George R.R. Martin has offered to screen Seth Rogen–James Franco comedy “The Interview” at the independent movie theater he owns in New Mexico.
“For what it’s worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema will be glad to screen ‘The Interview’ (assuming that Sony does eventually release the film for theatrical exhibition, rather than streaming it or dumping it as a direct-to-DVD release), should it be made available to us,” Martin wrote in a blog post published earlier this week. “Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we’ll show your film for you.”
The author of the fantasy novels that inspired HBO hit “Game of Thrones” volunteered the location after slamming Sony’s “corporate cowardice” for its decision to buckle after receiving 9/11-like threats from cyber terrorists, who the FBI revealed on Friday are in league with North Korea.
“The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me. It’s a good thing these guys weren’t around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR. If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes [sic],” Martin wrote. “There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely.”
In another post written on Thursday, Martin says he attempted to follow in the footsteps of the Alamo Drafthouse by screening “Team America: World Police” at the Cocteau. Paramount, however, would not allow it.
“Regal. AMC. Cinemark. Sony. And now Paramount. Where does it end?” Martin wrote. “I guess I should contact our new North Korean masters to ask them what movies we will be allowed to show at the Cocteau.”
Like many criticizing Sony for its decision, Martin doesn’t care about the quality of the film, which received bad reviews before it was shelved by the studio that had been spending millions to market it for the better part of 2014.
“I haven’t seen THE INTERVIEW. I have no idea how good or bad a film it is. It might be hilarious. It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the ‘outrageous’ part). It might be all of the above [sic],” Martin continued. “That’s not the point, though. Whether it’s the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.”