LOS ANGELES -- Sony Pictures broadly released The Interview to digital platforms Wednesday, a reversal of its previous plan not to show the film after hackers threatened violence at theaters that show the comedy, which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"It has always been Sony's intention to have a national platform on which to release this film," Sony Pictures' chairman and chief executive officer Michael Lynton said in a statement. "We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release."
The Interview became available on a variety of digital platforms Wednesday afternoon, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website. A day earlier, Sony and independent theaters agreed to release it in more than 300 theaters on Christmas Day.
The movie will show today at four theaters in Arkansas: Riverdale 10 in Little Rock, Cabot Silver Screen 8 in Cabot, Searcy Cinema 8 in Searcy and the Hot Springs Mall Cinema.
Wednesday's wide digital release is the culmination of deals that have been in the works since the major theater chains last week dropped the movie that was to have opened on up to 3,000 screens.
The exhibitors, led by Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., Cinemark Holdings Inc. and Carmike Cinemas Inc., were responding to terrorism threats by the Guardians of Peace, a North Korean-linked group that hacked into Sony's computers and sought to prevent the film's debut.
Seth Rogen, who stars in the film that he co-directed with Evan Goldberg, cheered Wednesday's decision.
"I need to say that a comedy is best viewed in a theater full of people, so if you can, I'd watch it like that. Or call some friends over," he said on Twitter.
A Sony executive close to the matter said there is concern over whether the company will recoup the $40 million cost of the film and the millions more spent on marketing, but added that affordability and wide access for viewers were their main priorities. The movie costs $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to own, Sony said.
The executive also said more providers could sign on in the coming days and weeks, and the option is still there for more theaters to show the film down the line. The executive said it remained an option for the major theater chains to show the film and that Sony was working to repair the symbiotic relationship that has eroded in recent days.
Decisions by Google and Microsoft to show the movie could open their sites to hacking attacks like the one that occurred at Sony, where hackers took thousands of documents and released many of them online. President Barack Obama described the attack as an expensive act of "cyber-vandalism" by North Korea.
Microsoft reported technical problems with its Xbox sign-in system Wednesday afternoon, though it wasn't known whether they were the result of hacking. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to an inquiry about the nature of the problems.
Sony's initial decision not to release the film was widely criticized, with Obama one of the harshest critics. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the president welcomed Wednesday's news.
"As the president made clear on Friday, we do not live in a country where a foreign dictator can start imposing censorship here in the United States. With today's announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that's how it should be," Schultz said.
Among the early viewers was 11-year-old Marco Squitieri of Washington, D.C. Marco had wanted to see The Interview since seeing a preview earlier this year and had followed the news about Sony pulling the movie, then permitting its release. Marco's family purchased The Interview from Xbox.
Marco said he could understand why the North Korean government wouldn't like it.
"They make fun of North Korea a lot," he said.
The move to make the film available for rental and purchase before its theatrical release had never before been done with a mainstream film. Studios have released smaller independent and foreign movies simultaneously in theaters and on digital platforms, but analysts said the situation with The Interview left Sony little choice.
"This isn't being done because Sony wants to do it regularly, but rather out of necessity prompted by the exhibitor boycott," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.
"Sony is in a delicate situation here since they normally never go this route with a major film, but theater chains also know this is a unique back-against-the-wall situation," added Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com.
While Pandya said interest would likely wane in January, for now, the curiosity and enthusiasm is palpable.
Tyler Pulsifer, manager of the Hartford Spotlight Theaters in Hartford, Conn., said he had received 32 calls from people interested in seeing The Interview during the first 90 minutes that the theater was open Christmas Eve.
"I'd be willing to bet we're going to sell out," Pulsifer said. The theater has four showings today, and five each for Friday and Saturday nights.
"People want to see it because they've been told not to," he said.
For some, the decision to show the film hasn't been the smoothest process.
Stephanie Putnam, assistant manager of the Greendale Cinema in Lawrence, Ind., still isn't sure whether her theater will be able to show the movie today -- it hasn't received it from the distributor yet. As a result, tickets haven't been on sale, but there have been several calls from customers who have expressed interest in seeing it.
Releasing The Interview could trigger a response from the hackers. There have been no further leaks of Sony emails since the movie's release was delayed. In a message last week to the studio, the hackers said Sony's data would be safe as long as the film was never distributed.
Lynton said the release reflects the company's commitment to free speech.
"While we couldn't have predicted the road this movie traveled to get to this moment, I'm proud our fight was not for nothing and that cyber-criminals were not able to silence us," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Lindsey Bahr, Frazier Moore, David Bauder, Hillel Italie, Mae Anderson, Michael Liedtke and Josh Lederman of The Associated Press; by Christopher Palmeri and Spencer Soper of Bloomberg News; and by Aziza Musa of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 12/25/2014