HOLLYWOOD—Hopefully your gifts are all wrapped and under the Christmas tree. This year I’m running a bit late, so I will be among the hordes of last-minute shoppers. While many of us love to enjoy the holiday party season attending festive Christmas parties.You wonder want to wear? In the holiday spirit, many of us still wear the red. It’s the season to shine, so bring out the sequins.
As an entertainment journalist, I’m always invited to movie premieres, but this time I think I will pass on the film “The Interview.” Hackers calling themselves “Guardians of Peace,” on December 16, released another round of data leaks, including ominous threats against the premiere of Sony Pictures film “The Interview,” in which the group references the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The groups threatening to attack cinemas screening a comedy film about Kim Jong-Un may well be the same people who hacked Sony so successfully should be taken seriously. The language used by the group, Guardians of Peace, looks similar to that used by the hackers who claimed responsibility from breaking into the entertainment giant’s software network.
The hacking of upcoming films that were leaked on the internet along with private email exchanges discussing the shortcomings of A-list stars, made headlines around the world. Whoever was the mastermind behind the hacking had a great deal of expertise, time and money and succeeded in causing Sony a great deal of embarrassment-certainly exposing their lack of cybersecurity.
According to published reports, the latest threats of a 9/11 style massacre have caused real concern, leading to the cancellation of “The Interview’s,” New York premiere on Christmas Day and plans by a major cinema chain to screen it.
Carmike Cinemas, which operate 247 theaters across the country, said they would not be showing the film, as well, but who really knows, if they will change their mind. Nothing is ever set in stone. The film is an action-comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco among many more talent actors. Franco (Dave Skylark) and Rogen (Aaron Rapoport) in the film run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show “Skylark Tonight.”
When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two-least qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-Un. While an official at the US Department of Homeland Security said there was “no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States,” police in New York and Los Angeles said, they were taking the threats “very seriously.”
Previous leaks have included disparaging remarks made by executives about celebrities, a James Bond script and private employee data. According to published reports, Sony is being sued by two former employees who accuse them of failing to properly protect their personal data. The Bond leak has the potential to hit the studio hard as the franchise is one of the most lucrative for Sony Pictures with the last installment bringing in $1.1 billion worldwide-more than any other film in the series.
Rose’s Scoop: While Sony execs are a little worried about the hacking, Simon Cowell is living it up on a Barbados beach with his son and baby mama Lauren Silverman. Simon’s son, Eric, is 10 months old.
