-et

Interesting stuff that goes beyond the whole hacking accusations etc. This could be a trial balloon to see how releasing movies via the internet goes and could change the whole movie industry going forward.

I have no clue what potential range of sales they can expect.

jowner wrote:

I have no clue what potential range of sales they can expect.

I imagine they'll take any amount of revenue over the $200 million loss they would have had if they didn't release the film.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/NMee932.gif)

OG_slinger wrote:
jowner wrote:

I have no clue what potential range of sales they can expect.

I imagine they'll take any amount of revenue over the $200 million loss they would have had if they didn't release the film.

Where do you get the 200m figure? The # I saw to create the movie was 40m.

Are we talking advertising? Legal action?

jowner wrote:

Where do you get the 200m figure? The # I saw to create the movie was 40m.

Are we talking advertising? Legal action?

I had seen $100 million, though I can't remember where. And I believe the rule of thumb is studios spend about the same amount to market a film as they do to make it.

EverythingsTentative wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

Security experts are still skeptical about blaming North Korea:

Bruce Schneier wrote:

I am deeply skeptical of the FBI's announcement on Friday that North Korea was behind last month's Sony hack. The agency's evidence is tenuous, and I have a hard time believing it. But I also have trouble believing that the US government would make the accusation this formally if officials didn't believe it.

omg thanks for that morning laugh..

Right now I think the US government really believes NK was behind the hack. Once the US invades NK stating that they are an online terrorist threat, my mind may change.

Two words: Aluminum tubes.

Paleocon wrote:
EverythingsTentative wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:
Gremlin wrote:

Security experts are still skeptical about blaming North Korea:

Bruce Schneier wrote:

I am deeply skeptical of the FBI's announcement on Friday that North Korea was behind last month's Sony hack. The agency's evidence is tenuous, and I have a hard time believing it. But I also have trouble believing that the US government would make the accusation this formally if officials didn't believe it.

omg thanks for that morning laugh..

Right now I think the US government really believes NK was behind the hack. Once the US invades NK stating that they are an online terrorist threat, my mind may change.

Two words: Aluminum tubes.

Thanks, now I have to watch that Chapelle's Show sketch again.

Seriously. After the clusterfcuk that was the Iraq War, you will have to present to me a really bloody shirt for me to trust the government with another war again.

Looks like PSN is having problems tonight. Unknown if related.

I hope the digital release of this movie does really well, not for the movie itself, but because it might encourage studios to consider more simultaneous theater/streaming releases. A lot of indie films are already released this way but theater chains pressure studios to delay VOD releases of "major" movies, if The Interview is successful enough it could change things.

ruhk wrote:

I hope the digital release of this movie does really well, not for the movie itself, but because it might encourage studios to consider more simultaneous theater/streaming releases. A lot of indie films are already released this way but theater chains pressure studios to delay VOD releases of "major" movies, if The Interview is successful enough it could change things.

I bought it for that reason.

A lot of people around here bought/rented Snowpiercer earlier this year.

ruhk wrote:
Stele wrote:

A lot of people around here bought/rented Snowpiercer earlier this year.

I'm one of those people, but Snowpeircer was an obscure title that wasn't marketed at all, The Interview was being advertised as a mainstream movie up until the day it was pulled. Even before the hullabaloo more people had likely seen commercials for The Interview than were aware Snowpeircer even exists.

I hadn't heard of Snowpeircer until it was on Netflix, so I guess it was a VOD release, too?

Stele wrote:

A lot of people around here bought/rented Snowpiercer earlier this year.

I'm one of those people, but Snowpiercer was an obscure title that wasn't marketed at all, The Interview was being advertised as a mainstream movie up until the day it was pulled. Even before the hullabaloo more people had likely seen commercials for The Interview than were aware Snowpiercer even exists.

EverythingsTentative wrote:
ruhk wrote:
Stele wrote:

A lot of people around here bought/rented Snowpiercer earlier this year.

I'm one of those people, but Snowpeircer was an obscure title that wasn't marketed at all, The Interview was being advertised as a mainstream movie up until the day it was pulled. Even before the hullabaloo more people had likely seen commercials for The Interview than were aware Snowpeircer even exists.

I hadn't heard of Snowpeircer until it was on Netflix, so I guess it was a VOD release, too?

Nope, I saw it at the theater. But its release was rather limited. I think it was available to rent online very quickly, and got to Netflix pretty soon after that.

EverythingsTentative wrote:
ruhk wrote:
Stele wrote:

A lot of people around here bought/rented Snowpiercer earlier this year.

I'm one of those people, but Snowpeircer was an obscure title that wasn't marketed at all, The Interview was being advertised as a mainstream movie up until the day it was pulled. Even before the hullabaloo more people had likely seen commercials for The Interview than were aware Snowpeircer even exists.

I hadn't heard of Snowpeircer until it was on Netflix, so I guess it was a VOD release, too?

It released simultaneously in theaters and VOD in July, then came to Netflix in October. The executive in charge of the US release had a beef with the director and essentially tried make it flop in the states so it played in only a fraction of the number of theaters as most movies and went largely unnoticed by the public.

Farscry wrote:

Looks like PSN is having problems tonight. Unknown if related.

Oh look PSN falling over on Christmas Eve, because that never ever happens each year

shoptroll wrote:
Farscry wrote:

Looks like PSN is having problems tonight. Unknown if related.

Oh look PSN falling over on Christmas Eve, because that never ever happens each year ;)

Careful now, Nintendo network has a test coming soon...