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 James Franco and Rogen as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park, only to end up being recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
Rogen and Goldberg developed the idea for The Interview in the late 2000s, with Kim Jong Il as the original assassination target. Following Kim Jong Il's death and Kim Jong Un's succession as the North Korean leader in 2011, Rogen, Goldberg and Sterling redeveloped the script to focus on Kim Jong Un's character. The Interview was first announced in March 2013 at the beginning of pre-production, with principal photography taking place in Vancouver from October to December 2013. The film was produced by LStar Capital and Rogen and Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures, and distributed by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing.
In June 2014, the North Korean government threatened action against the United States if Sony released the film. This prompted Sony to delay the film's theatrical release from October 10 to December 25 and reportedly re-edit the film to make it more acceptable to North Korea. In November of that year, Sony's computer systems were hacked by the "Guardians of Peace", a cybercrime group allegedly connected to the North Korean governmentGabi Siboni and David Siman-Tov, Cyberspace Extortion: North Korea versus the United States , INSS Insight No. 646, December 23, 2014. that also threatened terrorist attacks against theaters showing the film. This led to major theater chains opting not to screen the film and Sony instead releasing it for online digital rental and purchase on December 24, 2014, followed by a limited theatrical 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 the performances of Franco, Park and Diana Bang were praised.
Plot
Dave Skylark is the host of the talk show Skylark Tonight, where he interviews celebrities about personal topics. The show's broadcast gets interrupted by news reports about North Korea, regarding its leader Kim Jong Un and concerns about its nuclear weapons.
When Skylark and his crew celebrate producer Aaron Rapaport's 1,000th episode, another producer criticizes the show for not being a real news program. Upset by this, Rapaport urges change and Skylark agrees before discovering Kim is a fan of their show, prompting Rapaport to arrange an interview. CIA Agent Lacey visits the duo and requests they assassinate Kim with a transdermal strip of ricin via handshake to prevent a possible nuclear launch against the West Coast; they reluctantly agree.
Skylark carries the strip inside a gum pack. Upon their arrival in Pyongyang, the group is greeted by North Korean chief propagandist Sook-yin Park and taken to the palace, where they are introduced to Kim's security officers Koh and Yu, who are immediately suspicious of them. When Koh finds the strip, he mistakes it for gum and chews it. After making a secret request for help, Lacey airdrops them two more strips via a drone. To get it back to their room however, Rapaport is forced to evade a Siberian tiger and hide the container in his rectum, before getting caught and stripped naked by security.
Skylark meets and befriends Kim, who convinces Skylark that he is misunderstood as a cruel dictator and a failed administrator, and spends the day playing basketball, hanging out, riding in his personal tank and partying with escorts together. At a state dinner, Koh suffers a seizure and diarrhea from the ricin poisoning, accidentally shooting Yu before dying. A guilt-ridden Skylark discards one of the ricin strips the next morning and thwarts Rapaport's attempt to poison Kim with the second strip.
At a dinner mourning the deaths of the bodyguards, Skylark witnesses Kim's malicious self as he angrily threatens South Korean "capitalists", the United States and everyone who attempts to undermine his power, and later discovers Kim has been lying to him upon seeing that a nearby grocery store is fake. At the same time, while seducing Rapaport, Sook reveals she despises Kim and apologizes for defending his regime. Skylark returns and tries to get Sook's support to assassinate Kim, but she suggests they instead damage his cult of personality and show the North Korean people the dire state of the country. The trio devises a plan to expose Kim on-air, arming themselves with guns.
In the internationally televised interview with Kim, Skylark addresses increasingly sensitive topics, including the food shortage and American-imposed economic sanctions, then challenges his need for his father's approval. Rapaport and Sook takes over the control room to fight off the guards trying to cut the broadcast, with Sook killing Kim's high-ranking general. Initially resistant and rebuffed by Skylark's claims, Kim cries and defecates himself after Skylark, having known his fondness for Katy Perry, ruins his reputation by singing "Firework". Enraged at Skylark's betrayal, Kim shoots him and vows revenge by preparing the nuclear launch. Skylark, who survived due to wearing a bulletproof vest, escapes with Rapaport and Sook and hijacks Kim's tank to get to their pickup point. In a helicopter, Kim attempts to issue the command to launch the missiles, only to get shot down by Skylark before he could do so.
With the nuclear threat thwarted, Sook guides Skylark and Rapaport to an escape route, saying she has to return to Pyongyang to maintain security. Skylark and Rapaport are later tracked down and rescued by SEAL Team Six disguised as North Korean soldiers. Returning home, Skylark writes a tell-all book about his adventures, Rapaport returns to work as producer and maintains contact with Sook via Skype, and North Korea becomes a denuclearized democracy under Sook's interim leadership.
