US President Barack Obama has commented on Sony's decision to cancel the release of The Interview, saying "I think they made a mistake", but the company has said it had "no choice" when cinemas pulled out of screenings.
The release of the James Franco and Seth Rogen-starring film was cancelled following threats from hackers if screenings went ahead and a decision by US cinemas not to show it.
The comedy followed a duo's attempt to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The film became embroiled in controversy when a group known as 'Guardians of Peace' launched a cyber attack on Sony, leaking films, personal emails and financial information.
The FBI believes North Korea was responsible for the hacking, but North Korea has denied this and has proposed a joint investigation with the US.
Speaking at his end-of-year press conference, President Obama said: "Sony is a corporation, it suffered significant damage. There were threats against its employees."
He continued: "I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced [but] having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.
"I wish they had spoken to me first. I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by those kinds of criminal attacks. We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States."
President Obama added: "If someone is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary they don't like, or news reports they don't like.
"Or even worse, imagine if producers and distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship because they don't want to offend the sensibilities of somebody whose sensibilities probably need to be offended.
"Imagine if, instead of being a cyber threat, someone had broken into their offices and destroyed a bunch of computers and stolen discs. Is that what it takes for you to suddenly pull the plug on something?"
Responding to President Obama's comments, Sony said: "Sony Pictures Entertainment is and always has been strongly committed to the First Amendment. For more than three weeks, despite brutal intrusions into our company and our employees' personal lives, we maintained our focus on one goal: getting the film The Interview released. Free expression should never be suppressed by threats and extortion.
"The decision not to move forward with the December 25 theatrical release of The Interview was made as a result of the majority of the nation's theater owners choosing not to screen the film. This was their decision.
"Let us be clear – the only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it. Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day. We had no choice.
"After that decision, we immediately began actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform. It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so."
