In a statement released on Friday, Sony Pictures defended their decision and said they had cancelled the Christmas Day release date due to "the majority of the nation's theatre owners choosing not to screen the film," adding that it was "surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform."

Chief executive and chairman of Sony Pictures, Michael Lynton, said: "We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down."

'A mistake'

Speaking at his end of year news conference on Friday, US President Barack Obama shamed the corporation. He declared that Sony Pictures had "made a mistake" in their decision to shelve the satirical comedy about a fictitious plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States," Obama said. He also vowed to "respond" to the cyber-attack in a "manner that we choose."

Oscar-winning actor and director George Clooney also condemned the decision. "We cannot be told we can't see something by Kim Jong Un ... We have a responsibility to stand up against this," he said in an interview with Deadline.com.

'An act of war'

Following November's huge cyber attack, the shadowy hacker group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" issued a warning which referred to the 9/11 terror attacks. The group threatened anyone attending the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy and said "the world will be full of fear" if The Interview was screened. Along with the threat of violence on Tuesday, 32,000 emails to and from Lynton were also leaked.

The FBI said they determined that North Korea was behind the hack after analysis of the software tools used revealed links to other malware known to have been developed by "North Korean actors."

The governmental agency also cited "significant overlap" between the attack and other "malicious cyber-activity" with direct links to Pyongyang, including an attack on South Korean banks carried out by North Korea.

Over the summer, the North Korean government described the film as "an act of war that we will never tolerate," and warned the US of "merciless" retaliation.

ksb/bw (Reuters, AFP, dpa)