White House Working on a "Proportional Response” to Sony Pictures Hacking

The Sony Pictures hack that’s been unfolding which has now resulted on the Hollywood studio to cancel all plans to release The Interview is an event that reaches far beyond Sony. Though the incident has rocked Sony Pictures with unforeseen consequences for years to come, other studios have taken note as well. Since the group behind the incident threatened with a 9/11 style terrorism attack on patrons who would dare see the film on its then-scheduled Christmas release, other studios have begun to take note and modify their projects. Specifically, New Regency has cancelled a Steve Carell North Korean thriller that was set to be directed by Gore Verbrinski and Paramount Pictures has pulled Team America: World Police, the satirical film from the creators of South Park, which debuted exactly a decade ago in theaters.

Since Sony Pictures decided to pull The Interview from theaters, The Alamo Drafthouse, an upscale theater chain in Austin, Texas had decided to show Team America instead, which ended with the team killing Kim Jung-il, father of Kim Jung-un, who was the target of The Interview. However, as you can see, Paramount Pictures has since pulled that film as well.

With Hollywood studios deciding to play it safe against would-be hackers and pulling any film that depicts North Korea, it’s up to The White House to formulate a response – and that’s exactly what they might do.

Earlier today, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the Sony Pictures hacking incident is a “serious national security matter” and that the White House is looking for a “proportional response.” Though he wouldn’t clarify on what exactly the White House might do, he did state that “a range of options that are under consideration right now.” He then elaborated:

This is something that’s being treated as a serious national security matter. There is evidence to indicate that we have seen destructive activity with malicious intent that was initiated by a sophisticated actor

The hacking events that have transpired over the last three weeks remain under investigation by the FBI and the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. Even when the investigation is complete, it’s unlikely that the Justice Department will reveal all of their findings.

I don’t anticipate that we’ll be in a position where we’re gonna be able to be completely forthcoming about every single element of the response that has been decided upon

Hollywood is no stranger to depicting the death of world leaders. Though films like Zero Dark Thirty (another Sony Pictures film) revolved around the death of Osama Bin Ladin with no threats after the film’s release, most have differed from The Interview in that it focuses on a real life figure at a time when he’s still in command. In the 80’s and 90’s, Russian dictators and admirals were taken down left and right on screen, though none were portraying any actual officials from Russia. Prior to the film’s release, Sony Pictures had screened The Interview for White House officials with no specific objection given.