Sony Pictures just decided to cancel the theatrical release of its new comedy "The Interview," which was scheduled for Dec. 25.

The comedy stars Seth Rogen and James Franco star in the movie as a pair of journalists who, under the guise of shooting a television interview, are tasked by the Central Intelligence Agency with killing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Several major theatrical chains announced they were canceling all screenings of the film after the group claiming responsibility for the recent Sony hacks threatened acts of violence at locations screening the film.

Take a look at the trailer for the film at the center of all the controversy.

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We may never know if North Korea was behind the Sony hacks that ultimately led to the cancellation of the North Korea-mocking movie, “The Interview.” 

But one thing is for sure: Hollywood is not touching anything North Korea-related at the moment.

According to Deadline, New Regency has canceled a movie that was supposed to be directed by Gore Verbinski and have Steve Carell as the lead.

The untitled film apparently was a “paranoid thriller” written by Carell himself. But the producers deemed “it made no sense” to go on with its plan under the current circumstances, which led to the cancellation.

“The Interview,” a movie starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, was scheduled to open in theaters on Christmas Day. But after multiple hacks on Sony executive emails over the past month, and a terrorist threat to attack all theaters showing the movie on Wednesday, Sony decided to cancel the movie.

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The US is finally getting ready to blame North Korea for the massive Sony Pictures Entertainment hack most likely linked to the movie "The Interview," starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. 

But apparently problems with the movie started much sooner. Sony Corp.'s CEO was already freaking out over the summer about specific gruesome scenes in the movie "The Interview" that likely angered North Korea.

The movie tells the story of journalists instructed by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un after scoring an interview with the North Korea dictator.

North Korea's subsequent hack — which released tons of cringe-worthy emails— also revealed that Sony Corp's CEO Kazuo Hirai was unusually involved in the production of "The Interview" after North Korea called the movie an "act of war" after seeing promos for it.

In fact, Hirai "broke a 25-year tradition" by interfering with the production of the irreverent comedy starting Seth Rogen and James Franco, The New York Times has reported. Generally, an executive from parent company Sony Corp. wouldn't insert himself into the decisions of the company's usually independent studio, Sony Pictures.

Hacked emails cited by The Times showed that Hirai told the studio to tone down a scene showing Kim's head exploding. Seth Rogen sent an email to Sony Pictures executives that apparently addressed Hirai's concerns about the exploding head. Here's that email, via Gawker:

A few days later, Sony Pictures Co-Chairman Amy Pascal sent an email to Hirai outlining the ways in which the head-exploding scene was toned down. He ultimately approved "shot #337," which cuts down on "face melting," "fire in the hair," "embers on the face" and the "head explosion," according to Gawker.

Sony Corp.'s Japan-based CEO may have been more sensitive than American executives to the possibility of angering North Korea, as The New York Times reported. It was just 30 years ago that North Korea was still kidnapping Japanese so they could serve as Japanese-language instructors in North Korea, according to The Times.

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Today we heard multiple reports that the US government is ready to place the blame for the Sony hack on North Korea. We're expecting an annoucnement as early as tomorrow.

We also learned on Wednesday that Sony has not only decided to pull the movie "The Interview" from its Christmas Day release, but that the company won't be releasing the movie anywhere anytime soon.

Seth Rogen and James Franco star in the movie as a pair of journalists who, under the guise of shooting a television interview, are tasked by the Central Intelligence Agency with killing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 

North Korea has openly criticized the film and their anger is a likely tie to any connection with the attacks.

Today the White House's National Security Council came forward about the hack, and the recent information that's come to light:

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After the Sony hacking scandal surrounding the movie "The Interview," we wondered — how much do people really know about one of the most controversial countries in the world? 

Learn some mind-blowing facts about this country that hangs off the east coast of China.

Produced by Matthew Stuart. Research by Elena Holodny.

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The latest round of Sony leaks has resulted in more than 50 movie scripts for new and finished projects getting released online.

The scripts were part of a leak on Tuesday in which the emails of Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton were released by hackers, whom U.S. authorities believe to be from North Korea.

The leaks came before Sony's Wednesday announcement that it would not release Kim Jong-un assassination movie "The Interview." 

Among the movie scripts found by Business Insider are "The Social Network," the script for the next Dan Brown adaptation, "Inferno," and an early version of "The Interview."

