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| With a hilarious top center tag-line, this USSR propaganda styled poster for Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen's The Interview sells the movie brilliantly |
One of America's most popular, - but fairly unintelligent, - talk show hosts manages to secure an interview with North Korea's fabled Communist dictator, who is a fan. But the CIA feel that the opportunity needs to result in the demise of the notorious villain!
The Interview is written by Dan Sterling (South Park (1997-98)), with great British Columbian filmmakers, co-writer/co-producer/co-director Evan Goldberg and co-writer/co-producer/co-director/co-star Seth Rogen (This Is the End (2013), both) contributing story elements.
The Interview is a Dr. Strangelove (1964) reminiscent adventure that's closer to reality than most would care to admit. It is not only a party to watch, it is also a very unique film, and one whose like you'll never see again, due to the dire ramifications for Sony it incurred, (read about those in the section under the trailer.)
This is an extremely ludicrous and insane comedy, - and you can argue that the enormous controversy it caused makes it less foolish. Because it obviously hit a tender nerve, (in North Korea), and hit it bull's eye.
James Franco (The Disaster Artist (2017)) is permanently keyed up, and Rogen is also a bowl of fun as the odd team heading to the normally hermetically sealed dictatorship. Diana Bang's (Fast Layne (2019, TV-series)) performance as the North Korean Sook, whom Rogen's TV producer falls for, is off the charts. The Interview is a patriotic, freedom-loving kick in the nuts for Kim Jong Un and mad dictators everywhere. It is a howl, and you need to watch it!
Related post:
Evan Goldberg: Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation (co-writer)
This Is the End (2013) or, Hollywood Apocalypse
Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy (co-writer)
Seth Rogen: Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation (co-writer) (co-writer/voice star)
Neighbors (2014) - Stoller's low-flying raunch turkey (co-star)
This Is the End (2013) or, Hollywood Apocalypse
The Guilt Trip (2012) - Rogen/Streisand buoy low-fuel road dramedy (co-star)
50/50 (2011) or, Dude's Got the Big C (co-star)
Paul (2011) - Pegg, Frost and Mottola delve into SF with mixed results (co-star)
Observe and Report (2009) - Hill's hilarious dark comedy leaves good taste in the gutter (co-star)
Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy (co-writer/co-star)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 44 mil. $
Box office: 11.7 mil. $
= Mega-flop theatrically but may have become profitable in the end
[The Interview premiered 11 December (Los Angeles) and runs 112 minutes. The original script centered on Kim Jong Il, but the project only gained traction after his 2011 death, at which point it was rewritten to focus on his son, the current president of North Korea. Rogen was paid 8.4 mil. $ for his work on the film; Franco got 6.5 mil. $. Shooting took place from October - December 2013 in New York and British Columbia, including in Vancouver. The script was obtained by the North Korean regime, who began sending threats to distributor Sony, who made minor alterations of the film in response. But the threats got worse and were followed up by a massive hack of Sony Entertainment on 24 November, leaking personal e-mails, films and sensitive records to the public, while threats of terrorist attacks against cinemas screening the film increased the pressure further, to the point that cinema chains backed away from distributing the film and Sony eventually pulled the plug on their wide release plan. Marketing was already advanced, and around 30 mil. $ were apparently spent for this purpose. The (North Korean) hackers now switched focus more to the White House and President Barack Obama, who were against Sony's curtailed release. They eventually released the film in a few hundred cinemas (3,000+ had been the original plan), and it opened #16, its peak position, to a 1.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 6.1 mil. $ (52.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 1.8 mil. $ (15.4) and Australia with 935k $ (8 %). The derailed distribution was improved by almost 6 mil. online rentals within less than a month, netting 40 mil. $. The film also made in excess of 7.6 mil. $ on North American home video releases. It was also licensed to Netflix, and Sony may likely have been collecting insurance compensation for the shelved wide release, so it is likely that it has made Sony money by now. Goldberg and Rogen returned with many short, video and TV credits but has not released a feature as directors since The Interview. Rogen returned as an actor in Broad City (2015, TV-series), Kroll Show (2013-15) and theatrically in Steve Jobs (2015); Franco in I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel (2014), which he also directed. The Interview is rotten at 51 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Interview?
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