Within minutes of mutiple tweets, news emerged that Sony Pictures was planning to announce a theatrical release and VOD strategy. Promotional pages for The Interview, namely the movie's Twitter page, also started come back online.
Details remain vague about exactly how many theaters will be screening The Interview. An unnamed sourced told The New York Times "it appeared unlikely that big chains like Regal or AMC would come on board but that Sony was likely to patch together distribution for the film in 200 to 300 smaller theaters." That's better than none.
The Interview, of course, is the Seth Rogen comedy about assassinating Kim Jong-Un that's supposedly to blame for the massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures. (North Korea is reportedly to blame.) Less than a week ago, the top five theater chains in the United States decided to drop The Interview, after receiving threats from hackers that screening the film would result in 9/11-scale violence. Sony Pictures announced later that day that it had no plans to release the film in any way.
Then, the president got involved. Last Friday, Obama said that Sony Pictures "made a mistake" by deciding to pull The Interview. In the same breath, the president reiterated the importance of free speech. He said of Sony Pictures, "I wish they had spoken to me first." Well apparently, Sony Pictures has heard him now.
source: gizmodo.com by Adam Clark Estes