WATCH ABOVE: There may still he hope for “The Interview”. Since Sony cancelled the controversial movie’s theatrical release last week, there has been mounting speculation that the film will be released online. Nicole Bogart reports.
TORONTO – The fate of Sony Picture’s cancelled comedy The Interview remains unknown. But since the controversial film was canned following terrorist threats, there has been mounting evidence that the movie may be released online.
Late Friday, Sony Pictures Chief Executive Michael Lynton defended the studio’s decision not to release the film during an interview with CNN.
“We would still like the public to see this movie, absolutely,” he said during the interview. “There are a number of options open to us. And we have considered those, and are considering them.”
Lynton added that Sony is exploring the idea of releasing the film to a platform like YouTube.
READ MORE: How the Sony Pictures hacking scandal unfolded
The Guardians of Peace – the hacker group who has claimed responsibility for the damaging Sony cyber-attack – demanded that Sony cancel its release of the movie starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, which included a gruesome scene depicting the assassination of North Korea’s leader.
Sony cancelled the Dec. 25 release last week, citing the threats of violence against movie theatres. The movie studio later said there were no further plans to release the film.
On Sunday, lawyers for Sony Pictures said the film will be released eventually, but the company has not decided how it will be distributed.
Sony has faced repeated calls to release the film.
On Friday U.S. President Barack Obama said Sony should have released the film, calling the decision is cancel the release “a mistake.” Obama said he doesn’t want to see a society in which “some dictator some place can start imposing censorship in the United States.”
READ MORE: Sony should have released ‘The Interview’ says Obama
Many high profile celebrities have expressed outrage over Sony’s decision, including actor George Clooney who attempted to get other industry leaders to sign a petition encouraging Sony to release the film.
“This is a silly comedy, but the truth is, what it now says about us is a whole lot,” he said in an interview with Deadline magazine. “We have a responsibility to stand up against this.”
Clooney said he passed around the petition to many important figures in the industry; but revealed “a large number” refused to sign.
“This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made. Quite honestly, this would happen in any industry,” he said.
A public petition calling on Sony to release The Interview and “stop letting terrorists decide which movies Americans get to see,” has garnered over 1,600 signatures on Change.org.
Meanwhile, file-sharing company BitTorrent is also urging Sony to release the film, offering the use of its new paid service to host the film.
According to a report by The Huffington Post, the software company has held several talks with the movie studio about releasing the film as a “bundle” of files that can be sold to users legally.
READ MORE: Canada avoids wrath of North Korea over B.C.-made ‘The Interview’
“A group of hackers stopped an American company from releasing a commercial film – this should not stand,” Matt Mason, the chief content officer at BitTorrent, told The Huffington Post.
“This is wrong and we can help make it right.”
At the very least, a deal with BitTorrent may allow Sony to make some profit off the film. Right now, the studio stands to lose about $200 million from the film alone, according to estimates from Bloomberg. And that doesn’t include the expense of the data leaks or damage control.
Sony targeted by more hackers
In yet another bizarre plot twist, a message posted to anonymous information sharing website Pastebin over the weekend addressed to Lynton and Sony Pictures was signed by members from the well-known hacker group Anonymous.
The message urged Sony to release The Interview or risk being subjected to additional hacks.
“What we would like to say is that by not releasing The Interview, you are denying us the privilege of the Freedom Of Information Act (1966),” read the message, posted over the weekend.
“Release The Interview as planned, or we shall carry out as many hacks as we are capable of to both Sony Entertainment, and yourself.”
Anonymous was previously linked to the devastating hack on Sony’s PlayStation Network; however the group denied any involvement.
Guardians of Peace also issued another statement over the weekend – this time mocking the FBI.
The message read, “The result of investigation by FBI is so excellent that you might have seen what we were doing with your own eyes. FBI is the best in the world.”
The message includes a link to a YouTube video that repeats “You are an idiot” over and over.
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