President Barack Obama said Friday that Sony "made a mistake" after the studio decide not to show the satirical film on theaters.

The film, which tells the story of two comedians (played by Seth Rogen and James Franco) who successfully assassinated North Korea's leader, drew the ire of North Korean officials.

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 "I wish they had spoken to me first. ... We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship," the president said during a year-end news conference with reference to Sony's big bosses.

But Sony also explained that the cancelation was not because of the threats made by the hackers, but by the fact that major movie theaters have refused to show it.

North Korea has repeatedly denied the hacking.

"There is not any connection," said U.N. diplomat Kim Song during an Associated Press interview.

Song, however, slammed the movie and called on the shutdown of the movie.

 "It defamed the image of our country. It made a mockery of our sovereignty. We reject it. But there is no relation" to the hacking, he said.

The U.S.  government's reaction to point out North Korea  as the culprit has only served to escalate the tension between the two nations.

The Homeland Security Department can tell that the threats were not actually credible and pointed out that the country's top theatre chains only decided to cancel the showing of The Interview after Sony made it clear that they would not protest if they pulled the film.

"The president, the press and the public are mistaken as to what actually happened," Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton said in an interview with CNN. "

We do not own movie theaters. We cannot determine whether or not a movie will be played in movie theaters," he continued.

Lynton, meanwhile, remained mum whether Sony still has plans to release the movie on DVD or through video-on-demand services, although a company statement hinted the film's release at a later date or through other "alternatives."

"The only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it," the company statement said.

"After that decision, we immediately began actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform."

Meanwhile, Oscar winning actors George Clooney and Sean Penn reacted on Sony's response to the attack, asking colleagues to stand up against the hacking.

"We cannot be told we can't see something by Kim Jong Un. ... We have a responsibility to stand up against this," Clooney said in an interview with Deadline.

Clooney also hit Hollywood's corporate elite for not giving its full support to Sony since the hacking started last month.

Penn, meanwhile, said in an interview with Mother Jones that the decision to cancel The Interview placed Hollywood at a rather vulnerable situation for future attacks, explaining that the action was like opening Pandora's box and inviting terrorists, like the ISIS, to attack Hollywood.

"This week, the distributors who wouldn't show 'The Interview' and Sony have sent ISIS a commanding invitation," he said.

"I believe ISIS will accept the invitation. Pandora's box is officially open."

The Directors Guild of America already sought the federal government's action to "increase its efforts to protect our society against cyber crimes (and) terrorism."

Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, meanwhile, slammed the terrorist action as "a despicable, criminal act."  

Tagssony hacking, Barack Obama, sony, George Clooney, Sean Penn