Kim Jong-Un Is Offended By Seth Rogen And James Franco. Here's Why
Franco and Rogen play a talkshow host and his producer who are invited to interview Kim Jong-un, and are subsequently recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to assassinate the leader.
By Sadho Ram — 28 Jun 2014, 11:30 AM — Updated over 10 years ago
James Franco's latest movie, a comedy about two talk-show hosts who are asked to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, has earned the distinction of a frothing rant from the regime in Pyongyang
"The enemies have gone beyond the tolerance limit in their despicable moves to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the country's state-run news agency Wednesday.
The film, titled "The Interview," stars Franco and Seth Rogen as two lightweight talk show hosts recruited by the CIA to take out Kim
It's not due in theaters until October, but the trailer is already drawing worldwide attention, including in the corridors of power in Pyongyang.
cnn.comThe film's teaser trailer, posted on Youtube, shows a lookalike actor playing Kim Jong-un, as well as fight scenes involving what appear to be North Korean tanks and helicopters, and a nuclear missile launch.
In the official trailer for The Interview, a CIA intelligence agent draws on many of the stereotypes surrounding North Korea
Kim, played by the Korean American actor Randall Park, is portrayed as an overweight cigar smoker, although the 31-year-old leader is thought to prefer cigarettes
Image via turner.comThe CIA intelligence agent calling North Korea the "most dangerous country on Earth", and briefs the two journalists on the cult of personality surrounding three generations of the Kim dynasty.
theguardian.com
"Kim Jong-un's people believe everything he tells them, including that he can speak to dolphins, or that he doesn't urinate or defecate," the agent says.
time.com
Rogen, who is also one of the directors of The Interview, has since responded on Twitter saying
The North Korea spokesman was quoted by the state KCNA news agency as saying
Kim Jong-un took power after his father Kim Jong-il died in 2011, which prompted a change in the film's script
Image via bbcimg.co.uk"Making and releasing a movie on a plot to hurt our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated."
time.com
He added that the "reckless US provocative insanity" of mobilising a "gangster filmmaker" to challenge the North's leadership was triggering "a gust of hatred and rage" among North Korean people and soldiers.
theguardian.com
"If the US administration allows and defends the showing of the film, a merciless counter-measure will be taken," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
cnn.comApparent evidence emerged last week supporting claims that North Korea is further developing its missile technology
Some experts said they had identified a new anti-ship cruise missile shown in a North Korean propaganda film. Other observers were more sceptical.
It is not clear if Kim, who was partly educated in the west, where he developed a love of NBA basketball, has seen the trailer
His father, Kim Jong-il, was a well-known movie buff who ordered the abduction of the South Korean director Shin Sang-ok in 1987. Shin was forced to make propaganda movies for the regime until his escape.
theguardian.com
Kim senior was famously parodied as a lonely despot, raging against the UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, in the 2004 comedy Team America: World Police.
cnn.comRogen, who co-wrote the script for The Interview, said the idea for the film arose from a discussion about how it might be possible for journalists with access to world leaders to carry out assassinations
He told Yahoo: "People have the hypothetical discussion about how journalists have access to the world's most dangerous people, and they hypothetically would be in a good situation to assassinate them."
He added that the film was originally about meeting Kim Jong-il, but they had to revise the script when he died in 2011 and his son Kim Jong-un took power.
bostonglobe.com
"We read as much as we could that was available on the subject," he said in a recent interview with Yahoo Movies. "We talked to people in the government whose job it is to associate with North Korea, or be experts on it." Aware of rumours that the regime was unhappy about the film, Rogen tweeted: "Apparently Kim Jong Un plans on watching #theinterview. I hope he likes it!!"
theguardian.com
Meanwhile, a day after it warned of retaliation, North Korea fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast Thursday
The image of a missile launch by North Korea was shown in Seoul Railway Station on Thursday. The reasons for the launch were not immediately known.
Image via o0bg.comThe projectiles took off from near Wonsan, a coastal town east of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and flew 118 miles before landing in waters between North Korea and Japan, said a spokesman at the Ministry of National Defense in South Korea.
bostonglobe.com
“We are analyzing our data to try to figure out what type of projectiles they were and why the North fired them,” he said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. “Our military has increased its monitoring activities in case the North should fire more projectiles.”
thewire.com
North Korea often fires short-range missiles or rockets off its east coast during military exercises or when it wants to raise tensions, analysts say. It remained unclear whether the firings Thursday were linked to the North’s threat Wednesday that it would take “a decisive and merciless countermeasure” unless Washington stopped the release of “The Interview,” a Columbia Pictures movie scheduled to open in October.
bostonglobe.com