{"id":5389,"date":"2014-12-25T19:21:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-26T02:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/?p=5389"},"modified":"2015-05-31T22:37:56","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T05:37:56","slug":"the-price-of-censorship-the-interview-opens-to-sellout-crowds-while-citizenfour-emerges-as-best-picture-oscar-contender-after-lawsuit-by-ex-arco-pipeline-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/?p=5389","title":{"rendered":"The price of censorship: &#8220;The Interview&#8221; opens to sellout crowds while &#8220;Citizenfour&#8221; emerges as Best Picture contender."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The%20price%20of%20censorship%3A%20%22The%20Interview%22%20opens%20to%20sellout%20crowds%20while%20%22Citizenfour%22%20emerges%20as%20Best%20Picture%20contender.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><strong>By Peter Lance December 25th, 2014.<\/strong> After Sony Pictures backed away from its earlier decision to shelve the Seth Rogen-James Franco parody following North Korea&#8217;s invasive hack on the company, the comedy, featuring the bloody fictional assassination of Kim Jong Un opened to capacity crowds in more than 300 theaters Christmas Day.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Reuters\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2014\/12\/25\/us-northkorea-cybersecurity-youtube-idUSKBN0K210520141225\"><strong>Reuters <\/strong><\/a>reported that the 12:30 a.m. screening in Los Angeles featured a surprise appearance by co-directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Meanwhile Sony made the film available online on <strong><a title=\"Googleplay\" href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/movies\/details\/The_Interview?id=Ed2kSuKqfz0&amp;hl=en\">Google Play<\/a>, <a title=\"YouTube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ed2kSuKqfz0\">YouTube Movie<\/a>,<a title=\"XBox video\" href=\"http:\/\/video.xbox.com\/movie\/the-interview\/5599ba08-0100-11db-89ca-0019b92a3933\"> Microsoft&#8217;s Xbox Video<\/a><\/strong> in addition to the dedicated website <strong><a title=\"Sony's dedicated interview site\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seetheinterview.com\">www.seetheinterview.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0At each of those \u00a0sites the film can be rented for $5.99 or purchased for $14.99.<\/p>\n<p>By 1:30 p.m. Christmas Day <a title=\"Deadline Hollywood\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2014\/12\/the-interview-online-sales-google-play-youtube-movies-1201336075\/\"><strong>Deadline Hollywood<\/strong> <\/a>was reporting that &#8220;The Interview&#8221; was the top seller on both the Google and YouTube movie sites.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Variety\" href=\"http:\/\/variety.com\/2014\/film\/news\/christmas-box-office-sellouts-reported-for-the-interview-1201386931\/\"><strong>Variety<\/strong><\/a> reported that &#8220;Nearly all Christmas Day screenings of Sony\u2019s \u201c<a id=\"auto-tag_the-interview\" href=\"http:\/\/variety.com\/t\/the-interview\/\" data-tag=\"the-interview\">The Interview<\/a>\u201d have sold out at the 17\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_alamo-drafthouse\" href=\"http:\/\/variety.com\/t\/alamo-drafthouse\/\" data-tag=\"alamo-drafthouse\">Alamo Drafthouse<\/a>\u00a0locations \u2014 an initial positive signal over the studio\u2019s decision to go with independent theaters to release the political satire.&#8221; &#8216;We\u2019re seeing filmgoers come out in droves,&#8217; Christian Parkes, chief branding officer for the Texas-based chain, told\u00a0<em>Variety<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to <a title=\"cnet\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/the-interview-basks-in-attention-both-good-and-bad\/\">cnet.com<\/a>\u00a0another 85 U.S. theaters, all independents, are lined up to show the $44 million comedy January 2nd. As cnet&#8217;s Natalie Weinstein writes, &#8220;It&#8217;s a rather remarkable feat that the hackers &#8212; whom the FBI has linked to North Korea&#8217;s government &#8212; managed to turn an average, rather juvenile comedy into a freedom-of-speech phenomenon.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-25-at-6.14.50-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-5392\" title=\"Screen Shot 2014-12-25 at 6.14.50 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-25-at-6.14.50-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-25-at-6.14.50-PM.png 207w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-25-at-6.14.50-PM-197x300.png 197w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px\" \/><\/a>Meanwhile, an unprecedented lawsuit against the producers of the Edward Snowden documentary<a title=\"citizenfour site\" href=\"https:\/\/citizenfourfilm.com\"><strong> Citizenfour,<\/strong> <\/a>filed by an ex-Kansas state official and ARCO exec, has propelled that film into a contender for Best Picture at this year&#8217;s Academy Awards.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Citizen Four suit\" href=\"http:\/\/regmedia.co.uk\/2014\/12\/23\/citizenfoursuit.pdf\"><strong>The suit<\/strong> <\/a>filed in Kansas Federal Court December 19th by 89 year-old Edward Horace, who describes himself as a former U.S. Naval Officer with a &#8220;Q&#8221; security clearance, seeks damages from Snowden, the film&#8217;s director Laura Poitras and its distributors,\u00a0for alleged &#8220;misuse of purloined information disclosed to foreign enemies.&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/regmedia.co.uk\/2014\/12\/23\/citizenfoursuit.pdf\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5391\" title=\"Lawsuits vs. Citizern Four page 1\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Lawsuits-vs.-Citizern-Four-page-1-261x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"261\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Lawsuits-vs.-Citizern-Four-page-1-261x300.png 261w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Lawsuits-vs.-Citizern-Four-page-1-893x1024.png 893w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Lawsuits-vs.-Citizern-Four-page-1-800x917.png 800w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Lawsuits-vs.-Citizern-Four-page-1.png 983w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 261px) 100vw, 261px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div>But \u00a0according to\u00a0<strong><a title=\"Reporter\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/race\/academy-rejects-challenge-citizenfour-oscar-759987\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Edwards&#8217; legal attack, in which he demanded that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts &amp; Sciences deny eligibility to the film for allegedly violating Oscar rules, backfired, when Academy officials rejected his claim.In fact<a title=\"Best picture curse\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/oscars-can-edward-snowden-doc-753206\">, in a article filed December 3rd,<\/a> The Reporter&#8217;s Gregg Kilday argued that Citizenfour, may well &#8220;Break The Best-Picture Curse,&#8221; in which documentaries have been traditionally excluded from the Academy&#8217;s highest honor.<\/div>\n<div><a title=\"PL Citizenfour\" href=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/?p=5384\">In the piece I wrote<\/a> following a screening of the film November both, I noted that despite the prediction of a Santa Barbara ticket taker who had initially denied me access to the film (as a member of The Writers Guild) CitizenFour had already arrived on several &#8220;Top 10&#8221; lists for 2014.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The%20price%20of%20censorship%3A%20%22The%20Interview%22%20opens%20to%20sellout%20crowds%20while%20%22Citizenfour%22%20emerges%20as%20Best%20Picture%20contender.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>By Peter Lance December 25th, 2014. After Sony Pictures backed away from its earlier decision to shelve the Seth Rogen-James Franco parody following North Korea&#8217;s invasive hack on the company, the comedy, featuring the bloody fictional assassination of Kim Jong Un opened to capacity crowds in more than 300 theaters Christmas Day. Reuters reported that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5389"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6959,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5389\/revisions\/6959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}