Sony Pictures is withdrawing actors James Franco and Seth Rogen from upcoming media appearances to promote The Interview, the comedy that centers on a plot to assassinate North Korea's leader. The decision follows threats against theaters by a group that allegedly hacked Sony's internal documents.
NPR has confirmed that Rogen is cancelling all media appearances today and Wednesday. It's unclear whether he will make appearances after that.
BuzzFeed reported that Sony had withdrawn Franco and Rogen from doing media promotions for the film. The actors were scheduled to appear at a BuzzFeed event to answer questions about The Interview.
Variety, which confirmed the actors' withdrawal from upcoming media appearances, said they were still scheduled to appear at the New York premiere of the film on Thursday.
The Interview is scheduled for nationwide release Christmas Day.
Sony's cyber troubles began late last month when a group calling itself Guardians of Peace hacked the studio's computer system and released its internal documents. This included personal details of its employees, email correspondence of top studio executives, films and scripts.
Today, Guardians of Peace threatened theaters that planned to screen The Interview, saying: "The world will be full of fear.Remember the 11th of September 2001."
The group also released a promised "Christmas gift" of files on a France-based service called yopmail.com, The Associated Press reported.
It's unclear what link if any North Korea has with the group. Pyongyang has previously denounced the movie, which centers on a plot to kill its leader, Kim Jong Un, calling the film's release an "act of war."
Also today, two former Sony employees filed a class action lawsuit against the studio, alleging it failed to protect confidential financial and medical information from the hackers.
NPR's Mandalit del Barco tells our Newscast unit that lawyers filed the suit on behalf of former and current Sony workers.
"The suit claims that the Nov. 24 hack allegedly by a group calling itself 'Guardians of Peace' is 'An epic nightmare, much better suited to a cinematic thriller than to real life,'" del Barco says.
The suit says Sony didn't do anything to secure its computer system despite knowing about its weaknesses. Previous attacks on the network include one from 2011 that revealed user accounts on the PlayStation.
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