Actor James Franco Sympathises With Former Sony Co-chairman Amy Pascal, Who Was Demoted After Ill-advised Correspondence Between Her And Movie Bosses Went Public Last Year (14), Insisting It's "A Real Shame" She's No Longer In Charge.
Pascal stepped down as the studio giant's top executive and is now embarking on a new production venture at the company after emails, taking aim at Angelina Jolie and U.S. leader President Barack Obama, were leaked during the Sony hack attack, sparked by the planned release of Franco and Seth Rogen's The Interview, about two American journalists hired by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Franco has now opened up about Pascal's exit, stating he doesn't think she deserved to be fired from the top job and admitting he enjoyed working with her on eight films.
He tells U.S. talk show host David Letterman, "We never felt like we were irresponsible or doing something wrong; we made a comedy, and we weren't going out on a limb saying, 'There's some messed up things going on over there (in North Korea)'. I think pretty much the rest of the world agrees... It's not right over there.
"The way Seth put it is it would be irresponsible not to say something... so I think, as time goes, maybe we'll be better prepared as a country or just as a world to deal with these kinds of things (threats over movies), but it was the first time. In the end, it came out (and) nothing happened."
He continues, "I certainly feel bad, you know. Amy Pascal, the head of Sony, stepped down, I guess because of the emails that were linked (to the hacking), and it's a real shame.
"I did eight movies with Sony with her and she's a great executive and a great female executive, that was a real shame."
Hackers calling themselves the Guardians of Peace claimed responsibility for the Sony leaks that ultimately cost Pascal her top post and threatened to continue uploading private emails unless film bosses agreed to pull The Interview from its Christmas Day (25Dec14) release.
Sony briefly succumbed to the demands, but later launched The Interview on limited release and via streaming services.
The movie was a digital hit, but Franco is disappointed it wasn't given a wider release in U.S. theatres because he is convinced it would have banked over $100 million (£62.5 million) if leading chains had shown it.
He adds, "It did well, I think it broke all the records for an online release, but it was tracking so well, if it had gone up in theatres it would have just been enormous... It wasn't a loss. We made money but it would have been (huge)."
A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...
Tommu Wiseau is an ever secretive and Louisiana-born filmmaker who directed, wrote and starred in...
Filmmakers Dan Bush and Conal Byrne attempt a mash-up of a frantic heist movie with...
Gertrude Bell was a formidably intelligent British woman from the late 19th century whose travels...
Master filmmaker Ridley Scott is back to continue the story 10 years after the events...
Ten years after the disastrous expedition that was Prometheus, another group of space explorers band...
Writer-director John Hamburg continues to recycle the formula that made his first hit Meet the...
Stephanie has always been a very intelligent girl and both her parents were joyous when...
Stephen Elliot is a writer who's lost his way. He's previously had books fictional works...
Frank is a hot dog Wiener who's packed into a vacuum seal bag with all...
This blending of the stoner bromance with the Christmas comedy works surprisingly well, layering gross-out...
A Little Girl's Mother has high expectations of her daughter, given her own career success,...
The cast and crew of upcoming drama 'True Story', including Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity...