The actor said his health was affected by the fallout from the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, who were targeted thanks to Franco’s film The Interview

James Franco has said that the furore around his comedy The Interview, which prompted a devastating hack on Sony Pictures and threats of terrorism against US cinemas, affected his health.

“There was this pressure. There was so much attention on it — attention on a level you never expected. It was a shock to my system, and I got sick,” he said. “But I was never scared for my safety or anything.”

In The Interview, Franco plays a blowhard talk show host, chaperoned by his producer played by Seth Rogen – the pair are hired by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un after the pair secure an interview with the North Korean leader. The storyline angered a hacking group linked to the country, who leaked a vast amount of data from Sony, and whose terror threats caused the film to be pulled from cinemas. It has since been successful via on-demand services and a small theatrical release in independent cinemas, earning $45m.

Franco added: “It was a situation where there was nothing for me to do to. As soon as they called the press off, and the movie was pulled from theatres, there was nothing to do. They weren’t looking to me to make any decisions. It was just sitting around and staying quiet.”

His comments came in an interview about his new film I Am Michael, directed by Justin Kelly and executive produced by Gus Van Sant, which has premiered at the Sundance film festival. It’s the true story of Michael Glatze, a gay rights campaigner who renounced his sexuality and turned to Christianity. Franco met with Glatze at the premiere, and said that: “I think the movie has helped him release some of these extreme views that basically gays are sinners. And that it’s helped him heal a little bit and maybe showed him that just because he doesn’t want to identify as gay doesn’t mean he has to completely destroy or condemn everything about gay lifestyles.”

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On a threesome scene between Franco, Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver, Franco said: “I can’t even remember what happened. I think I was going for it more than they were.”

Reviewing the film for the Guardian at Sundance, Jordan Hoffman wasn’t particularly taken with it: “It feels as if it’s hewing too close to both an agenda and the truth of the story, instead of exploring the emotional and intellectual truths that lie beneath it… [it] is fatally unsure of its own identity.”

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Sony has revealed that The Interview raked in $15 million from video-on-demand downloads since it was released on YouTube and Google Play on December 24th. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the controversial comedy was digitally rented or purchased over two million times, making it Sony’s most successful online film in the studio’s history. Additionally, the film earned another $2.8 million from indie cinemas over the four-day Christmas weekend.

While the last-minute decision to distribute The Interview to indie cinemas and directly on video-on-demand diminished the controversial comedy’s box office potential, the film’s inventive release has also opened the door to a new way of presenting a movie: Seth Rogen, his writing/directing partner Evan Goldberg and James Franco will all live-tweet during The Interview Sunday starting at 2 p.m. PST.

“@JamesFrancoTV , @evandgoldberg and myself will be LIVE TWEETING #TheInterview,” Rogen tweeted . “Join us! It’ll be like Pop-UP Video!” Because the film is available on VOD, Rogen, Franco and Goldberg can synchronize the viewing experience of their just-released film, which would have been virtually impossible had The Interview been conventionally released.

Given the uproar over the film – from being a catalyst for Sony cyber attack to inciting a war of words between the United States and North Korea – The Interview live-tweet should provide some insight into some of the chaos Rogen and Franco have been experiencing since their film was briefly pulled from its December 25th theatrical release.

The comedy, which details a wacky CIA plot to assassinate North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong-un, was withdrawn from its Christmas release after a hacker group named the Guardians of Peace threatened terrorist action against theaters showing the film. However, after President Barack Obama said Sony made “a mistake” pulling the film, the studio went into overdrive to find a method to release the film.

Despite only being released in just over 300 indie movie theaters, The Interview is still expected to reel in $3 million over the long Christmas weekend , significantly less than its expected box office from a conventional theatrical release. However, that number doesn’t factor in VOD sales, which should get a boost from the live-tweeting.

In 2011, shock jock Howard Stern was among the first to live-tweet a feature film when he provided an impromptu commentary on his biopic Private Parts while the movie was showing on HBO.