Many appear to be early drafts.

Previously, the new James Bond movie script for "Spectre," was reported to leak online.

Here's the full list of scripts. 

Unreleased movies:

"Hotel Transylvania 2" [Third draft]
"Smurfs 3"
"Catfight"
"5th Wave"
"Annie"
"The Black Phantom"
"Inferno" 
"Invertigo"
"Little House on the Prairie"
"Padre"
"Paul Blart Mall Cop 2"
"Pixels"
"Ricki and the Flash"
"Royal Wedding"
"Sausage Party"
"The Interview"
"The Walk"
"The Raid"
"Wedding Ringer"
"When the Game Stands Tall"

Released movies:

"2 Guns"
"21 Jump Street" 
"22 Jump Street"
"30 Minutes or Less"
"After Earth"
"About Last Night"
"Anonymous"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Captain Phillips"
"Click"
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2"
"Django Unchained"
"Friends with Benefits"
"Fury"
"Ghost Rider 2"
"Great Hope Springs"
"Heaven is for Real"
"Here Comes the Boom"
"Just Go With It"
"Moneyball"
"Monster House"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
"Planet B-Boy"
"Pompeii"
"Resident Evil: Retribution"
"RoboCop"
"Salt" 
"Sex Tape"
"Smurfs"
"Smurfs 2"
"Sparkle"
"Stranger than Fiction"
"Talladega Nights"
"The Social Network"
"The Tourist"
"Total Recall"
"Vantage Point"
"White House Down"

SEE ALSO: Sony's list of movies through 2017

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Tonight is the last episode of "The Colbert Report," but thanks to Google Street View, Stephen Colbert's beloved set has been immortalized.

Google brought its panoramic Street View cameras onto the set and captured every detail, and it's now available for you to explore.

Even if you don't have a ticket to the show, you can now check out the view of the (empty) audience seats, poke around behind Colbert's desk, and get a close-up view of the many eclectic items on his shelves—which features everything from a Captain America shield to a classic Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game.

We've included the full Street View tour below for you to explore, just remember you can click on different areas of the set to move around, and use your mouse's scroll wheel to zoom in and out.

SEE ALSO: 10 Secret Features Hidden In Your Mac

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Can't stop listening to "Serial"? Neither can we.

So if you're craving more mystery now that the series has wrapped, we've got you covered. 

Here are 11 true crime books with stories so gripping, it'll be hard to believe they're true.

"Helter Skelter" by Vincent Bugliosi: A singer-turned-cult-leader, Charles Manson had an inexplicable hold over a devoted "family" of followers, and convinced them to murder seven people for him. Written by Manson's prosecutor, this book takes an in-depth look at Manson's life both before and during his trial. 

"The Onion Field" by Joseph Wambaugh: This book tells the story of two young LAPD cops who were kidnapped by Gregory Ulas Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith after pulling them over on a deserted street. Straight off a series of robberies, paranoid Powell and Smith drove the officers to an empty onion field where one was shot, but the other managed to escape.

"Fatal Vision" by Joe McGinniss: When his pregnant wife and two daughters are found dead, Jeffrey MacDonald claims it was the work of a random break-in. However, without any evidence to support his story, MacDonald himself ends up on trial, opening up a chilling case that questions if and how a father could murder his family. 

"Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial" by Janet Malcolm: This book details the joint trial of Mozoltuv Barukhova and the hitman she hired to kill her estranged husband, Daniel Malakov. The trial becomes even more complicated due to the fact that Malakov had received sole custody of the couple's four-year-old daughter just weeks before the shooting. 

"The Stranger Beside Me" by Ann Rule: When Ann Rule set out to investigate the then-unsolved murders of multiple women, she had no idea what she would find. However, as Rule dug deeper into the mystery, she not only discovered who the murder was, but realized it was someone she considered a friend.

"Lethal Intent" by Sue Russell: This book follows the life of Aileen Wuornos, a rare female serial killer who worked as a prostitute and murdered her male clients. Russell examines Wuornos's tragic life leading up to the  killings, from her dark childhood to a drug and alcohol riddled adulthood. 

"Footsteps in the Snow" by Charles Lachman: When seven-year-old Maria Ridulph went out to play in the snow one afternoon, she encountered a friendly stranger — and disappeared moments later. Though Maria's body was found when the snow melted in the spring, it wasn't until 55 years later, when a former neighbor made a shocking confession on her deathbed, that the pieces of the murder began to come together.

