The references to hacking are completely separate from the threats against the movie theaters.
Here's why it's all being mentioned together in one article:
- Sony was the target of a massive cyber attack.
- The hackers gathered up hundreds or thousands of internal Sony e-mails.
- The hackers have been leaking these emails periodically, creating a hell of a mess for Sony. Not so great for PR when everyone sees the nasty things executives say about their own talent, about each other, etc. All sorts of dirty laundry is being aired.
- Less damaging to their PR, but also damaging to their business, scripts, screeners, and other materials have also been leaked.
- People have speculated that the hack was carried out by North Koreans in retaliation for Sony creating a movie where Dear Leader is ridiculed and assassinated.
- Now there are threats of physical attacks, claiming to be from the same hackers, and also claiming that this is indeed related to the movie.
There have been so many news stories (most of them focusing on the dirty laundry) that I haven't kept up with everything. Last I heard, NK still denies responsibility for the attacks and I don't know what the evidence indicates.