Well, this certainly is a strange twist on the constantly-developing situation with Seth Rogen and Evan Golberg's The Interview. Despite the fact that Sony has cancelled the film's theatrical release, this afternoon they released a brand new TV spot with a rather ironic title (Update: the video has now been set to private, but you can see a screenshot below):
The most logical explanation for how this new promo for The Interview wound up getting released on Sony Entertainment's official YouTube page is that it was uploaded and programmed to go live today, but wound up never getting cancelled. Still, one can't help but notice that there are little details that make this posting a rather comedic goof. Not only does it come with the title "In Franco & Rogen We Trust" - a sentiment that apparently lasted only right up until Sony decided to cancel the film's release - but the little description really does a good job underplaying all of the outrage that has been going on, reading, "Only one movie has the whole world talking. In Rogen and Franco we trust."
To take a look at the larger picture of this whole debacle, the idea of "In Rogen and Franco We Trust" is actually an interesting one that really kind of tells the entire story of the project. The executives at Sony surely must have known from day one that releasing a film featuring an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was going to be an undertaking involving a lot of criticism and backlash, but they ultimately decided that they could trust the project in the hands of the filmmakers. Given the way everything has turned out, however, it's not too hard to accuse the studio of not really doing enough long-term thinking.
What this trailer also effectively does, though, is point out really how ridiculous this situation has become. Not only is the biggest jab in the trailer at America's response (namely the line about how the U.S. is constantly messing up), but the video also highlights the fact that this is a film where security guards strip Seth Rogen down naked, and he gets revenge by waving his penis at them.
At this point in the situation, it's hard to know exactly how things will eventually turn out. Contrary to what this trailer says, The Interview definitely is not coming out on Christmas Day, and while Sony has said that they currently have no plans of releasing the film either theatrically or on VOD, I hope that somehow they can figure out a tactic or strategy that will work and let the movie get out to the public. After all, the thing looks pretty damn funny, and after all of this controversy and terrorism chatter we could use a good laugh.
