Georgia-Based Carmike Theaters Cancels 'The Interview' After Threats

Patch Staff Report

Carmike Cinemas, which operates a theater on Scenic Highway in Snellville, will not be showing The Interview, a Sony film set for release on Christmas Day.

The Interview stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as a TV show host and producer tapped by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong Un, according to the Daily Beast. Kim Jong Un is the current leader of North Korea.

Carmike Cinemas, based in Columbus, Ga., announced that it would not be screening the film in the wake of a threat issued Tuesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Carmike runs 250 theaters nationwide, 15 of which are in Georgia. The Carmike 12, located at 1905 Scenic Highway, is the company’s only theater in Gwinnett County.

That doesn’t you won’t be able to see the film locally. As of Wednesday afternoon, the movie was listed by the Regal Hamilton Mill Stadium 14 in Dacula, AMC Discover Mills 18 and AMC Colonial 18 in Lawrenceville, and Regal Mall of Georgia near Buford.

The Guardians of Peace, a group believed to be behind the recent Sony cyber attacks, delivered the following message Tuesday, according to Buzzfeed: “We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places ’The Interview’ be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to. Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001.”

Sony alerted theater operators Tuesday, vowing to support each owner’s decision about whether to show the film, Fox News reported.

• Related: Sony Hackers Threaten Attack Like 9/11

Carmike Cinemas decided late Tuesday to cancel screenings of The Interviewat all of its theaters, according to the New York Times.

On Wednesday, the theater slated for the film’s Thursday premiere nixed the event, the BBC reported.

The Department of Homeland Security said that there was “no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot” though it was continuing to investigate, according to the BBC.

“We have been down this road before,” New York Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller told the New York Post, recalling threats made against movies, such as those involving Osama bin Laden.

However, a film about a leader who is still alive is a “bridge that The Interviewappears to be the first to cross,” according to The Washington Post, as movies about Hitler and Osama bin Laden were released after their deaths.

North Korea has said it was not responsible for the cyber attacks on Sony but did say that the company was “abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity” of North Korea’s leadership in releasing The Interview, Fox Newsreported.

Screenshots from YouTube trailer for The Interview, by Sony Entertainment.