"A Different Class of Murder: The Story of Lord Lucan" by Laura Thompson: This book explores the cold case of one of the most infamous murders in history, in which Sandra Rivett was killed by Richard John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, in 1974. Similar to "Serial," Thompson lays out the known facts of the case, then dives in herself, investigating flaws in the original police narrative.

"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote: Capote's classic narrative chronicles the brutal murder of the Clutter family after two men broke into their house, tied them up, and shot each one in the face. Written with the same flourish as a novel, it's easy to become engrossed. 

"Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson: Using the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as a distraction and cover, scam artist Dr. H.H. Holmes lured several victims back to his "Murder Castle," designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham. This narrative ties together scandal and history, making it an interesting, yet informative read. 

"The Last Victim" by Jason Moss: Originally for his college thesis, Moss set out to understand the mind of serial killers by interviewing some of the most famous, including John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Charles Manson. Moss gained each's attention by posing as an ideal victim. He eventually developed a relationship with Gacy throughout his research, but when he finally visits the man in prison, Gacy tries to murder him as well. 

SEE ALSO: The 16 Best Nonfiction Books of 2014

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Taylor Swift was surprised by all the attention she got when she pulled her catalog of music from Spotify — especially by how many people in the music industry reached out to thank her.

Swift told The Hollywood Reporter that she never expected the outpouring of support she received.

"I didn't think that it would be shocking to anyone," she said. "With as many ways as artists are personalizing their musical distribution, it didn't occur to me that this would be anything that anyone would talk about. But I could never have expected so many text messages, emails and phone calls from other artists, writers and producers saying thank you."

THR named Swift one of its "rule breakers" of 2014.

In an interview with Time magazine last month, Swift elaborated on her decision to pull her music from the popular streaming service. She reiterated opinions she voiced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in July, saying that artists should value their art and make sure that people are paying enough money for it.

"Everybody's complaining about how music sales are shrinking, but nobody's changing the way they're doing things," she told Time. "They keep running towards streaming, which is, for the most part, what has been shrinking the numbers of paid album sales."

Artists generally don't make nearly as much money putting their music on Spotify as they do selling digital albums and songs on services like iTunes.

Spotify says it pays 70% of its revenue to labels — which will amount to about $1 billion this year — but some artists feel they don't get a big-enough cut. The streaming service revealed last year that it paid record labels an average of less than a penny per play, and that's just the money going to labels, not the artists.

Of course, not all artists can afford to pull their music from Spotify, even if they'd like to. Lesser-known artists or groups depend on valuable exposure they can get from the streaming service.

NOW WATCH: MythBusters' Adam Savage Explains Why TARS From 'Interstellar' Is The Perfect Robot

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift Explains Why She Left Spotify

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The climactic moment that portrays Kim Jong Un's head exploding is clearly the main reason why North Korea is upset with Sony's "The Interview," but the movie is filled with other things the hermit dictatorship would not like.

Hackers linked to North Korea savaged Sony, forcing the company to cancel the movie's release by leaking thousands of private documents, threatening to leak more, and threatening the safety of moviegoers at theaters.

We saw the film a few weeks ago at a screening with Seth Rogen himself as he drank beer and high-fived the audience. Here are some parts that we enjoyed but North Korea might not [WARNING: SPOILERS]:

