Sony boss Michael Lynton. Source: AP

The US President said during a media conference today that Sony “made a mistake” in dropping “The Interview.” However, the studio fired back, saying the cancellation happened only because the country’s top theatre chains pulled out.

“This was their decision,” Sony said in a statement.

“Without theatres, we could not release it in the theatres on Christmas Day. We had no choice.”

Sony insists it has only cancelled the Christmas Day release and that it has been “actively surveying alternatives” to release the film on a different platform.

“It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so,” said Sony.

The back-and-forth volleying between one of Hollywood’s top studios and the President of the United States was only the latest dramatic turn in the four weeks since a hacker group calling itself Guardians of Peace crippled Sony Pictures’ computer systems and began leaking hacked emails and data, insisting that the Seth Rogen North Korea satire not be released.

The hacking escalated to terrorist threats against theatres showing the film. On Friday, the FBI officially named North Korea as the source of the hacking attacks.

Since Sony cancelled the film’s December 25 release on Wednesday, the studio has come under withering criticism by those who have said capitulating to hackers sets a dangerous precedent. Everyone from George Clooney to Newt Gingrich has bitterly reproached Sony for what they’ve called self-censorship that goes against American ideals of freedom of expression. Obama said the this morning.

“I wish they had spoken to me first,” said Obama in a press conference. “We cannot have a society in which some dictatorship someplace can start imposing censorship.”

But in an interview with CNN today, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton disputed that, saying: “The President, the press and the public are mistaken about what happened.” He also said that he spoke to a senior adviser in the White House about the situation.

By putting the blame at the feet of North American exhibitors, Sony seemingly appears to contradict earlier accounts of events.

The top multiplex chains in North America dropped “The Interview” on Wednesday only after Sony informed them that it would not protest if the theatres pulled the film. At the time, Regal Cinemas partly attributed cancelling “The Interview” “due to wavering support of the film.” AMC Entertainment noted “the overall confusion and uncertainty” surrounding the movie.

A spokeswoman for Sony also earlier seemingly crushed hopes of a video-on-demand or digital release of “The Interview,” saying on Wednesday that Sony had no plans to release it.

Sony has been removing promotional materials for “The Interview” from its websites and trailers of the film from YouTube. Sony employees on Friday received an email from the hackers praising the “wise” decision to withdraw the film and warned against distributing it in “any format.”

“We have not given in and we have not backed down,” Lynton told CNN, however. “We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie.”

AP