The Interview has been pulled from release. Judd Apatow asks: Could Annie be next? Picture:AP/Damian Dovarganes Source: AP

That was the line chorused by filmmakers and actors in Hollywood yesterday as Sony Pictures pulled the cinematic release of movie comedy The Interview in the US.

“Thanks for that lesson in reality, film biz ... terrorism works,” said British director Duncan Jones.

“Wow. Everyone caved,” tweeted Rob Lowe. “An utter and complete victory for them.”

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel called the cancellation “an un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent”.

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Cancelled ... The Interview was due to be release on Christmas Day. Picture:AP/Columbia Pictures, Sony, Ed Araquel Source: AP

Not impressed ... Many actors took to Twitter to voice their disappointment about the movie being cancelled. Picture:AP/Columbia Pictures, Sony, Ed Araquel Source: AP

“It’s a comedy about the world’s worst dictator. Yet Hollywood’s caved to a bit of bullying? Incredible,” noted former CNN host Piers Morgan.

The Interview — starring Seth Rogen and James Franco — is a comedy about a TV host and producer recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Speculation immediately following the November 24 hack that hobbled Sony’s communication systems worldwide was that North Korea may be the culprit and The Interview was the cause of their ire.

(Not long after Sony announced the cancellation on Thursday, it emerged the FBI was set to confirm the hack had been ordered by the North Korean regime.)

In the weeks that followed, as more threats arrived and leaks of employee data, films and emails continued, Sony appeared determined to go ahead with the Christmas Day release of the comedy.

Caving ... Many felt the decision to cancel the movie is caving tothe bully’s and terrorists. Picture: AP/Columbia Pictures, Sony, Ed Araquel Source: AP

But the stakes were raised on Tuesday when the cyberterrorists sent an email threatening to attack cinemas that dared show the film: “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.”

One by one, cinemas began to announce they would not show the movie. By the time the big chains joined in, Sony had little choice but to withdraw the film altogether: “In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release.”

Despite immediate calls for the movie to be released via video-on-demand formats, Sony later said there were “no further release plans”.

As of yesterday afternoon, Sony Pictures Releasing Australia had no update on whether the local January 22 release of the film would go ahead.

Threats ... Movie cinema’s were sent threat of another 9/11 style attack if they showed the movie. Picture: AP/Columbia Pictures, Sony, Ed Araquel Source: AP

Writer Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The West Wing), who has been the most vocal of any industry figure embroiled in the leaked emails, was disdainful of the cancellation.

“Today the US succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech by a group of North Korean terrorists who threatened to kill moviegoers in order to stop the release of a movie.”

Longtime colleague of Rogen, writer-director Judd Apatow, called cinemas’ refusal to show it “disgraceful”.

“Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?” he asked on Twitter.

He later elaborated to The Los Angeles Times that businesses are free to make whatever decisions they like, but warned: “They’re basically setting themselves up for other people to threaten them. What do they do when someone says the same thing about the James Bond movie or Annie? ...

Disgraceful ... Writer-director Judd Apatow, called cinemas’ refusal to show the movie ‘disgraceful’ and questioned if they will pull other movies. Picture: AP/Columbia Pictures, Sony, Ed Araquel Source: AP

And that’s the question that really sticks ... Which film gets skittled next?

And what if the film at the centre of the storm hadn’t been The Interview — a deliberately stupid comedy made by infamous dope-smokers which features missiles going up butts, exploding heads and “Dong” jokes?

Might cinema chains refuse to show Selma — a serious, significant, Oscar-tipped drama about Martin Luther King’s voting rights marches in the 1960s — if a white supremacist group were to threaten attacks? Would distributors have pulled 2014’s Best Picture Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave in similar circumstances?

Or, an idea one Twitterer sarcastically floated, might Christian groups want to halt showings of the fairytale musical Into the Woods because of “its pro-witch agenda”?

Revealed ... A U.S. official said North Korea perpetrated the unprecedented act of cyberwarfare against Sony that exposed tens of thousands of sensitive documents and escalated to threats of terrorist attacks. Picture: AP/Damian Dovarganes Source: AP

The cancellation of The Interview is already having a flow-on effect in the industry: production company New Regency (part-owned by News Corp) has scrapped Pyongyang, a thriller about a Westerner working in North Korea, which was to be filmed next year by director Gore Verbinski, starring Steve Carell.

“Sad day for creative expression,” Carell tweeted.

Verbinski issued a statement: “I find it ironic that fear is eliminating the possibility to tell stories that depict our ability to overcome fear.”

The last thing Hollywood — in an age of downsizing and banking on sequels, reboots and remakes — needs is further encouragement to take less risks or less punts on original ideas.

Perhaps the only good to come of this whole fiasco is, as documentary maker and tree-shaker Michael Moore sardonically tweeted, the hackers might also put a stop to some of the film industry’s more predictable plans.

“Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I’d also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers.”