• The opening scene portrays a young Korean girl singing a beautiful and poignant song that we realize — through subtitles — is so virulent and anti-American it's laughable, with lines like, "May they drown in their blood and feces."
• The film quickly establishes a plot to assassinate Kim. It happens after Aaron Rapoport (Rogen), the broadcast news producer of the fluffy news show "Skylark Tonight," and host Dave Skylark (James Franco) discover that Kim is a huge fan of their show. As soon as they set up an interview with the dictator, they are contacted by the CIA with a request that they take him out.
• Randall Park's portrayal of Kim is one of the film's greatest assets. While on the surface he's cold and intimidating, Kim frequently acts ridiculous, like when he meets Skylark and turns into a shrieking fanboy. Tons of laughs stem from this relationship, as Kim takes Skylark on his own personal tour of his country, complete with fruity drinks, Katy Perry sing-a-longs, adorable puppies, and general juvenile tomfoolery.
• While Skylark starts to think Kim and North Korea aren't half-bad, there's a turning moment late in the film when Rapoport rushes into a North Korean supermarket only to find that it's filled with fake food. The functional society is a sham, and North Koreans are actually starving. 
• The most offensive and buzzed-about aspect of the film is the assassination itself. The original plan put in place by the CIA was to poison the dictator with a ricin-strip that Skylark was to apply during a handshake with Kim during the interview. But when the moment comes, Skylark no longer has the ricin, and instead he tries to use the television airtime to turn North Korea against Kim by making the dictator appear weak on camera. When Kim realizes what's happening, he pulls out a gun and shoots Skylark on air — but Skylark is wearing a vest and survives.
• As Aaron and Skylark make their escape, they steal a North Korean tank as Kim flies above in a helicopter and prepares to kill them both as well as launch nuclear weapons all over the world. The particularly controversial head explosion occurs here, when Aaron and Skylark fire from their tank and effectively blow up the helicopter and Kim. The camera lingers on Kim's exploding face as Katy Perry's "Firework" plays in the background, making the moment even more surreal. 

Leaked emails revealed that there was some tinkering behind the scenes to tone down the sheer violence on display during the supreme leader's death, and the version shown to audiences isn't nearly as graphic as it was previously. The exact specifications of these changes have also been made public.

Following Sony's cancellation of the release, the US announced its intention to officially blame North Korea for the hack, having gathered enough evidence. The White House officially responded also, stating that the US planned to continue investigating and that the FBI had the lead.

NOW WATCH: Here's The Trailer For 'The Interview' — The Movie The Hackers Don't Want You To See

SEE ALSO: Here's How America Could Respond To The Sony Hack

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The first movie in the next Star Wars Trilogy, "The Force Awakens," premieres December 18, 2015.

That's one year from today.

So far, we know very little about what will happen in the movie beyond who's in the cast and some of the new characters' names. Disney released a teaser trailer last month, but it only gave us some minor clues about the plot. (And even then, we're mostly speculating.)

Here's a quick, high-level view of what to expect. Don't worry. No spoilers.

It Takes Place About 30 Years After "Return Of The Jedi"

The new trilogy is a sequel to the original Star Wars trilogy from the '70s and '80s. That was the story about how Luke Skywalker became a Jedi and defeated the evil Empire. Now we'll find out what happens after the death of Darth Vader and the Emperor.

Most Of The Classic Characters Are Returning

Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and several other characters from the original trilogy will return for the new trilogy.

But There Are Some New Faces Too

It seems like the new trilogy will focus around a cast of new main characters. Disney already shared their names.

This is Finn.

This is Rey.

And this is the villain, Kylo Ren.

We don't know anything else about these characters beyond what you see in the teaser trailer.

Now Watch The Teaser Trailer

SEE ALSO: There's something fishy about the name of the new Star Wars villain

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It's impossible to watch "Selma" in America today and not feel confronted by the striking parallels to recent turmoil.

The Eric Garner and Michael Brown grand jury decisions have brought the issue of race back into the spotlight, and the calculated response and protest by unhappy American people harkens back to Martin Luther King Jr.'s crusade for civil rights. 

"Selma" is not your typical biopic: We don't see Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth, we don't see his death, and we don't get very much in between. What we do get is a focused look at one key event that changed the course of the country for the better — the monumental Civil Rights March in Selma, Alabama that led to national attention and widespread outrage for the South's 'desegregated in name only' approach and systematic opression of people of color.

There are scenes throughout "Selma" — people walking in the streets, demanding justice — that parallel news coverage from the past month. Many of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speeches are depicted in the film, and each sentiment is more strikingly relevant than the last.

The basic notion that all of the cops in the movie are white and any threat of violence to white people seem to be valued more than excessive force against blacks evokes the deaths of Gordon and Brown after aggressive police responses. It brings certain numbers to mind, such as how Ferguson is 60% black, the police force is 94% white, and that 93% of Ferguson arrests in 2013 were people of color.

One of the most memorable scenes is when protesters (without MLK Jr.) descend upon the bridge towards Selma and are accosted by ruthless, angry white southern police officers as well as a slew of spectators eagerly cheering them on. This scene depicts a watershed moment and major turning point in the movement, as news cameras and photographers were able to bring the issue into the homes of Americans nationwide. Martin Luther King's comments following the first march on the bridge was a national call-to-arms for people of all races.

