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RNC Chairman urges theater owners to screen "The Interview"

The Republican party is calling on theaters to show Sony Picture's "The Interview." Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus wrote an open letter Saturday to theater executives at AMC, Regal Entertainment and Cinemark, and others, saying, "I urge you to show the movie. As a sign of my commitment, if you agree to show this movie, I will send a note to the Republican Party's millions of donors and supporters urging them to buy a ticket--not to support one movie or Hollywood, but to show North Korea we cannot be bullied into giving up our freedom."

Priebus acknowledged the party and Hollywood are at times "at odds," but said they agree on this: "Giving in to threats from the North Korean dictatorship is ceding our freedom to the whims of a totalitarian regime. We are setting a troubling example and a terrible precedent," he wrote.

The RNC chairman's letter came after President Obama said Sony had erred in cancelling the movie's release. "I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced," Mr. Obama said in a news conference at the White House. "Having said all that -- yes, I think they made a mistake." He went on to say, "That's not who we are. That's not what America's about."

On Sunday, Sony Pictures Entertainment lawyer David Boies promised that "The Interview" will be seen, saying, "Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed. And what Sony has been trying to do is to get the picture out to the public," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

If and when the picture makes onto U.S. screens, Priebus suggests theater owners and Sony give a portion of the profits to the USO or Yellow Ribbon Fund.

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