--- description: The movie 'The Interview' will not be released in Japan title: 'The Interview' Will Have a Limited Release in Asia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21e2a874bf65a048/69876d970b72e361896dc77c/the-interview-sony-james-franco-seth-rogen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _The Interview_ Will Have a Limited Release in Asia  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 11, 2014 9:15 PM CUT  James Franco, left, as Dave, and Seth Rogen as Aaron, in a scene from "The Interview." James Franco, left, as Dave, and Seth Rogen as Aaron, in a scene from "The Interview."Ed Araquel—Sony Pictures/AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 11, 2014 9:15 PM CUT Sony Pictures has [confirmed](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/the-interview-to-have-only-limited-release-in-asia-1201376806/ "undefined") that there will be no Japan release for _The Interview._ The movie’s plot involves characters played by Seth Rogen and James Franco who try to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A spokesperson for Sony Pictures told _Variety_ that the decision was made before last week’s massive hack of Sony’s computer system. According to _The Interview’_s website, it will only be released in Australia and New Zealand within the Asia-Pacific region. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/the-interview-to-have-only-limited-release-in-asia-1201376806/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3630702/the-interview-asia-seth-rogen-james-franco/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3630702/the-interview-asia-seth-rogen-james-franco/"},"headline":"The Interview Will Have a Limited Release in Asia","datePublished":"2014-12-11T21:15:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:47:37.084Z","description":"It won't hit theaters in Japan","url":"https://time.com/3630702/the-interview-asia-seth-rogen-james-franco/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21e2a874bf65a048/69876d970b72e361896dc77c/the-interview-sony-james-franco-seth-rogen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21e2a874bf65a048/69876d970b72e361896dc77c/the-interview-sony-james-franco-seth-rogen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Seth Rogen James Franco","caption":"Seth Rogen James Franco","creditText":"Ed Araquel—Sony Pictures/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3630702/the-interview-asia-seth-rogen-james-franco/","name":"The Interview Will Have a Limited Release in Asia"}}]}] ```