While the world knew what hacking was before the movie Sneakers, the Robert Redford classic introduced us to the term black hatters, which means someone who is doing malicious hacking. This is also the title of the new Michael Mann thriller, Blackhat, which is coming in January, and is apparently right on time with the recent cyberattack on Sony.
Deadline pointed this out in a recent story on the film, and the trailer has a line that would have fit in perfectly in Sneakers: “The next Pearl Harbor that we confront could very well be a cyber-attack.” In Blackhat, Chris Hemsworth, Thor and the current sexiest man alive, plays a hacker who’s let out of jail to find an elusive cyber crook.
The world of black hatters was frightening to Hemsworth, who told Yahoo, “With the press of a button you can shut down power grids and blow up nuclear power plants. It’s endless, the things that are possible.”
Hemsworth also made a brief mention of the Avengers trailer, which was leaked as well, so he understands how careful you have to be in today’s computer age. “It’ll just mean that people now spend more and more time and effort into protecting those things. I’m sure a lot of money is going to be lost due to spoiled release dates and other things being let out of the bag too early.” Hemsworth did intensive research for the film, math and computer classes, and “giving me that kind of in-depth prep is invaluable.’
As a big fan of Michael Mann, I’m hoping he’ll make a great movie again, as Heat and The Insider are two of my all time favorites. Mann also proved with Manhunter that he can direct a taut thriller, and we’re looking forward to see what he can pull off in the world of cyberterror.