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After all the headlines, drama, threats, and more, “The Interview” arrived without incident in time for Christmas. Granted, it was not the most conventional path for a major studio movie, with the comedy hitting a few hundred, mostly independent cinemas while also arriving simultaneously on a handful of digital outlets. So now the conversation can turn from the situation surrounding the movie, to the movie itself (here’s our review), and this in depth interview with principal creators is definitely worth a look.

Recorded a couple weeks before “The Interview” was initially pulled from release, Vice sat down with writers/co-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, along with star James Franco, for a lengthy chat about the genesis behind the film, making it and much more. The discussion yields some interesting revelations, particularly that for the trio, “The Interview” is as much a satire about the media as it is about North Korea (Franco shares an anecdote about his own infamous TMZ moment). They also discuss the highly digital nature of the “The Interview” and how after “This Is The End,” they wanted their next film to be something with a few more locations and open spaces.

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With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview.”

In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers who threatened movie theaters and moviegoers and who have terrorized the studio and its employees for weeks.

“Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like,” the statement reads.

“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public,” it continues. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”

The studio did not say it would never release the picture theatrically. Insiders tell Variety that Sony is exploring all options, including offering the picture on premium video-on-demand as a way to recoup at least some of its investment.

The comedy centers on a hapless television host who is recruited to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The country has condemned the film and some cyber-security experts believe that it played a role in the hacking attack on the studio. North Korea has denied involvement in the attacks.

Seth Rogen and James Franco star in the picture, which cost $42 million to produce.

Sony has been reeling for weeks since hackers broke into the studio’s computer system in November and stole internal documents, email messages, film budgets, spreadsheets detailing top executive salaries and the social security numbers of thousands of employees. The documents and records were subsequently leaked online, setting off a firestorm of media coverage.

Tuesday’s message accompanied another data dump. It threatened violence on theaters that showed “The Interview” and people who attend screenings.

“The world will be full of fear,” the message reads. “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)”

In response, exhibition industry lobbying arm the National Association of Theatre Owners said its members must decide individually whether to release the picture and Sony said it would respect theater owners’ decision not to exhibit “The Interview.” That set off a cascade of cancellations.

The bulk of the country’s 10 largest theater chains — a group that includes AMC, Regal, Cinemark, Carmike and Southern Theatres — announced they would delay showing the picture or would drop it altogether. In statements, many of the theater chains suggested that Sony’s lack of confidence in the film prompted their decision.

Regal, for instance, said its decision was “due to the wavering support of the film ‘The Interview’ by Sony Pictures, as well as the ambiguous nature of any real or perceived security threats.”

Sony was more conciliatory even as it said exhibitor defections motivated its decision.

“We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theatergoers,” the studio’s statement read.

Bruce Nash, founder of box office site TheNumbers, said that Christmas is one of the busiest times of year for moviegoing and is particularly strong for family films. Any perceived danger or threat might have depressed ticket sales.

“It was never going to be one of the big films of Christmas and clearly chains are going to be concerned about making sure people feel comfortable bringing their children to ‘Annie,’ ‘Into the Woods’ or ‘Night at the Museum,” said Nash.

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Seth Rogen and James Franco have canceled all of their upcoming scheduled press appearances this week for The Interview as a result of the threats made by the Sony hackers, Gossip Cop has learned. An NBC rep confirms to Gossip Cop that a slated Franco and Rogen joint interview with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday’s “Tonight Show” is no longer happening. Additionally, The Interview is set to have a special screening in New York on Thursday, but whether it takes place at the appointed theater, as planned, is subject to change based on security issues.

As Gossip Cop previously reported, the so-called “Guardians of Peace,” the group claiming responsibility for hacking Sony, is threatening the safety of people going to movie theaters showing The Interview. Invoking 9/11 and promising revenge over the “greed” of Sony, the group issued a statement on Tuesday that read: “We have already promised a Christmas gift to you. This is the beginning of the gift. We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.”

The statement continued (in broken English), “Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY.”

The Department of Homeland Security, however, says there’s “no credible intelligence” that terrorist acts are being plotted against movie theaters in the U.S

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