As I told you yesterday, a group calling itself "Guardians of the Peace" has threatened terrorist actions against any movie theater showing the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy The Interview, which is scheduled to open on Christmas. Because the film centers on the fictional assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and because a North Korean spokesman warned that the release of the film would be viewed as an "act of war" demanding "stern" and "merciless" retaliation, some are speculating that Guardians of the Peace are a North Korean hacker group, but that has not been confirmed. The New York City premiere of the film, which was scheduled for Thursday night, has been canceled and both Rogen and Franco have stopped making public appearances in support of the film.

Once news of the threats became public, Sony told movie theaters that they do not have to screen the film if they're concerned about terrorist action. And now most of America's largest movie theater chains have taken Sony up on their offer. Brent Lang at Variety says: "Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, Cineplex and AMC Entertainment will not show The Interview." Those are four of the five largest theater chains in America, and Lang adds that "More theater circuits are expected to follow suit." (UPDATE 12:34 PM: All five of the major theater chains have dropped the movie.)

I'm scheduled to attend a press preview of The Interview tomorrow night and as of right now, The Stranger has not heard anything about a cancellation. The screening is scheduled to take place in a theater owned by one of the four theater chains listed above. I have a request out to the PR company hosting the screening and I'll update this post when I hear back from them.