The Interview

The Interview is a 2014 American political satire action comedy film produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following This Is the End (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterling, which he based on a story he co-wrote with Rogen and Goldberg. The film stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park, only to then be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. The film was inspired by a 2012 Vice documentary. Rogen and Goldberg developed the idea for The Interview in the late 2000s, with Kim Jong Il as the original assassination target. In 2011, following Kim Jong Il's death and Kim Jong Un's succession as the North Korean leader, Rogen and Goldberg redeveloped the script in order to focus on Kim Jong Un's character. The Interview was first announced in March 2013 at the beginning of pre-production. Principal photography took place in Vancouver from October to December 2013. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital and Rogen and Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. In June 2014, the North Korean government threatened action against the United States if Sony released the film. As a result, Sony delayed the film's release from October to December and reportedly reedited the film in order to make it more acceptable to North Korea. In November that year, Sony's computer systems were hacked by the "Guardians of Peace", a cybercrime group allegedly connected to the North Korean government that also threatened terrorist attacks against theaters showing the film. This led to major theater chains opting not to release the film and Sony instead releasing it for online digital rental and purchase on December 24, 2014, followed by a limited release at selected theaters the following day. The Interview grossed $40 million in digital rentals, making it Sony's most successful digital release and earned an additional $12.3 million worldwide in box office ticket sales on a $44 million budget. It received mixed reviews from critics for its humor and subject matter, although they praised the performances of Franco and Park.