Countless African-Americans are beaten and a few killed by the police during the marches, and the film does not shy away from the sheer brutality that was on display during this era. When King notes that none of the white police officers were convicted or tried for their awful crimes, more connections to the present are revealed and it's hard to swallow.

The march on Selma itself is emblematic of the larger problem we still face today. While blatant beatings orchestrated by law enforcement in broad daylight may be a thing of the past, the protests in Ferguson (and to a lesser extent those breaking out across the nation) and the overzealous militarized response are not far off. Sure, you can spin it and put the blame on the small subsection of protesters who were looting and causing a ruckus, but there were thousands protesting peacefully who were tear-gassed all the same. The parallels to the "hands up, don't shoot" movement are striking and shocking. 

David Oyelowo plays MLK Jr. with such a dignified grace and commanding presence that at times it's hard to believe you're not watching footage of the man himself. It's a subtle performance in which he says just as much with his eyes and demeanor than he does with words, and it's one of the year's best — even in a year of many wonderful performances.

"Selma" is a timely, important and magnificent film that proves no matter how far we've come towards equality in America, we still have a long way to go.

SEE ALSO: It's Clear That Race Is America's Deepest Problem

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The addictive podcast "Serial" has finally come to an end, and some people might be frustrated that it didn't solve the murder mystery it set out to investigate.

How could that even be possible?

"Serial" is the hit spinoff from "This American Life" that aims to cover one story, week by week, in serialized fashion (hence the name). Narrated and driven forward by "This American Life" producer Sarah Koenig, the debut season dug deep into the 1999 murder of a Baltimore high-school student — with a particular focus on the boy (now man) who has been incarcerated ever since for the crime. The hook, of course, is that the man, Adnan Syed, may have been wrongly convicted for killing his ex-girlfriend, a popular girl named Hae Min Lee.

"Serial" is true-crime narrative journalism in its rawest form: thoughtful, obsessive, conflicted, scrappy, brave. And the response has been insane: millions of downloads per episode, obsessive praise, a community of sub-Redditors trying to solve the crime on their own, thought pieces upon thought pieces.

The final episode dropped this morning, and while it wasn’t the phenomenal, revelatory blowout conclusion many were hoping for, it’s a highly satisfying end. Called “What We Know,” the episode did a lot:

• First, it uncovered new information and weighed it against the stuff that we know;
• Second, it laid every key aspect of the case back out onto the table and let us take stock of the state of things;
• Third, the episode tied up as many loose ends as it could and accounted for the ones that it couldn’t;
• Fourth, it laid down the groundwork for what’s going to happen beyond the podcast; which is to say, it reminds us that this case outlives the story it’s telling.
• And finally, it gave a satisfying ending. I’m unrepentant about calling it satisfying.

Did anybody really think that Koenig was going to solve the case? Did anybody think the podcast was really going to live up to the hype of our collective obsession? It was an impossible thing. The mystery at the heart of this whole show — Did he do it or not? — is what provided the show with all of its narrative propulsion and drew in so many listeners.

Here’s why the last episode, and by extension the entire season, worked so well for me. With each passing week, Koenig's well-reported facts and findings were so intriguing on their own merits that it didn't matter if the mystery was ever solved. Short of her literally uncovering something revelatory over the past few weeks, it would have been impossible for Koenig to continually cash in on the gravitationally attractive pull of the “reveal” in a way that wouldn't have made the show feel artificial, disingenuous, cheap.

Koenig’s fierce fidelity to the case and public dismissal of the hype, no matter how loud the hype has become, made her immune to the need to solve the mystery at the heart of the podcast. Despite the public's need for answers, she never tried to make conclusions she wasn't prepared to come to.

Nothing felt like a cop-out. The case Koenig took on this season is already fraught with negligence. We don’t know, and we can’t know, what really happened on the day in question, but we do know that the machinations of the legal and police system were deeply, coldly inadequate when it came to solving the case. And while we can’t expect a small group led by three scrappy, earnest public-radio producers to fix the system or uncover an indisputable truth, these producers tried their best to ask the questions that should have been asked 15 years ago.

