Sony Hack: New York’s Treehouse Theater To Hold Live Reading Of ‘The Interview’ Screenplay

A theater in New York City will hold a free reading of the script of the controversial movie, “The Interview,” which was pulled from theaters after a massive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer systems last month. The Treehouse Theater, a 50-seat sketch-comedy venue in midtown Manhattan, will host the event on Saturday.

The film, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, was scheduled to release on Dec. 25. However, Sony Pictures decided to withdraw the movie from theaters after the hacker group, “Guardians of Peace,” threatened to continue divulging the company's confidential data unless the film was scrapped. The comedy film is about how two American journalists, recruited by the CIA, attempt to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“In the wake of recent events surrounding the controversial film The Interview, the feeling that a threat to free speech has been imposed is inescapable and terrifying,” the theater said, in an announcement on Monday. “In response to this, three comedians have acquired a draft of the script for the banned film and are producing a live-read.”

The script that will be read this week is “close to the final version,” the theater said, adding that the show will feature performances from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improv club.

Meanwhile, Sony lawyer David Boies said the film has not been entirely dropped by the studio and that it is working on plans to distribute the James Franco-starrer. U.S. President Barack Obama has criticized Sony Pictures' decision to cancel the film's theatrical release, and has vowed to “respond proportionately” to North Korea after the FBI confirmed its involvement in the cyberattack. North Korea has repeatedly denied the allegations.

“Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed,” Boies said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed.”