Here's how you shut down those inappropriate films Keith watches
Threaten to kill every one of their patrons
Hey, works in every organized crime-protected neighborhood in every city around the globe.
Why not let North Korea set a new MPAA standard for us all to follow?
We can abbreviate it "Rated NK" - for "Not for Keith", of course.
I smell money being made here somehow. Whether it is a scam like The Producers, or just merely publicity-that-you-can't-buy (or even terrorism insurance, subsidized by us taxpayers), I'm guessing there's a $$ winner somewhere.
ReplyDeleteIf so, it'd have to be some sort of invisible, terrorism-specific insurance; any other kind probably wouldn't pay out, citing some sort of negligence as evidenced by the initial hacking.
DeleteThe lead up publicity was run to build interest in the holiday release which is now apparently off the table, so, to that end at least it's wasted money. Maybe the threat and capitulation will compensate by driving later theatrical figures higher, if there is in fact a later theatrical release.
Short of those, though, NK + Sony (through its capitulation) put a big dent in Sony's worldwide take on the film.
But here's the disastrous part. Want to stop the next "Passion of the Christ" dead in its tracks? Vaguely threaten another Aurora-style shooting "at an unnamed theater".
Or not evewn "Passion of the Christ" - a remake of Peter Pan would do just as well.
Welcome to the Age of Appeasement.
The reason I said that is that this seemed just too easy -- like Brer Rabbit being sent to the briar patch.
DeleteAnother theory could be that there is some really smelly stuff on the Sony server that hasn't been released yet. Like maybe evidence of criminal fraud or corruption -- simple blackmail in the classical sense.
OTOH, if you are correct that this is mere capitulation, then God help us all. Hecklers get their veto at the point of a gun. They'll have to go back to offending Christians because they know it's safe.
WSJ has run a few op/ed pieces lately on the taxpayer scam that is terrorism insurance (and that was in the CROmnibus bill CRAmmed through last week). Don't know whether business interruption from threats of terrorism qualifies, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are some suits at Sony looking into it.
DeleteWell keep in mind that it's the rare film that's not greenlighted with an eye to its ultimate international box office, so I'm not sure how any sort of domestically rooted Producers/terrorism insurance scam would actually work here. Would Sony sacrifice its Malaysian distribution merely to cash in on U.S. insurance that almost cerainly wouldn't cover it? But I'll admit I didn't read the WSJ articles.
DeleteSounds more to me like Sony crapped their pants prematurely, hysterically imagining some U.S.- scaled Aurora incident, without thinking through the logistics that getting Norks with guns into theaters through forewarned domestic security is a little more difficult than getting digital malware across a phone line. Maybe they just believe their own Matrix-like cyber-CGI.
And then dealing with their soiled pants left them no room to ponder the quantum precedent they'd just set.
Here's another way to look at it. Is this the Chicago Tylenol tampering of public movie viewing? Way too soon to tell of course. But back then that changed everything.
ReplyDeletePik, I think this from AOSHQ sort of puts things in perspective. Or full retreat, depending on your POV.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess you're right. It's worse than full retreat, as Pericles put it:
DeleteFor all claims from an equal, urged upon a neighbour as commands before any attempt at legal settlement, be they great or be they small, have only one meaning, and that is slavery.
(Pericles' last speech before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War -- Thucydides, I.139-146.)
Since they've now released it to much publicity, I'm starting to go back to my original theory.
ReplyDeleteWeeelll...publicity will get you only a couple of things. A good feeling inside. But hopefully, more people willing to buy your product or service in its marketplace.
DeleteOnly problem is, Sony's marketplace right now has been reduced to independent art houses, but mostly the film now having gone viral for free on every Bittorrent outlet.
Now, if Sony does successfully scam the feds into paying compensation for damages from terrorism, your Producers angle might still be a thing.