By Jim Finkle and Mark Hosenball
BOSTON (Reuters) – The New York premiere of “The Interview,” a Sony Pictures comedy about an attempt to assassinate the president of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, was canceled and a source said a chain of cinemas had discarded the idea of exhibiting the film after threats from a group of hackers.
The hackers, who said they were also responsible for the cyberattack against Sony Corp last month, warned on Tuesday for people to stay away from cinemas showing the film starring James Franco and Seth Rogen.
“We recommend staying away from places (where exhibit the film) at that time, “the hackers wrote. “(If his house is close, you better go.)” They added.
A spokesman for Landmark, which it planned to offer on Thursday the premiere of the film at the Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side New York, said by email that the projection was canceled, but did not explain why.
A Sony spokesman offered no immediate comment on the threat.
Sony executives had said earlier that theater owners would not withdraw the film, but added they would not object if they decided to cancel functions, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Carmike Cinemas, operator of 278 theaters in 41 US states, Sony informed Tuesday night that would not exhibit the film, the person said. Carmike executives were not immediately available for comments, a spokesman said.
An official of the Department of Homeland Security and other security official US said that investigations had not found anything concrete so far to justify the threat.
“At the moment no credible intelligence data to indicate an active plot against cinemas in the United States,” the official of the Department of Homeland Security said.
Police departments in Los Angeles and New York, however, said they were taking seriously the warning.
(Additional reporting by Supriya Kurane, Aron Ranen, Piya Sinha-Roy, Dan Levine, Lisa Richwine and Curtis Skinner, written by Peter Henderson. Published in Spanish by Carlos Aliaga)
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