Hacked Sony reportedly shuts production
The first casualty of the massive hack attack on the Sony Pictures corporate network seems to the films production business of Sony. Times of London (paid subscription) has reported that Sony Pictures has abandoned further film shoots because of the hack attack.
Though Sony has not corroborated this, the Times has quoted has quoted a “source” to report that agencies filming for Sony had cancelled shoots because the hacking had left it unable to process payments.
Agencies filming for Sony Pictures have cancelled shoots because the problems have left it unable to process payments, a source told The Times
It is not known whether the latest James Bond flick from Sony stable, “Spectre” will be affected by this stop production notification. According to the leaked emails, the Bond flick, “Spectre” which is set for a next November release, is reportedly way over budged costing Sony over over $300 million. This figure would make “Spectre” one of the most expensive movies ever made.
For those following the Sony hack story, A hackers collective calling itself #GOP or Guardians of Peace began a prolonged hack attack on Sony last month. The hackers who used a malware called WIPALL have erased the entire data from the Sony’s corporate network not before stealing some 10 terabytes of data. Post the hacks, the hackers have been releasing small tranches of the leaked documents including the Sony films. They have so far leaked high quality copies of 4 unreleased Sony films and one released film.
Other then the films, the hackers have released the doxing details of Sony top honchos, casts, crews, and production workers. Some of the emails between top producers and executives belittling a number of major stars and projects, and even making racist jokes about President Barack Obama were leaked earlier this week.
Fox News reported one such email exchange, “Sony co-chairperson Amy Pascal — a prominent Democratic party donor and Obama supporter — asked movie producer Scott Rudin ahead of a fundraiser what she should ask the President “at this stupid Jeffrey (Katzenberg) breakfast,” to which Rudin quipped “would he like to finance some movies.” “I doubt it. Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?” Pascal responded, Rudin then retorted: “12 Years.”
Similarly in other leaked email exchanges between Pascal and Rudin, Angelina Jolie was called a “spoiled brat,” and unflattering comments were made about everyone from Tom Cruise to David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin and Adam Sandler. The Jolie diss served as particular embarrassment for the company, with one source noting that Sony “is like a pariah” to A-list talent now.
This massive hack attack was blamed at North Korea by the investigators due to many factors including the dispute between Sony Pictures and North Korea over Sony’s another film “The Interview” which shows the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un in a poor light. Another of the reasons was the the WIPALL malware is supposedly written in Korean script. However FBI’s assistant directors comments the other day put a stop to the Sony hack linking to North Korea.
FBI is currently investigating the leak which has been linked to the 2012 Shamoon attack on Saudi Aramco and more recent attack on a Las Vegas Sands Corp network.
