Tag: sony hack
Sony Seeks To Delay Earnings Over ‘The Interview’ Cyberattack

Sony Seeks To Delay Earnings Over ‘The Interview’ Cyberattack

Tokyo (AFP) – Sony said Friday it was asking Japanese regulators for permission to delay its earnings release next month after a cyberattack at its Hollywood film unit compromised “a large amount of data”.

The Japanese firm said its US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) subsidiary will not have time to put together its financial statements after the attack, linked to its controversial North Korea satire The Interview, which has been widely blamed on Pyongyang.

The Tokyo-based firm, which was due to publish its earnings for the fiscal third quarter on February 4, said the hack attack was unlikely to have a material impact on its financial results.

But it now wants to extend the deadline to file the numbers until the end of March.

The company said it still planned to issue a press release and hold an earnings conference on the originally scheduled date.

This was to provide updated forecasts of its results “to the extent reasonably possible, based on the information available on that date”.

The Interview was scheduled for a Christmas Day release before Sony became the target of the biggest cyberattack in US corporate history.

Threats made by hackers prompted Sony to initially cancel its theatrical release. It was eventually screened in select arthouse cinemas, and released on the Internet and via cable TV providers.

Washington has blamed North Korea for the hack on Sony — a claim Pyongyang has denied while still strongly condemning the film, which features a fictional plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un.

The Interview, which had a $44 million budget, has since become Sony’s highest-grossing online film ever, reportedly making more than $40 million on the Internet and other small-screen formats.

“Serious disruption”

The cyberattack caused “a serious disruption of SPE’s network systems… including the destruction of network hardware and the compromise of a large amount of data,” Sony said, adding that it was forced to shut down its entire network after the hack.

It affected most of the subsidiary’s “financial and accounting applications and many other critical information technology applications,” which will not be functional until early February, it added.

The company said its film unit has since “worked aggressively” to restore those systems.

While the film division has been one of the vast company’s best-performing businesses, Sony announced a whopping $109.1 billion yen ($923 million) six-month loss in October and said it was on track to lose 230 billion yen in the fiscal year through March, more than four times its earlier forecast.

Sony has struggled in the consumer electronics business that built its global brand, including losing billions of dollars in televisions over the past decade as fierce competition from lower-cost rivals pummelled the TV subsidiary’s finances.

The company is undergoing a huge restructuring, including job cuts and the sale of its Manhattan headquarters, is it tries to drag itself out of the red.

As part of the shakeup, Sony sold its personal computer business, announced it would cut its smartphone unit’s global staff by 15 percent — about 1,000 jobs — and said it won’t pay dividends for the first time since its shares started trading in Tokyo in 1958.

AFP Photo

‘The Interview’ Opens, And Directors Are Thankful

‘The Interview’ Opens, And Directors Are Thankful

By Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES — Capping weeks of tumult over the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview, the film finally began to be shown in 331 independent theaters nationwide just after midnight on Christmas Eve. One of the first showings in Los Angeles, a sold-out 12:30 a.m. screening at the Cinefamily Theater, included a surprise appearance by co-directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

“You are the best,” Rogen told the crowd. “We thought this might not happen at all.”

Rogen and Goldberg had been largely out of the public eye for over a week since Sony Pictures first canceled the release of the movie — which centers on the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — after a crippling cyberattack tied by U.S. officials to North Korea. At the eleventh hour, Sony made deals to distribute the film to independent theaters and a video-on-demand platforms, including YouTube and Google Play.

The directors were eager to take a public victory lap.

“The fact that it’s showing here and you guys all came out is super … exciting,” Goldberg said.

Sony had initially planned a wide Christmas Day release for the film in about 3,000 theaters, until the nation’s major exhibitors dropped it after a hacking group calling itself Guardians of Peace threatened violence against moviegoers. Buffeted by criticism from President Barack Obama, among many others, the studio put together a patchwork release unprecedented for a major studio movie.

It remains to be seen how much revenue Sony will be able to draw from the film, particularly given that it is already being widely pirated online. But given that for a few days it looked like it may not be released at all, Rogen and Goldberg were clearly relieved that audiences were getting a chance to see it on the big screen.

“If it wasn’t for theaters like this, and people like you guys,” Rogen said, “this literally would not be … happening.”

AFP Photo

Obama Glad ‘Interview’ Released, But Won’t Say If He’ll Watch Film

Obama Glad ‘Interview’ Released, But Won’t Say If He’ll Watch Film

By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

HONOLULU — President Barack Obama cheered Sony’s decision to make the Seth Rogen comedy The Interview widely available on digital platforms, but declined to say whether he would be streaming the spoof of North Korea while on his Hawaii vacation.

During a photo op Wednesday midway through a round of golf with Malaysia’s prime minister, the president was asked whether he’d watch the film. After thinking over the question for a moment, the president simply smiled and said, “I’m glad it’s being released.”

It was just last week that Obama called it a mistake for Sony to scuttle plans for releasing the film, which is about a wacky plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, amid threatened retaliatory attacks. The entertainment industry should not engage in self-censorship for fear of offending foreign dictators like North Korea’s president, Obama said at a White House news conference.

By Monday, Sony announced it would go ahead with a limited release in theaters starting Christmas Day. And on Wednesday, the studio made the film available to rent on platforms such as YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft’s Xbox Video.

For now, it appears Obama would prefer to enjoy time in the open air rather than stay inside to watch movies. Wednesday’s round of golf was his fourth in five full days on the island of Oahu, skipping an outing only Monday because of rainy conditions. But it was the first time reporters were allowed to catch a glimpse of Obama on the course, documenting two missed putts on the 18th hole.

While the president was golfing at the Marine Corps base near his vacation residence, first lady Michelle Obama was continuing an annual tradition of taking calls to update children about the whereabouts of Santa Claus through NORAD’s “Santa Tracker” program.

One child, identified as Sara, asked the first lady whether she and the president believe in Santa. “I do believe in Santa,” Mrs. Obama replied. “The president believes in Santa very much, yes.”

AFP Photo

Some U.S. Cinemas To Show ‘The Interview’ Despite Threat

Some U.S. Cinemas To Show ‘The Interview’ Despite Threat

Los Angeles (AFP) – Some U.S. independent movie theaters are to show the Sony Pictures comedy The Interview on Christmas Day as planned, despite threats blamed on North Korea’s erratic regime.

The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, and the Plaza Atlanta in Georgia were the first to say Tuesday they would show the movie, which lampoons North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

“We are making shows available within the hour. Victory,” said Alamo founder Tim League, in a tweet announcing that Sony had reversed a decision to cancel the film’s release.

There was no immediate comment from Sony, but U.S. media reported that the company was preparing to announce a limited theatrical release of the movie along with online video-on-demand.

Last week, Sony canceled the December 25 release of The Interview, a madcap caper in which Seth Rogen and James Franco play television journalists recruited to assassinate Kim.

The Hollywood giant had suffered a massive cyber attack on its internal computer network that U.S. authorities now blame on Pyongyang, which has denounced the movie as a terrorist threat.

Following the hack, which exposed humiliating company secrets and the personal data of employees, Sony received anonymous threats that cinemas showing the film would face violent attack.

While denouncing the movie, North Korea has denied any role in the hacking. U.S. President Barak Obama said it faces a “proportionate response” to what he called its “cyber vandalism.”

North Korea’s already limited Internet links have been cutting in and out for two days, because of what experts said appeared to be a “denial of service” attack, but no one has claimed responsibility.

Sony, meanwhile, was widely criticized — including by Obama himself — for backing down to the threats and canceling the film.

AFP Photo