The Interview is a 2014 comedy film in which two American TV journalists Dave Skylark and producer Aaron Rapoport, who run the celebrity tabloid show "Skylark Tonight", land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The two journalists are subsequently recruited by the CIA and are instructed to kill the North Korean leader while they're in Pyongyang to interview him. Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, and written by Dan Sterling, the film stars James Franco (for Dave Skylark), Seth Rogen (for Aaron Rapoport), and Randall Park (for Kim Jong-un). The Interview was originally scheduled for release in cinemas on Christmas day, December 25, 2014.

In November 2014, a group called Guardians of Peace (GOP) took issue with the assassination scenario hacked the computers of Sony Pictures Entertainment, spilling internal emails and downloading five Sony movies, including four yet to be released. On December 16, 2014, the hacker group threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that played it. In response to the threats, Rogen and Franco canceled a series of promotional appearances for the film, and Sony pulled its television advertising. On December 17, 2014, after a number of major North American cinema chains pulled the film in the interests of safety, Sony cancelled the theatrical release of The Interview. On December 19th, President Obama faulted Sony for pulling 'The Interview' from theaters for giving in to intimidation and pulling the satirical movie that provoked the attacks.

On December 20, in a message sent to company executives, someone claiming to represent the hacker group gave Sony Pictures Entertainment the go-ahead to release the film if the death scene for Kim Jong-un was dropped from the film.