Update 10:03 a.m. PT: Sony confirms that The Interview “will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day.” Later, the White House praised Sony’s decision.
After all the fuss, it looks like Sony will ultimately screen the controversial film The Interview in select theaters on Christmas Day.
Two theater chains, the Plaza Atlanta and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, first confirmed plans to screen the movie over the holidays. Later, Sony offered the following statement from chief executive Michael Lynton:
We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we’re excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day. At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.
Sony originally canceled The Interview‘s Christmas Day release over threats from hackers — hackers that ultimately turned out to be led by the North Korean government, according to the FBI. After pulling the film from theaters, Sony was chastised by Obama and courted by BitTorrent. Most recently, Sony reportedly considered just releasing the film online, perhaps on its own streaming service, Crackle.
June 5th: The AI Audit in NYC
Join us next week in NYC to engage with top executive leaders, delving into strategies for auditing AI models to ensure fairness, optimal performance, and ethical compliance across diverse organizations. Secure your attendance for this exclusive invite-only event.
Now easily one of the most popular films in the U.S., hordes of people will see The Interview no matter where it’s released — after all, the forbidden fruit must be tasted. It would’ve been interesting had Sony taken advantage of this strange opportunity to release the film in a non-traditional way, but to some degree, Sony may still end up doing just that; a simultaneous online release is reportedly on the table.
