The Interview is a 2014 American political satire action comedy film produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following This Is the End (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterling, which he based on a story he co-wrote with Rogen and Goldberg. The film stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park, only to then be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
Rogen and Goldberg developed the idea for The Interview in the late 2000s, with Kim Jong Il as the original assassination target. In 2011, following Kim Jong Il's death and Kim Jong Un's succession as the North Korean leader, Rogen and Goldberg redeveloped the script in order to focus on Kim Jong Un's character. The Interview was first announced in March 2013 at the beginning of pre-production. Principal photography took place in Vancouver from October to December 2013. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital and Rogen and Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.