George Clooney said top film stars and studio bosses didn’t sign the petition for The Interview to be released online because of fears of retaliation.
“This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made,” George told Hollywood website* Deadline*. “Quite honestly, this would happen in any industry. I don’t know what the answer is, but what happened here is part of a much larger deal. A huge deal. And people are still talking about dumb emails. Understand what is going on right now, because the world just changed on your watch, and you weren’t even paying attention.”
The release of The Interview, a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists sent to North Korea to kill the leader, waspulled by Sony after terrorist threats to cinemas due to screen the film.
“Sony didn’t pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theatres said they were not going to run it,” said George. “And they said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these, then you’re going to be responsible.”
This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made
The film, due to be released on Christmas day, has already led to a massive hacking of Sony’s computer systems at the end of November. Confidential information, including the script for the next James Bond film, were leaked, as well as less than flattering emails discussing Angelina Jolie and Barack Obama.
George’s petition may not have worked, but he’s still keen to get the film released. Speaking about a recent conversation with Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal, he told her: “Stick it online. Do whatever you can to get this movie out. Not because everybody has to see the movie, but because I’m not going to be told we can’t see the movie. That’s the most important part. We cannot be told we can’t see something by Kim Jong-un, of all f**king people.”