Sony Hack: Leaked E-Mails Reveal Spat Over ‘Jobs’ and ‘The Interview’

An incredibly revealing treasure trove of e-mails have been leaked from the massive Sony Pictures hack. We’ve already seen the leaking of movies and even celebrity aliases, but today’s leaks are probably some of the most damaging.

The messages sent between Sony executives and staff have revealed some interesting detail regarding the production of the Steve Jobs movie. The whole thing has been fraught with difficulties from the very beginning, with actors agreeing to join the production, then dropping out, then coming back, then leaving the whole thing altogether.

Now these e-mails reveal what really went on behind the scenes, through the medium of a massive spat between Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. Apparently Rudin wanted acclaimed director David Fincher to direct the Jobs movie, but a certain Angelina Jolie got in the way of that. Jolie wanted Fincher to direct her movie ‘Cleopatra’ instead and Rudin demanded Sony’s Amy Pascal to not let this happen.

Another interesting set of e-mails revealed today, concern ‘The Interview’ – the movie about the assassination of Kim Jong Un, supposedly the reason why this whole thing happened. The e-mails show that Sony CEO Kaz Hirai personally intervened in toning down the movie following North Korea’s threat of “merciless retaliation” if it is released. Specifically, Kaz wanted a particular scene in which Kim’s head “explodes” to be toned down, with Seth Rogan agreeing to reduce the “number of head chunks”.

This whole thing is unprecedented in nature and is clearly bringing the whole of Sony Pictures into disrepute. With the hackers promising there is “terabytes” of data still to be released, I don’t think this will be the last of our stories on this hack.