Kim Jong-un death scene from ‘The Interview’ leaks online

12/20/2014

North Korean leader Kim Jong-UnPhoto: Getty Images

Well, that was fast.

Right on the heels of Sony’s announcement that the studio would be scrapping the Christmas Day release of “The Interview,” the film’s controversial climax has surfaced.

The scene features North Korea’s leader, Kim Jung-un (Randall Park), meeting a fiery end as a missile hits his helicopter. As the tyrant perishes from the explosion, the scene is dramatically slowed down to the sounds of Katy Perry’s “Firework.”

As for the fates of Seth Rogen and James Franco, well, that’s still T.B.D. — at least until “The Interview” hits V.O.D.

Federal investigators believe there is a connection between a massive hack on Sonyand the isolated communist nation, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to openly discuss an ongoing criminal case.

North Korea has denounced the “The Interview” but earlier this month said the hack might have been carried out by sympathizers. The movie features a pair of journalists played by Franco and Rogen who are asked by the CIA to assassinate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.

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From left: Diana Bang, Seth Rogen and James Franco in “The Interview.”Photo: AP

The attack is possibly the costliest ever for a U.S. company, said Avivah Litan, a cybersecurity analyst at research firm Gartner. “This attack went to the heart and core of Sony’s business and succeeded,” she said. “We haven’t seen any attack like this in the annals of U.S. breach history.”

A besieged Sony on Wednesday cancelled the Christmas release of the film, citing threats of violence by the hackers and decisions by the largest multiplex chains in North America to pull screenings. The hackers, who call themselves Guardians of Peace, had made threats of violence reminiscent of September 11th, 2001 if movie theatres showed the film.

Sony later said it has “no further release plans for the film.”

“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie,” Sony Pictures said in a statement.

National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the U.S. government had no involvement in Sony’s decision. She said artists and entertainers have the right to produce and distribute whatever content they want in the U.S.

John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, called Sony’s decision to cancel the movie a “troubling precedent that will only empower and embolden bad actors to use cyber as an offensive weapon even more aggressively in the future.”

How much the cyberattack will ultimately cost Sony is unclear. Sony faces trouble on several fronts after nearly four weeks since the hackers first crippled its computer systems and started dumping thousands of emails and private documents online.

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