Hollywood stars have reacted furiously to the decision to pull a film about the assassination of the North Korean leader – with Ben Stiller branding it “a threat to freedom of expression”.

The Interview has been shelved after hackers threatened to launch terrorist attacks on cinemas that showed the film.

But hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace threatened to launch attacks like the September 11 atrocities.

Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller (PA)

The comedy, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, was due to be released in America on Christmas Day and come to the UK in February.

Sony Pictures said it was pulling the movie “in light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film”.

But some of America’s biggest stars accused film bosses of bowing to bully-boy tactics.

Ben Stiller criticised the move on Twitter.

Rob Lowe, who starred in the West Wing, said: “Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.”

Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe (PA)

He compared the decision to pull the film to the former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement with Adolf Hitler.

Film-maker Michael Moore joked: “Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I’d also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers.”

Michael Moore
Michael Moore (R Robert Pitts /Landov
Image)

Stars Jimmy Kimmel and Judd Apatow wrote:

And British comedian David Walliams also waded into the debate.

In a statement Sony Pictures said: “The studio, which has been shaken by hacker leaks over the past several weeks, said it respected and shared in the exhibitors’ concerns.

“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.

“We stand by our film-makers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”

Sony Pictures.
Hackers have leaked a string of embarrassing emails which have rocked the film studio (Eugene Hoshiko/AP/PA)

US investigators have said North Korea was behind the cyber attacks on Sony Pictures.

The attack was possibly the costliest yet for a US company, said Avivah Litan, a cyber-security analyst at research firm Gartner. “This attack went to the heart and core of Sony’s business — and succeeded,” she said.

“We haven’t seen any attack like this in the annals of US breach history.”

Efraim Levy, a financial analyst who covers parent company Sony Corporation for research firm S&P Capital IQ, said: “Artistic freedom is at risk. Are we not going to put out movies that offend some constituencies?”

In an interview with ABC News, US president Barack Obama said of the hacking: “The cyber attack is very serious.

“We’re investigating and we’re taking it seriously. We’ll be vigilant. If we see something that we think is serious and credible then we’ll alert the public. But for now, my recommendation would be that people go to the movies.”