20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To

The Film:

A 2014 R-rated comedy featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists who journey to North Korea to assassinate Kim Jong-un, everyone expected this just to be another dumb Seth Rogen comedy.

The Controversy:

Plenty of films have caused controversy, but very few have caused an international incident.

North Korea was furious when they found out about the movie and threatened merciless retaliation if it was released. In November 2014 a group identifying as the Guardians of Peace hacked Sony Pictures and the hackers made further threats of violence if The Interview was released. It's assumed that GOP were from North Korea.

Eventually, the film was pulled from release and given a mainly digital one instead, since there was an evident risk to the safety of moviegoers if cinemas screened the movie.

Why It Was Wrong:

In fairness, there is no way The Interview could ever have matched all the hype machine due to the circumstances surrounding its release. Even so, when you take away all the hype and all the controversy, what we're left with is a watchable and amusing, but largely middling comedy.

It benefits from a touching ending, witty moments and two strong comic performances from James Franco and Seth Rogen, but it is a fairly gentle comedy experience. It never reaches that moment where you have to pause the film because you're laughing too hard.

It's fair to say most will be bewildered as to how such a silly film could have caused so much trouble.