And for these reasons, I thought the ending was excellent. Emotionally, logically, narratively. As a story, it got me to the end of an arc that feels … earned. And as a thing that exists in the real world, it’s something that advances the possibility of hope for an actual living, breathing person.

I’m satisfied.

NOW WATCH: Hugh Hefner's Son Reveals What It Was Like Growing Up In The Playboy Mansion 

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Another year is on the horizon, which means that new models are preparing to take the fashion industry by storm.

You might have seen some of these beautiful women in beauty campaigns, at New York Fashion Week, donning angel wings for Victoria's Secret — or perhaps you've just viewed them on Instagram. 

The fifteen models that we’ve chosen hail from nations across the globe, and are a variety of shapes and sizes.

Kendall Jenner, 19, rose to ubiquity as the younger stepsister of Kim Kardashian. Now she has become a household name, walking the runway for Chanel and serving as the face of Estee Lauder. She’s also the new face for Karl Lagerfeld.

SEE ALSO: Meet Kendall and Kylie Jenner, the future of the Kardashian empire »

Hailey Baldwin, 18, might have made tabloid headlines when she was seen canoodling with Justin Bieber, but fashion-minded people would probably rather associate her with walking on the runway. Baldwin is also the progeny of famous folk; her dad is Stephen Baldwin.

SEE ALSO:The beautiful young daughters of the Baldwin brothers »

Imaan Hammam managed to make the cover of Vogue and walk the runway for Givenchy all before she turned 18 in October. She’s also part of Vogue’s elite crew of #Instagirls.

SEE ALSO: The outrageous Victoria's Secret Fashion Show »

2015 is going to be one of the biggest years at the box office in a long time.

Not only are we getting a new "Star Wars" movie, but we'll finally see the next "Avengers" grouping, which has been nearly three years in the making. 

Those two movies alone have the potential of being billion-dollar films.

In comparison, 2014 only had one movie gross $1 billion— "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

Through plenty of sequels and reboots, we're counting down the movies that will be the biggest at theaters next year. It's going to feel like the early '90s with Arnold Schwarzenegger back as the Terminator and dinosaurs roaming around in "Jurassic World."

Mark these dates down in your calendar.

12. 'Fifty Shades of Grey' (Universal/Focus Features)

Release date:
Feb. 13, 2015

Why it will be huge: This will be the movie every guy will be dragged to see.

The best-selling book series dubbed "mommy porn" is making its big screen debut Valentine's Day weekend. There couldn't be a better release date for the erotica film about a naive college girl (Dakota Johnson) who becomes involved in a BDSM relationship with a billionaire named Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).

While the film's trailer was the most-viewed all year, there are two reasons "Fifty Shades" is lower on our list. 1. Big blockbusters rarely come out in this month. "Passion of the Christ" currently holds the record for largest Feb. gross ($611.9 million). 2. Erotica movies are usually a niche group. 1992's "Basic Instinct" is the highest-grossing film in the genre making $352.9 million worldwide.

11. 'Ted 2' (Universal)

Release date:
June 26, 2015

Why it will be huge: "Ted," featuring Seth MacFarlane's foul-mouthed teddy bear and Mark Wahlberg, became the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy ever in 2012. It surpassed the record previously held by the first "Hangover." "Ted" made $549 million worldwide.

10. 'Inside Out' (Pixar/Disney)

Release date: 
June 19, 2015

Why it will be huge: Pixar's reputation speaks for itself. The studio hasn't made a bad film yet (except perhaps the poorly-reviewed "Cars 2"). Regardless, none of them have been bombs and the majority of Pixar's animated movies make at least $500 million worldwide at theaters. 

Buzz about its next animated picture, "Inside Out," is already growing. While the movie's concept about the inner workings of the brain and our emotions may sound a bit confusing, an early sneak peek of the film was very well received at the Animation Film Festival in France back in June.

Benedict Cumberbatch seriously got into his role for "The Hobbit" films. 

In both “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" and "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," now in theaters, Cumberbatch plays the role of the perilous dragon, Smaug. However, the “Sherlock” actor didn’t simply voice the dragon. He also acted out the role in a motion-capture suit. 

Ahead of the release of “The Desolation of Smaug” on Blu-Ray and DVD last month, Warner Bros. released video showing the 38-year-old actor immersing himself into the role. 

The best footage comes from the L.A. Times which has an exclusive video showing Cumberbatch act out the dragon in the motion capture suit.

