by Tricia Jenkins, Aaron Nyerges and Rodney Taveira
In late 2014, a film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco found itself at the center of a political and corporate crisis. The film, entitled The Interview, featured the duo as tabloid journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea. Although scripted as a juvenile, comedic bromance, the North Korean government was infuriated by the premise and publically demanded that Sony cease production of the film, which it considered an act of war. When Sony refused to pull the project, the company then fell victim to one of the largest corporate hacks in history, as a group called The Guardians of the Peace released hundreds of thousands of the company's emails and private documents, took over Sony-related Twitter accounts, and threatened additional attacks, styled after September 11, 2001, on any theater debuting The Interview on its screens.
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