Judd Apatow: Don't pull 'Interview' from theaters

Filmmaker Judd Apatow is taking a stand.

He is determined to go see The Interview. That's assuming theaters are still showing it on Christmas Day when it is slated to open. Apatow tweeted that he wouldn't let terrorists win in this fight.

And he added another tweet.

But it remains to be seen what happens with The Interview. Thursday's New York premiere has been canceled.

As of late Tuesday, Sony did not plan to withdraw the film in the wake of a threat by Guardians of Peace hackers warning of a 9/11-type attack on theaters, but is leaving it up to theater owners and chains to decide whether to show the film.

Carmike Cinemas, the fourth-largest cinema chain in the country, has decided to cancel its planned showings of the film. Carmike operates 278 theaters across the country. On Wednesday, Bow-Tie Cinema's, the nation's eighth-largest chain, also said it will not show the film.

The National Assocation of Theater Owners has not commented. Chains seem to be wrestling with what to do.

"At this moment we have it booked for all of our theaters," Phil Zacheretti, president and chief executive of Phoenix Big Cinemas Management in Knoxville, Tenn., told the Los Angeles Times. "Things could change in a moment's notice. It's a very serious issue. Our perspective is we usually show movies and the public can decide what they want to see. But we don't want to put anyone at risk."

Apatow isn't alone in voicing his defiance against the threat.

Tom Brueggemann, a former theater chain executive, says in an IndieWire.com essay that the shows should go on. Exhibitors, he says, shouldn't "bend to threats," or it will "happen again and again."

His suggestion: "The two industry groups representing the studios and theaters — the MPAA and NATO respectively — should bind together in common cause to share the risk of extra expense for security and any possible legal damages as a show of faith, but also because of the long term cost to the industry rather than bend to terror threats now shown to work."

On Twitter, there are people in support of showing the film.

However, Geraldo Rivera tweeted a word of caution.

On The View on Wednesday, the co-hosts disagreed. Nicolle Wallace said, "I think we have a good history of not being bullied by thugs."

Said Rosie O'Donnell, "I just feel like it's not worth it to me to see a movie that's supposedly not all that funny. ... It's not like this is some Spielberg epic."

Replied Wallace, "I just think the point is if you want to see it don't let some goon in North Korea change your plans."