Seth Rogen

Sony canceling the release of ‘The Interview’ following the hacking of the studio’s private information and terrorist threats against theaters that planned to screen the film isn’t just the biggest movie news story of the year. It may very well be the biggest movie news story of the decade. These events are unprecedented and the “Guardians of Peace” (who United States officials claim are from, or at least work for, North Korea) are enjoying their victory in the most obvious way: Gloating and issuing even more threats.

I know one reaction I’ve had to the (allegedly) North Korean hackers and their attack on Sony and their movie ‘The Interview’ is “Why now?” Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are not the first American filmmakers to make fun of North Korea, or even its real-life leaders. ‘Team America: World Police,’ for example, featured a marionette-version of late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, who wants to destroy Western Civilization (but is also very lonely); the 2012 ‘Red Dawn’ remake actually changed its Asian invaders from Chinese to North Koreans in post-production because at the time that seemed like the more politically and financially safe choice. That’s not going to happen again anytime soon.

It’s kind of a strange thing to write about ‘The Interview’ now, right? Its place in culture will always be defined by the Sony hacks that preceded the movie’s release. Is any other film defined so sharply by events that were out of that movie’s control?

By now it’s quite clear: Sony is not releasing ‘The Interview’ in theaters any time soon. In the wake of the terrorist threats made against theaters that planned to screen the controversial film, and in the subsequent wake of numerous theater chains (including AMC Entertainment, Regal Entertainment, and Cinemark) canceling their planned runs of the movie, Sony decided to cancel the film’s release outright. It will not be a very merry Christmas for Seth Rogen and James Franco.

The Sony hacking scandal has proven to be a massive headache for a company that’s already been having a rough few years. And now, this increasingly weird story has taken an even darker turn: the hackers are threatening to launch terrorist attacks against theaters showing ‘The Interview’ this Christmas. Seriously.

We’ve seen the green band trailer, we’ve seen the naughtier red band trailer, and now we have the final, ultimate trailer for the Seth Rogen and James Franco action comedy ‘The Interview,’ which features a whole lot more Kim Jong-Un. According to James Franco’s character, he’s not so bad—he does give an adorable puppy as a gift (if this year’s film trends are any indication, that puppy’s life may be in danger), and he really digs Katy Perry.

Since James Franco was around to host this week’s ‘SNL’ as part of promoting his upcoming comedy ‘The Interview,’ it was inevitable that his frequent collaborator and co-star and director, Seth Rogen, would pop in to say hello. And they couldn’t have picked a better way to bring him into things. Since ‘The Interview’ is causing all kinds of real-world mayhem, they did what any self-respecting funny people would do: they made fun of it.

Months have passed since we’d heard anything from ‘Preacher,’ Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s AMC development of the famed Garth Ennis comic as a TV series, but given the network’s success with comic properties, a pilot order was all-but inevitable. Now, AMC has handed down the official ‘Preacher’ production decree, with Rogen and Goldberg set to direct and produce the pilot.

Seth Rogen and James Franco might be good pals and one of Hollywood’s most unlikely--and beloved!--comedy duos, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t step back and see each other for who they really are. For instance, Rogen thinks Franco is “a weird guy,” much like, well, most of America. Weirdly, though, Rogen promises that Franco is perhaps slightly less weird than we all think he is.

Danny Boyle's upcoming Steve Jobs biopic has already found its leading man in Christian Bale, but now the production is looking to cast the role of Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. And they couldn't have found an actor more disparate than Christian Bale for the part: Seth Rogen is currently in talks to join the film.