RNC Urges Theatre Chains to Show THE INTERVIEW and "Not Be Bullied"

In a rarely seen turn of events, the Republican National Committee is in complete agreement with President Obama- at least where Sony's new film THE INTERVIEW is concerned.

BroadwayWorld reported earlier today that Sony had pulled all traces of THE INTERVIEW's social media presence, and more recently, RNC chairman Reince Priebus wrote a letter encouraging the top 10 movie theatres to release THE INTERVIEW, despite Sony's cancellation.

"I want to speak clearly on behalf of the Republican Party: I urge you to show the movie," he wrote.

"As a sign of my commitment, if you agree to show this movie, I will send a note to the Republican Party's millions of donors and supporters urging them to buy a ticket -- not to support one movie or Hollywood, but to show North Korea we cannot be bullied into giving up our freedom," Priebus said.

"Like many Americans, I'm deeply concerned that we would allow a foreign regime to dictate the movies we can and cannot watch."

As people in the entertainment industry and both political sides continue to debate Sony's decision to cancel the film's release following cyber threats that impending disaster would come upon the corporation if it released the film, Sony eliminated THE INTERVIEW's Facebook page While they did not delete THE INTERVIEW Twitter account, @TheInterview, they did erase all tweets.

Keep following BroadwayWorld here as the story develops!

The FBI confirmed yesterday that North Korea was behind the cyber attacks on Sony. THE INTERVIEW, which stars James Franco and Seth Rogen, features a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The FBI said in its statement:

"As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions.

"While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based, in part, on similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks.

"We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there,' the FBI said in the brief statement.

"Further, North Korea's attack on SPE (Sony Pictures Entertainment) reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States.

"North Korea's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves,' the FBI said. "Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior."

Yesterday, BWW reported that Sony has received a second threat warning the studio not to release the controversial film THE INTERVIEW on VOD or elsewhere. Read the article in full here.

THE INTERVIEW follows Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean leader 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.

Photo credit: Sony Pictures

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