The Interview might be headed to North Korea, despite the country’s strict ban on outside entertainment and their official condemnation of the film, which depicts two reporters attempting to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un.
Human rights activists reportedly plan to airlift DVDs of the comedy, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, by using hydrogen balloons.
Fighters for a Free North Korea has used the balloons for years to deliver goods to citizens of the isolated country to help introduce them to the outside world, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Transistor radios, DVDs and other items have all been dropped into North Korea, where there is a strict ban on anything not sanctioned by government.
Thor Halvorssen, whose group finances the smuggling of DVD players into North Korea, says that the past dozen or so drops have included copies of movies and TV shows such as Braveheart, Desperate Housewives, and “anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.”
Halvorssen spoke about the contraband:
Viewing any one of these is a subversive act that could get you executed, and North Koreans know this, given the public nature of the punishments meted out to those who dare watch entertainment from abroad.
Despite all of that there is a huge thirst for knowledge and information from the outside world, North Koreans risk their lives to watch Hollywood films.
The Interview is tremendously threatening to the Kims. They cannot abide by anything that portrays them as anything other than a god. This movie destroys the narrative.
Alongside radios and DVDs, leaflets, books and other educational materials are delivered by the balloons, which are launched from secret locations inside South Korea.
A small, acid-based timer is attached to each balloon, which breaks open plastic bags and allows packages to drop over the countryside where black marketers are free to gather the contents to sell for a profit.
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