Three movie theaters thought they had the perfect back up plan to replace the cancelled screenings of "The Interview" - show the other satirical movie about North Korea, "Team America: World Police."
Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the 2004 film by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, did not agree with the alternative screening. The Hollywood studio quickly reached out to the theaters and forced them to cancel the "Team America" showings.
The theaters included the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; the Capitol Theater in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Plaza Atlanta in Georgia. The Alamo always planned to show "The Interview" until Sony made the unilateral decision to cancel the movie's release altogether.
Sony originally gave theaters the option to drop screenings of "The Interview" in the wake of threats made by "Guardians of Peace." The group behind the Sony hacks included a threatening message in its eighth round of leaks, part of its promises "Christmas gift" of files, which invoked a 9/11-like attack on any theaters that showed the Seth Rogen and James Franco movie.
"The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave.)," the group wrote.
In "The Interview," Rogen stars as the TV producer for the talk show Franco hosts. When they land an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un, the CIA tasks them with assassinating the tyrannical dictator.
"Team America" follows an anti-terror organization that tries to save the world from a violent attack led by former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jung-un. The movie kills Jong-il by sending him over a balcony and impaling him on a spiked helmet. He's then revealed to be a cockroach from another planet.
The investigation into the cyber-attack and who is responsible is "being treated as a serious national security issue" by the White House. The FBI and the Department of Justice are expected to make a statement about North Korea's possible involvement today (Dec. 18).