“The Interview” Cancellation Could Cost Sony Pictures Above $80 Million

Pulling the plug on "the Interview," the Seth Rogen-James Franco starring political satire could cost Sony Pictures above $80 million.

Experts told Bloomberg that while the movie took $80 million to produce and market, the cancellation is a huge setback for the studio in terms of money.

"The cost to Sony from new software and hardware, employee labour to clean up the mess, investigation, lost productivity, and reputational damage, just to name a few, is at least over $100m and growing daily," Hemanshu Nigam, founder of SSP Blue, a cyber security firm that has worked with News Corp and Microsoft told Bloomberg.

The Wrap estimates the cancellation costs to go up to $90 million and Deadline speculates at bill charge of more than $60 to $70 million.

But that's just the costs related to the cancelation of "the Interview." The studio would have to shell out more than $100 million in litigation and security costs.

Sony Pictures decided to cancel the release of "The Interview" after hackers threatened to blow up theaters that screened the movie.

The hacker group, which calls itself "The Guardians of Peace," sent an anonymous letter to the studio warning that they would launch 9/11-like attacks on the theaters that screened the movie and kill all people who went to watch the movie.

"We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear," the group wrote in the letter.

"Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave.)," they added.

The Studio first postponed the release date of the movie, which was pised to hit theaters Dec 25 but later gave in and cancelled the movie.

"We respect and understand our partners' decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theater-goers," the studio wrote.

"Sony pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business. Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale - all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like."

"We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome," they added.