Seth Rogen in the context of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"

On November 24, 2014, the hacker group "Guardians of Peace" leaked confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). The data included employee emails, personal and family information, executive salaries, copies of then-unreleased films, future film plans, screenplays, and other information. The perpetrators then employed a variant of the Shamoon wiper malware to erase Sony's computer infrastructure.

During the hack, the group demanded that Sony withdraw its then-upcoming film The Interview, a political satire action comedy film produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un only to then be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. The hacker group threatened terrorist attacks at cinemas screening the film, resulting in many major U.S. theater chains opting not to screen The Interview. In response to these threats, Sony chose to cancel the film's formal premiere and mainstream release, opting to skip directly to a downloadable digital release followed by a limited theatrical release the next day.

The Lion King is a 2019 American musical drama film that is a photorealistically animated remake of the traditionally-animated 1994 film. Directed by Jon Favreau, written by Jeff Nathanson, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment, the film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones (reprising his voice role as Mufasa for the final time). The story follows a young lion prince named Simba, who is exiled from his kingdom after his father Mufasa is murdered by his uncle Scar to seize the throne. As he grows up, Simba must decide whether to return home to confront Scar and reclaim his place as king.

Plans for a remake of 1994's The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 following box office successes for Disney remakes such as The Jungle Book (2016). Favreau was inspired by certain roles of characters in the Broadway adaptation and developed upon elements of the original film's story. Much of the main cast signed on in early 2017, and principal photography began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles. The virtual reality tools utilized in The Jungle Book's cinematography were used to a greater degree during the filming of The Lion King. Composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice returned to compose the score alongside Knowles-Carter, who assisted John in the reworking of the soundtrack and wrote a new song for the film, "Spirit", which she also performed. With a production budget of $250–260 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever made, as well as the most expensive Disney remake.

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.

Evan D. Goldberg (born September 15, 1982) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer and director. He has collaborated with his childhood friend Seth Rogen on a variety of films and television series, including Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is the End, The Interview, Sausage Party, Good Boys, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Apple TV+ satirical comedy series The Studio, for which he earned three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Goldberg and Rogen launched the cannabis company Houseplant in Canada in 2019.

James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Milk (2008), Eat Pray Love (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He has collaborated with fellow actor Seth Rogen on multiple projects, including Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), The Interview (2014), Sausage Party (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Franco's performance in 127 Hours (2010) earned a Best Actor nomination at the 83rd Academy Awards.

In his first prominent television role, Franco played Daniel Desario on the short-lived ensemble comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), which developed a cult following. He portrayed the title character in the television biographical film James Dean (2001), for which he won a Golden Globe Award, and received nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Franco had a recurring role on the daytime soap opera General Hospital (2009–2012) and starred in the limited series 11.22.63 (2016). He starred in the David Simon-created HBO drama The Deuce (2017–2019).

The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero film directed by Michel Gondry from a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Rogen stars in the film as the Green Hornet, a character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker in 1936. Jay Chou also stars as his sidekick Kato, alongside Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, and Tom Wilkinson. In the film, a newspaper publisher's son, following his father's sudden death, teams up with a martial arts-skilled mechanic to become crime-fighting vigilantes, attracting the attention of a Russian mobster.

The Green Hornet was released to theaters in North America on January 14, 2011, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $227.8 million against a $120 million production budget.

The Fabelmans is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Kushner. Loosely based on Spielberg's early life and beginnings as a filmmaker, the semi-autobiographical film follows Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how the power of films can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him. It stars Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy, alongside Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles. David Lynch makes a cameo as filmmaker John Ford during the film's final scene, his final acting role before his death in 2025. The film is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's parents, Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg, who died in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

Spielberg had conceived the project as early as 1999, with his sister Anne writing a screenplay titled I'll Be Home. Spielberg postponed the project for 20 years due to concerns about how it might affect his parents. He revisited it in 2019 with screenwriter and frequent collaborator Kushner while they were making West Side Story, and the screenplay was completed in late 2020. Development of the film officially began soon after, with casting taking place between March and May 2021. Principal photography began that July in Los Angeles and wrapped in September.