It's amazing to see how much Cumberbatch really gets into it.

To get into the role, little motion capture tracking dots were placed onto Cumberbatch's face.

He was fitted with a helmet that has a little camera attached to capture his every facial movement.To prepare for the role, Cumberbatch told the Los Angeles Times last year that he went to the London Zoo to study animals including lizards.

"They really like doing very little," added Cumberbatch. "Then, when they act, it can suddenly be very violent or very slow and they really take their time. I tied all that in to the playing I did rolling around on that carpet."

Motion capture king Andy Serkis, who has played Gollum in both “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films, gave Cumberbatch advice on playing Smaug. 

“I said, ‘Treat it like you’re playing the role. Don’t think you’re just providing the voice. Go in there physically. Get what you can out of it,” said Serkis in a Warner Bros. featurette. “There will be head turns. There will be moments from that performance that you give that can be pulled out and extrapolated and will become part of Smaug’s being.”

A quarter of the shots in the film were CG, according to the special effects crew at WETA. Cumberbatch says about 80% of the dragon was created by them.

Here's how it looks side by side.

The actor didn't just roll around on the carpet. He also acted out the character from his own platform.

They built a wooden platform on stilts and they had this hard board that they’d padded with some foam and mats and stuff and on top of that they put this sheepskin," Cumberbatch told the LA Times. "It was literally like 'Baum chicka baum baum,' me up on my Smaug-y platform. I was like, 'This is cool, I can slink around like a porn star dragon.'”

Cumberbatch said he can see pieces of his motion capture performance in the final rendering of the dragon in his eyebrow movements and with the mouth during closeups with Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Thorin (Richard Armitage).

"I absolutely loved it after a minute of stepping on and feeling completely like a nob," said Cumberbatch. "Once you get over that bit of self-consciousness, it’s so freeing. I just played like a kid in a bedroom, just imagining this thing, which is great."

Here's the finished product on screen.

You can watch a portion of Cumberbatch’s motion capture performance below.

SEE ALSO: Our review of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

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Kim Jong-un assassination comedy "The Interview" was controversial even before it provoked North Korean hackers to launch a vicious cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

"The Interview" was originally scheduled to be released in October but was delayed until Christmas Day after North Korea declared the film an "act of war" and threatened a "resolute and merciless" response if the US government failed to stop its release.

I found it hard to take North Korea's assertions seriously after viewing the relentlessly crass and silly finished product at a screening a few weeks ago. It's clearly a comedy far more than a statement on foreign policy. While co-director and star Seth Rogen weaves in plenty of details that reflect poorly on North Korea, "The Interview" never feels like an attack on the hermit kingdom.

But as we now know, this didn't stop North Korea from acting out even though Sony Pictures took some steps to appease the dictatorship during the film's production.

While it may seem ridiculous to change an American film based on a dictator's demands, Sony made minor digital alterations, including covering up "thousands of buttons worn by characters in the film" since they "depict the actual hardware worn by the North Korean military to honor the country's leader."

Sony also toned down the explosion of Kim Jong-un's head during the film's climactic assassination.

Despite these concessions, hackers linked to North Korea savaged Sony. Those hackers effectively forced the company to cancel the movie's release by leaking thousands of private documents, threatening to leak more, and threatening the safety of moviegoers at theaters.

Here's a bit more about the wonderfully goofy movie most people won't get to see. 

In the opening scene, a young Korean girl serenades a gathering of fellow Koreans with sing-songy insults to America. This scene sets the bar right away, and the film never takes itself too seriously.

James Franco plays Dave Skylark, the host of "Skylark Tonight," a tabloid news program that falls more in line with TMZ than CNN. Aaron Rapaport (Rogen) is the show's producer, and after 1,000 episodes of asinine celebrity coverage, he wishes to be taken seriously. When Skylark finds out Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, is a fan of his program, he sets up an exclusive interview with the dictator in North Korea. When the CIA gets wind of this, they bring Skylark and Rapaport in and ask them to assassinate him.

As all good comedies should, 'The Interview" has heart, and the on-screen chemistry between Franco and Rogen keeps everything afloat. The script features plenty of Rogen's trademark witty, crass humor and, just like in "Pineapple Express," the off-the-cuff banter between the two leads never gets old. Lizzy Caplan is also great (but underused) as the CIA agent who "honeypots" the duo into the assassination. 

