George R.R. Martin, the creator of HBO’s Game of Thrones, called Sony’s decision not to release The Interview “corporate cowardice” on Wednesday in his LiveJournal blog.
He offered his opinions of the film, Sony, and the decision to cancel its release:
Even Sony, which made the movie, is going along. There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely.
Martin also made it clear that he hasn’t seen The Interview, but is astonished at the idea that corporations as large as Sony and the major American theater chains would be so intimidated by North Korea.
“It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the ‘outrageous’ part). It might be all of the above,” Martin said.
He continued:
Whether it’s the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.
Martin cited his disbelief that an American film could be shut down by an anonymous group of hackers and threats from a foreign power, but offered a solution for Seth Rogen: “For what it’s worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema will be glad to screen THE INTERVIEW,” he said. “Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we’ll show your film for you.”