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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The Bradley Cooper–Emma Stone film at the center of the Sony-hack emails was Aloha, Cameron Crowe’s 2015 comedy-drama. The emails, as reported by The Daily Beast, reveal sharp private criticism of its screenplay, story and cut—but they do not prove that Sony executives knew it would fail commercially. The correspondence also records earlier enthusiasm, and a pre-release box-office forecast was uncertain.
Which film was discussed in the Sony-hack emails?
It was Aloha, released in U.S. theaters on May 29, 2015. Sony describes it as a comedy, drama and romance: Bradley Cooper plays a military contractor returning to Honolulu, where he reconnects with an old love, played by Rachel McAdams, and falls for an Air Force watchdog, played by Emma Stone. Sony lists the film as PG-13 and available on digital, Blu-ray and DVD. Sony’s film page
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The film had previously been known as Deep Tiki. The Daily Beast reports that Sony green-lit the project in 2008 and filming began in September 2013, after rewrites. The Daily Beast’s account of the leaked emails
What did the leaked emails say?
The Daily Beast reported that Amy Pascal, then Sony Pictures Entertainment president and co-chair, used Aloha as an example of a project she considered a failure in a November 13, 2014 email to senior staff. Its account quotes her assessment of the screenplay: “I’m never starting a movie again when the script is ridiculous and we all know it.” The reporting also describes disagreements over the story, edit, reshoots, screening plans and whether the film was ready for release. The Daily Beast’s account of the leaked emails
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- A celebrated military contractor (Bradley Cooper) returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs ? Honolulu, Hawaii ? and reconnects with a long-ago love (Rachel McAdams) while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog (Emma Stone) assigned to him.
Those reports describe a difficult production process, not a single, settled prediction that the movie would lose money. In an October 2014 email to Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, Crowe reportedly wrote: “Been chasing everybody’s notes for a year, most of them conflict with each other.” The quoted passages are reported excerpts from leaked correspondence; the account is journalistic reporting on the cache, not an independently authenticated original email reproduced here.
Did Sony executives always expect the film to fail?
No. The reported chronology is mixed. In November 2013, Pascal and Crowe exchanged warm messages, and Cooper described the project enthusiastically. Cooper later wrote that shooting in Hawaii had been very difficult, then followed up after filming wrapped with a more positive note. In early 2014, he sought reactions to cuts; a March 31 note from Crowe praised some performances, while a message from Pascal the next day raised concerns about story, tone and length. The Daily Beast’s account of the leaked emails
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By October 2014, the reported exchanges involved reshoot costs, confusing story elements, competing notes and Crowe’s objections to a hurried screening. Pascal’s sharply critical message to senior staff followed in November. That progression supports a conclusion that key people had serious creative concerns by late in the process. It does not establish that they had always expected commercial failure, or that criticism of the film’s creative elements amounted to an accurate box-office forecast.
What were expectations before release, and what happened at the box office?
Before release, TheWrap quoted BoxOffice.com senior analyst Phil Contrino, who expected an opening in the low teens and said he did not think the film had recovered from the leaked-email publicity. The story also noted that the effect of the leak on moviegoers was hard to assess. This was an analyst’s forecast, not proof of what executives privately expected or a measurement showing that the leak caused the film’s eventual performance. TheWrap’s pre-release report
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Box Office Mojo lists the following 2015 release figures:
| Measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Domestic opening | $9,670,235 |
| Domestic gross | $21,067,116 |
| International gross | $5,182,904 |
| Worldwide gross | $26,250,020 |
| Production budget | $37 million |
Source for all figures: Box Office Mojo’s Aloha listing. Its listed worldwide gross is below the reported production budget. That comparison alone does not establish profit or loss: gross receipts are not studio net revenue, and the figures do not provide a complete accounting of marketing, distribution, financing or other costs and receipts.
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- NOTE: This product is manufactured on demand in the BD-R format. It will play in nearly all leading Blu-ray players that have the latest firmware updates, but Microsoft Xbox One does not currently support BD-R playback.
What else shaped the film’s reception?
Emma Stone’s casting as Allison Ng became a public controversy. In a post-release letter reproduced by Vanity Fair, Crowe apologized to people who found the choice odd or misguided. He said he had written the character as one-quarter Hawaiian, with a half-Chinese father, based on a red-headed local he had known. Those are Crowe’s stated intentions; they do not settle the criticism of the casting. Vanity Fair’s account of Crowe’s letter
Rotten Tomatoes’ listing, accessed October 8, 2026, shows a 20% Tomatometer from 164 reviews and a 29% Popcornmeter from more than 25,000 ratings. These are changing aggregate scores, not the views of every critic or audience member. The listing gives a May 29, 2015 theatrical release and a runtime of 1 hour 45 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes’ Aloha listing
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