刺杀金正恩电影圣诞节小范围公映

刺杀金正恩电影圣诞节小范围公映

LOS ANGELES — Sony Pictures said on Tuesday that it had secured a limited theatrical release for “The Interview” on Christmas Day.

洛杉矶——索尼电影娱乐公司(Sony Pictures)周二表示，已与数量有限的影院达成一致，将在圣诞节当天公映影片《采访》(Interview)。

“We have never given up,” Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Entertainment, said in a statement. He added that in addition to the limited theatrical release, “We are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.”

“我们从未放弃，”索尼娱乐(Sony Entertainment)首席执行官迈克尔·林顿(Michael Lynton)在声明中称。他还表示，除了有限范围的公映，“我们仍在努力使该片登陆更多平台和院线，从而让尽可能多的观众观看到这部电影。”

Last week, about 80 percent of the theaters in the United States and Canada refused to show “The Interview” in the face of a terror threat. But over the last day Sony reached out to theater owners again, asking if they would rebook the film.

上周，由于面临恐怖威胁，美国和加拿大约80%的影院决定取消放映《采访》的计划。不过，在圣诞节前的最后一天，索尼再次主动接触了院线的所有方，询问是否可以重新订下这部片子。

One person briefed on the effort said on Tuesday that it appeared unlikely that big chains like Regal or AMC would come on board but that Sony was likely to patch together distribution for the film in 200 to 300 smaller theaters. Already some theaters, like the Alamo Drafthouse chain, based in Austin, and the Plaza Theater in Atlanta have said they would show the film.

一名知情人士周二表示，帝王娱乐集团(Regal Entertainment)和AMC娱乐(AMC)等大型连锁影院似乎不大可能答应这个请求，但索尼或许可以通过总共200到300家较小的影院发行这部片子。一些影院已经表示将放映该片，包括奥斯汀的Alamo Drafthouse院线和亚特兰大的Plaza Theater。

“Sony has authorized screenings of ‘The Interview’ on Christmas Day,” Tim League, the chief executive of the 30-theater Alamo chain, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday morning. Mr. League did not immediately respond to a query.

“索尼已授权我们在圣诞节当天放映《采访》，”拥有30家连锁影院的Alamo的首席执行官蒂姆·利格(Tim League)周二上午在Twitter上写道。他没有立即回复记者的采访请求。

Representatives of the four largest theater chains in the United States either declined to comment or had no immediate comment. The people who were briefed on Sony’s effort insisted on anonymity because the negotiations over the film’s release were continuing.

美国四大院线的代表均拒绝置评或暂时未予置评。了解索尼计划的人要求不具名，因为有关该片放映事宜的谈判仍在进行当中。

Even a 300-theater run would be largely symbolic in financial terms. Sony had planned to release “The Interview” on 2,000 to 3,000 screens in North America.

即使是有300家影院放映这部片子，在财务方面也只具有象征意义。索尼此前计划在北美的2000至3000块屏幕上放映《采访》。

A new facet of Sony’s discussions with theater owners is any simultaneous video-on-demand effort. Theaters, worried about the possible impact on ticket sales, remain adamant about refusing to open their doors to any film that is showing or about to show elsewhere, according to people briefed on the discussions. Studios typically give theaters a monthslong exclusive window to play new movies.

索尼与影院所有者的讨论还包含一个新的方面，即能否允许采用同步视频点播的办法来放映这部电影。知情人士称，由于担心票房可能受到的影响，影院一直坚决不接受任何正在或即将通过其他方式放映的片子。影业公司一般会让院线拥有几个月的独家放映新片的窗口期。

It remained unclear, however, whether any on-demand service would take “The Interview.” According to people briefed on the matter, Sony had in recent days asked the White House for help in lining up a particular technology partner but no deal had materialized. Sony had particularly hoped for a partnership with Apple.

然而，目前仍不清楚《采访》能否通过点播服务放映。根据知情人士的说法，索尼近日曾向白宫求助，希望找到某个技术合作伙伴，但尚未达成协议。索尼尤其希望与苹果(Apple)开展合作。

A release plan would end a mad scramble on the part of Sony to find a way to get “The Interview” seen and begin a new period of disquiet for the studio and its partners. The hacker group that digitally ransacked Sony beginning late last month, and that threatened theaters with violence if they played it, also warned that the assault would continue if alternate distribution plans were made.

影院放映计划将让索尼为使《采访》与观众见面而陷入的狂乱告一段落，并让公司及其合作伙伴进入一个新的不安时期。黑客团体从上月底开始攻击了索尼的数字系统，并用暴力威胁影院不要放映该片。他们还警告，如果出现其他形式的发行计划，将继续进行攻击。

“The Interview,” which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, is an R-rated comedy about the assassination of the North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un. The F.B.I. has publicly identified North Korea as “centrally involved” with the attack on Sony.

由赛斯·罗根(Seth Rogen)和詹姆斯·弗兰科(James Franco)主演的《采访》是一部定为R级的喜剧，讲述的是刺杀朝鲜领导人金正恩(Kim Jong-un)的故事。美国联邦调查局(FBI)已公开指认朝鲜与索尼遭到的攻击“密切相关”。

“The Interview” had been scheduled for release on Christmas Day. But when hackers on Dec. 16 warned of 9/11-scale violence if the film were shown, multiplex owners canceled their bookings in the face of pressure from their lawyers, shopping mall landlords and even Sony competitors, which were worried about their own films.

《采访》原本计划于圣诞节当天开映。但黑客在12月16日发出警告，如果影片上映，他们将发动与9·11事件规模相当的暴力活动。于是，迫于律师、商场房东乃至担心自家影片的索尼竞争对手的压力，多家院线取消了放映约定。

Theater owners and government officials have been trying to assess the threat’s credibility. One person briefed on the exhibitors’ deliberations said law enforcement officials had become less inclined over the last few days to see the threat as serious.

院线拥有者和政府官员一直在努力评估这一威胁的可信度。一名了解放映方商议情况的人士称，过去几天里，执法官员开始倾向于将这一威胁不那么当真。

Still, people briefed on the deliberations said theaters showing the film might take unusual security measures, perhaps by banning backpacks or packages or posting signs advising customers of added risk.

然而，上述知情人士表示，放映该片的影院可能会采取不同寻常的安全措施，或许会禁止观众携带背包或小包，或是张贴告示，告知观众存在额外的风险。

Sony at first said it was shelving “The Interview” completely but quickly decided to look for a mainstream cable, satellite or online movie distributor to adopt the film. Worried about the repercussions of allowing a foreign power to censor American artistic expression, a wide range of people — President Obama, Salman Rushdie, numerous Hollywood stars — publicly pressured Sony to find an alternative.

索尼起初宣布将彻底搁置《采访》，但很快又决定寻找主流的有线、卫星或在线电影发行商来接受该片。包括奥巴马总统、萨尔曼·拉什迪(Salman Rushdie)和众多好莱坞明星在内的许多人，对容忍外国势力审查美国的艺术表达带来的后果感到担忧。他们公开向索尼施压，要求它寻找替代方案。

But finding a new delivery route has been complicated.

不过，找到一个新的放映途径是颇为复杂的一件事情。

Satellite operators, cable systems and online platforms worried that they would become hacking targets if they picked up “The Interview.”

卫星电视运营商、有线电视系统和在线平台担心，如果决定放映《采访》，自己可能会成为黑客攻击的目标。