"The Interview" is full of pop culture references, Hollywood in-jokes, and hysterically funny cameos. Besides the barrage of unexpected celebrities, one of the film's biggest laughs comes from Franco's rendition of a pop song that rivals his Britney Spears piano number from "Spring Breakers." While it's not as inherently self-referential as "This Is The End" since Rogen and Franco aren't playing themselves, there is similar humor at times, as Rogen shows that he isn't afraid to make fun of anyone.

The film was poised to be another surefire hit for Rogen, whose last two starring vehicles ("Neighbors," "This Is The End") were modestly budgeted at $18 million and $32 million respectively and each managed to gross over $100 million domestically. The reported budget for "The Interview" is around $30 million, so factoring in Rogen's track record, the film shouldn't have had any trouble raking in some serious cash when it opened on Christmas Day.

Unfortunately, the movie's unprecedented suppression makes any profit impossible, and Sony will lose around $100 million from the film's non-release alone. The long-term damage is impossible to assess at this point, but Sony certainly has an uphill battle going forward.

SEE ALSO: We Saw 'The Interview' Weeks Ago, And It's Clear Why North Korea Hates It

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Since Sony has pulled its controversial movie "The Interview" starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, posters for the film have made their way onto bidding sites like eBay for hundreds of dollars.

Huffington Post editor Alexander C. Kaufman noticed posters being auctioned for as much as $550.

Movie posters for "The Interview" are going for $550 http://t.co/Qqr3uk4WUfpic.twitter.com/JbbYbWFNAH

— Alexander C. Kaufman (@AlexCKaufman) December 18, 2014

Normally, you can get a movie poster for around $10. 

We've found a few posters being auctioned at the $300 and $500 range.

There's also this one, which is going for over $1,200.

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SEE ALSO: Why North Korea hates "The Interview"

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Three professional gamers received lifetime bans in the last few weeks amid allegations of cheating in their e-sport. All three gamers played a first-person shooter game called "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive," one of the biggest games for professional PC gaming in the world.

Furthering the problem is that this all happened on the eve of the last DreamHack tournament of the year, an event with a sizable quarter-million-dollar prize purse for the winning team.

According to a recent PCGamer article, semi-professional German player Simon Beck, known by the user name "smn," was caught cheating by an anti-cheat client during a casual pick-up game, a game often used for practice. 

ESEA, an E-Sports Entertainment Community that tracks league play and actively discourages cheating, reported the problem to Valve, the parent company of the "Counter Strike" (CS) game.

According to a TechGraphs article, the hack worked by enhancing a player's aiming ability. This slight improvement, though not demonstrative enough to easily notice in a fast-paced game, has been speculated to increase a player's shot accuracy by as much as 10%. The cheat was downloaded through a Steam workshop — a practice space where players can modify their characters — and activated when the player accesses their modifications.

After learning from ESEA how they were cheating, Valve upgraded their own anti-cheat system which led to two professional French players — team Titan's Hovik Tovmassian, and Gordon Giry of Epsilon, known in-game as "Kqly" and "SF," respectively — getting caught using the same hack shortly thereafter.

All of the players involved later admitted to the use of the hack software, which has led to rampant speculation as to the scope of the problem in the online community. According to a recent article on The Daily Dot, Beck followed his own dismissal by releasing a list of people he believes are cheating — as much as 40% of professional players, he says — with top tier gamers among them. 

SEE ALSO: 15 Of The Highest-Paid Professional Video Gamers In The World

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After 10 seasons, "The Colbert Report" comes to a close tonight.

There have been many monumental moments on the show, such as when President Obama appeared as a guest last week, but one groundbreaking moment is particularly worth revisiting: when Colbert coined the term "truthiness" in 2005. Colbert has described truthiness as truth that "comes from the gut" and not from facts.

To demonstrate an example of this satirical idea, Colbert said, "Consider Harriet Miers: Of course her nomination [for Supreme Court Justice] is absurd. But the president [George Bush] didn't say he thought about her selection [...] He didn't have to. He feels the truth about Harriet Miers."

"Truthiness" has not only set the tone for the rest of the series, but it has also became a staple in popular culture, and was later crowned Merriam-Webster's "Word of The Year" in 2006. 

You can revisit the moment below:

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