Cast James Franco as Dave Skylark Seth Rogen as Aaron Rapaport Lizzy Caplan as Agent Lacey Randall Park as Kim Jong Un (credited as "President Kim") Diana Bang as Sook-yin Park Timothy Simons as Malcolm Reese Alexander as Agent Botwin Anders Holm as Jake Charles Rahi Chun as General Jong Ben Schwartz as Darryl Zochhia as Florida
The film also features cameo appearances from Eminem, Rob Lowe, Bill Maher, Seth Meyers, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Song Kang-ho, Brian Williams and Scott Pelley. Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, Emma Stone, Zac Efron and Guy Fieri appear in the title card for Skylark Tonight. Robbie, a Siberian tiger from the former Bowmanville Zoo, portrays the tiger who attacks Rapaport in the film.
Production
Development Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg developed the idea for The Interview in the late 2000s, joking about what would happen if a journalist was required to assassinate a world leader. Screenwriter Dan Sterling's screenplay for the film initially revolved around a fictional dictator from a fictional country reminiscent of The Dictator, but Rogen, Goldberg and Sony Pictures executives asked him to focus the script on Kim. The film's working title was Kill Kim Jong Un. Originally, Kim Jong Il was the assassination target in the film, but the project was put on hold when he died in 2011 and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Un. Development resumed when Rogen and Goldberg realized that Kim Jong Un was closer to their own age, which they felt was more humorous. To write the story, Rogen, Goldberg and Sterling researched meticulously by reading non-fiction books and watching video footage of North Korea. The script was later reviewed by an employee in the State Department. Rogen and Goldberg aimed to make the project more relevant and satirical than their previous films, while still retaining toilet humor. The two were pleased when former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea and met Kim, as it reinforced their belief that the premise of the film was realistic.
In March 2013, it was announced that Rogen and Goldberg would direct a comedy film for Columbia Pictures in which Rogen would star alongside James Franco, with Franco playing a talk show host and Rogen playing his producer. Rogen and Goldberg were on board to produce along with James Weaver through Point Grey Pictures, while Columbia was said to finance the $30 million budgeted film. In October 2013, Lizzy Caplan signed on to play Agent Lacey, a CIA agent who recruits Franco and Rogen's characters to assassinate Kim. Randall Park and Timothy Simons signed on to co-star later that month. Park and Simons starred as Kim Jong Un and the director of Skylark Tonight, respectively. Park was the first to audition for the role of Kim and got the part immediately. Before filming began, Park gained 15 pounds and cut his hair to make it resemble Kim's signature crew cut. His role was praised by critics. Although Rogen and Goldberg wrote the character of Kim as "robotic and strict", Park instead played it "sheepish and shy", which they found more humorous. Diana Bang was cast as Sook-yin Park, for which she was well received by critics.
Filming Principal photography on the film began in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 10, 2013, and concluded on December 20, 2013. There are hundreds of visual effects in the film; for instance, a crowd scene at the Pyongyang airport was digitally manipulated with a shot from 22 Jump Street.
Pre-release reaction In June 2014, The Guardian reported that the film had "touched a nerve" within the North Korean government, as they are "notoriously paranoid about perceived threats to their safety." The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state news agency of North Korea, reported that their government promised "stern" and "merciless" retaliation if the film was released. KCNA said that the release of a film portraying the assassination of the North Korean leader would not be allowed and it would be considered the "most blatant act of terrorism and war". The next month, North Korea's United Nations ambassador Ja Song-nam condemned the film, describing its production and distribution as "an act of war" and because of Kim's assassination in the film, "the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism." The Guardian described Song-nam's comments as "perfect publicity for the movie". Later in July, KCNA wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking to have the film pulled. Obama even privately called then-Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton stating that getting the film made was a mistake. Shortly before the planned release of the film on December 25, 2014, screenwriter Dan Sterling told Creative Screenwriting: "I couldn't believe that the most infamous man in the world knew about my script – but most importantly, I would never want something I wrote to lead to some kind of humanitarian disaster. I would be horrified if anyone got hurt over this."
Release
Delay and changes In August 2014, Sony delayed The Interview's release date from October 10 to December 25, 2014 and made post-production alterations to the film to modify its portrayal of North Korea, including changing the designs of buttons worn by characters, which were originally modeled after real North Korean military buttons praising the country's leaders, and cutting a portion of Kim Jong Un's death scene. In December 2014, South Korean singer Yoon Mi-rae revealed that the film used her song "Pay Day" without permission, and that she was taking legal action. Yoon Mi-rae and her label Feel Ghood Music reached a settlement with Sony Pictures on May 13, 2015.
Sony Pictures hack and threats