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North Korea threatens retaliation over James Franco and Seth Rogen’s movie

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The trailer for "The Interview" makes the plot pretty clear within about 30 seconds: "This fall James Franco and Seth Rogen will attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un."

As in, Kim Jong Un, the president of North Korea.

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FOR THE RECORD
The headline on this post has been changed from an earlier version to more precisely reflect the interpretation of the statement. The earlier headline read, "North Korea threatens war over James Franco and Seth Rogen's movie."
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The country's government has not taken the film's premise lightly, and on Wednesday it said the movie's release would be an “act of war.”

“If the United States administration tacitly approves or supports the release of this film, we will take a decisive and merciless countermeasure,” a spokesman for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, according to the New York Times.

The North Korean government had already denounced the film Monday through its unofficial spokesman, Kim Myong Chol, executive director of the Center for North Korea-U.S. Peace.

In the film Franco plays a talk show host headed to North Korea with his producer, Rogen, for an exclusive interview with the North Korean president when the CIA recruits them to kill their interview subject.

Rogen was taking the news in stride Wednesday morning:

The film's poster pulls no punches either:

Follow @jpanzar for breaking news.

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