The Sony hackers might’ve forced Sony to pull The Interview movie from its planned Christmas Day release, but news from the Sony leaked emails continues to flow online on a daily basis. According to Radar Online , the Sony leaked emails revealed an electronic conversation of an unnamed producer who had high praise for Denzel Washington, star of The Equalizer — a film that grossed $191 million across the world. The leaked Sony emails from the producer, however, claim that the fact that only 47 percent of box office sales came from countries outside the U.S. — as compared to the expected 65 percent international sales rate for other movies — means that moviegoers around the world were racist.
“I believe that the international motion picture audience is racist — in general, pictures with an African American lead don’t play well overseas. But Sony sometimes seems to disregard that a picture must work well internationally to both maximize returns and reduce risk, especially pics with decent size budgets.”
In a way, the leaked Sony emails favor Sony’s point of view because the mysterious producer talks about Sony ignoring racist international moviegoers to place Denzel in leading roles anyway — despite perceived global racist fears that affect box office numbers. The producer goes on to use baseball analogies in the leaked Sony emails, claiming using black actors might provide Sony with a double play, perhaps in lieu of a home run, internationally speaking.
“No, I am not saying The Equalizer should not have been made or that African American actors should not have been used (I personally think Denzel is the best actor of his generation). Casting him is saying we’re ok with a double if the picture works. He’s reliable at the domestic [box office], safe, but has not had a huge success in years. I believe whenever possible the non-event pictures, extra ‘bets’ should have a large inherent upside and be made for the right price. Here there isn’t a large inherent upside.”
The leaked Sony emails also revealed that Amy Adams was allegedly abused by her American Hustle director, David O. Russell, as reported in the Inquisitr — so much so that Christian Bale had to get in Russell’s face and tell him to back off.
It wasn’t all talk of race and aggressive directors unveiled via the Sony leaked emails. As reported by Gawker , Angelina Jolie was called “seriously out of her mind” in leaked Sony emails between Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal — all due to Jolie’s Cleopatra concerns.
[Image credit: Indiewire ]
