Earlier this year, the North Korean government complained about Seth Rogen and James Franco’s upcoming action-comedy The Interview to the United Nations, believing that the film sponsors terrorism and is thus an act of war. Instead of canceling or delaying the film’s release, Sony has responded by surprisingly moving it to Christmas Day.

The plot for The Interview revolves around an attempt to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Franco and Rogen portray a popular tabloid TV show host and his producer, who score an interview with Kim Jong Un and are enlisted by the CIA to assassinate the dictator.

“The enemies have gone beyond the tolerance limit in their despicable moves to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told a news agency Wednesday. “Those who defamed our supreme leadership and committed the hostile acts against the DPRK can never escape the stern punishment to be meted out according to a law wherever they might be in the world. If the U.S. administration connives at and patronizes the screening of the film, it will invite a strong and merciless countermeasure.”

Despite the controversial subject matter of the film, moving its release date to Christmas Day implies that Sony has high hopes for The Interview‘s box office performance. Now, the film will have to compete against World War II drama Unbroken, the Martin Luther King film Selma, the musical Into the Woods, the children’s movie Paddington, the Margaret Keane biopic Big Eyes, as well as the comedy sequel Hot Tub Time Machine 2.

The Interview comes from a screenplay by Dan Sterling; Rogen co-directed the action-comedy with his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg.

“The combination of Seth, Evan and James is pure comedic magic,” stated Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of worldwide distribution. “We’re thrilled to be making the move to Christmas — one of the most important moviegoing days of the year and the perfect date to show off their brand of comedy.”