Editorial: The Sony Hack

Since November 24th, Sony Pictures has fallen severely by the hacking by a group called 'Guardians of Peace'. Despite the group's name, they've threatened the lives of the families of workers, and as such has caused Sony to halt filming on all their projects - including Spectre, the next James Bond film - and do their best to avoid future leaks. These leaks include full films, salaries, private e-mails and possible plans for future films. Whilst on one hand this is a great worry for the studio, with box office receivings for the likes of Annie and Mr Turner likely to be affected, it also comes off as somewhat fake, particularly with some of the leaked e-mails. But let's break it down:

Leaked Films

One of the first things to come out of the hackings was the release of Fury, Annie, Mr Turner, Still Alice and To Write Love on Her Arms, 4 of which having not had actual releases yet (Fury came out a month prior). Lionsgate already suffered from the consequences of The Expendables 3 being leaked online mere weeks before its release (that and the change of classification and its bad reviews), and began cracking down hard on those responsible. Marvel did a similar thing when their Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer leaked days before its scheduled reveal, leading to an early official release and an investigation into who leaked it.

However, with a larger number of films leaked and by more people - and the fact that they're giving off good responses by those piraters meaning it could resonate into larger viewing - Sony is in a big pickle. What's more interesting is that the whole event is possibly due to one of Sony's upcoming films (The Interview, which has garnered mixed reviews) upsetting North Korea due to its story revolving around the assassination of Kim Jong-Un. Being constantly asked to pull the film - and Sony pushing it back from its original release date to try and appease to the country - may have caused the whole leak to happen.

Spider-Man

Perhaps one of the bigger discussion points about the leak is anything revolving around Spider-Man. If you weren't already aware, the most recent sequel to the 2012 reboot didn't fare well with critics or audiences, leading to an under-performing box office gross and a harsh rethink for the future of Sony's planned cinematic universe. But with the leaks comes apparent e-mails to Marvel Studios, with the likes of an appearance in 2016's Captain America: Civil War (which Spider-Man plays a vital part in during the comic book run); Marvel regaining the rights but with Sony still having creative control, marketing and distribution; or even just starting from scratch all over again. There's rumours of a press conference in January about the continuation of plans for female superhero films, the Sinister Six and also an animated comedy by Chris Miller and Phil Lord of LEGO Movie fame...but no further instalments with the webslinger Andrew Garfield. 

Like many people, I find Garfield to be the saving grace of the rebooted series. Whilst the 2012 redo wasn't bad, it wasn't great and failed to ignite much love from a superhero perspective when sandwiched between The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, both of which released that same summer. But The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was poor, and its poor quality and overall failure is good enough a reason to try and start afresh before bringing the series down further. As much as Garfield deserves to stay, there isn't any way to keep him in the role without confusing audiences and possibly pushing potential viewers away because of the bad rep he gets. That being said, the plans Sony has are poor. To continue that universe without its flagship character would be like having an Iron Man franchise that focuses on the lesser characters like Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) or Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) rather than Iron Man himself, whilst an animated comedy seems more direct-to-DVD than the best way to keep the character going, even if there's great talent involved. As for the idea of Marvel having the rights but no control over them, it's seems more like a way to make Marvel Studios look bad by having Sony keep control, all whilst giving Sony all the profits. Add to how sudden the change would be between Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Captain America: Civil War, it would cause even more disarray than with the 5 year gap between the reboot and Spider-Man 3.

Racism and Sexism

This is where things get a little more interesting. In the mixture of salaries for the likes of American Hustle and in e-mails to fellow co-workers, what comes across is a clear need for change within the company. In e-mails about Barack Obama, co-workers wonder whether he likes the films 12 Years a Slave, Django Unchained, The Butler, Think Like a Man (their own property) or Ride Along, with one person stating "I bet he likes Kevin Hart". The common theme in this list is obvious from the get-go, and incredibly stupid. There's also the salary differences for Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams for American Hustle in comparison to their male co-stars. Whilst the subject of equal pay has always been under debate, the low price for Jennifer Lawrence, when considering the previous year she won an Academy Award, and Amy Adams, a multi-nominee, in comparison to those with similar wins and nominations (although Bradley Cooper only has two nominations to Adams' five) is distressing.

Complaining about Actors

Whilst insulting the President of the United States is a large issue in its own right, the treatment of your actors is another major discussion point that you shouldn't bad mouth. Aside from the pay disputes, Sony haven't given kind words to those they work with, as both Adam Sandler and Angelina Jolie. Sandler is a big financial part of the studio, with critical failures/box office smashes along the lines of Grown Ups, its 2013 sequel and You Don't Mess With The Zohan keeping the failing actor afloat. It's one thing for the public to dismiss him (heck, even I can't help doing it), but the studio which pays for those films to dismiss him too is a major blow for the comedic actor. He may have moved away to Netflix for a four picture deal, but with these comments dating back to 2012, it's no wonder he left.

But something a bit more recent is the Angelina Jolie debacle, as she asked for David Fincher to work on their Cleopatra remake instead of the currently-troubled Steve Jobs biopic. The comments called her a "minimally talented spoiled brat", which led to an accidental meeting between one commenter and Jolie with little acceptance to those comments - perfect way to react to such a response, 

Films to Come

This area is where things sound too fake to be real - a crossover between 21 Jump Street and Men in Black. What?! That's possibly the stupidest thing to come out of this whole leak, and cannot possibly be a real plan. If it is, it'll be as silly as the end credits sequence (but maybe just as hilarious). There's also plans for Will Ferrell as a Donald Sterling-like character, rapper Drake playing a character called Pe*Nis (yes, that's his name), and a number of actors revealed for meetings for Ghostbusters 3. That last one isn't that bad or far out there, but some of the casting ideas don't seem right for the film. 

Perhaps the most disappointing thing comes from the recent reveals from the upcoming Spectre, in which a script was leaked and has an apparently disappointing third act. When you come off from 2012's Skyfall - a great film and a celebration for the anniversary - with a film which may end badly, it can cause the franchise to fall into the same rut that Quantum of Solace did in 2008 and possibly cause Sony to rethink their franchise, leading to possibly pushing both Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig out of the franchise,

There will likely be more leaks in the future - a big Christmas reveal is rumoured - but to keep up with what's happened so far does allow a good look at what's going on behind the scenes of Sony Pictures.