“Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced that The Interview will have a limited theatrical release in the United States on Christmas Day,” read a statement from the studio on Tuesday.
Sony didn’t provide details, but the plan seemed to be a patchwork of several hundred smaller theaters and independent chains — and distinctly without the large, corporate cineplexes that turned their backs on Sony last week in light of hackers’ threats against theaters that showed the film.
Multiple reports of a simultaneous VOD release had emerged, though they were unsubstantiated and no streaming partner had been named. The studio statement continued:
“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,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment. “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.”
“I want to thank our talent on The Interview and our employees, who have worked tirelessly through the many challenges we have all faced over the last month. While we hope this is only the first step of the film’s release, we are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech.”
The rumor started brewing on Monday that Sony was making an 11th-hour effort to release the canceled film on Christmas Day, and on Tuesday morning, it became a reality when a pair of smaller theaters let the cat out of the bag. Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse founder and CEO Tim League tweeted early Tuesday:
The small, premium theater chain was part of a petition effort to convince Sony to let it play the film that was apparently the motivation for the catastrophic takedown of Sony Pictures Entertainment by a hacking group that the U.S. government later determined to be backed by North Korea. The Draft house later released this statement:
“We cannot imagine the pressures that have been affecting Sony, at all levels of the organization they have been under attack. Amidst this unwarranted chaos, they have regrouped and listened to the public, the government and the exhibition community and responded with resolve and determination. At 10:45 AM Sony bookers approved screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and other arthouse and independent theaters across the country.
This is the best Christmas gift anyone could give us. We, both distributors and exhibitors, have collectively stood firm to our principles and for the right to freedom of expression.
Two days til Christmas, and I am proud to be an American.”
Another theater, the Plaza in Atlanta, was actually the first to leak the news, tweeting late Monday night that it was also showing The Interview:
Why did Sony change course? A number of external pressures were given their due Tuesday on social media as people credited Barack Obama, who took the extraordinary step of calling its cancellation “a mistake,” statements from Hollywood A-listers like George Clooney and Brad Pitt — and even social-media outcry itself — as reasons for Sony’s reversal.
But Sony had always wanted The Interview to screen. These are filmmakers, after all, with creative compulsions that go beyond just turning a buck.
And yes, the studio is anxious to get some kind of return on its investment-gone-haywire. Putting the film in several hundred theaters (the initial plan had been for 2,000 or more) on the original release date and adding a premium VOD component (if one should materialize) not only gives it a shot at real revenue, but to some degree preserves Sony’s standing in Hollywood as a studio that won’t ditch its films at the first sign of trouble.
This was a business and creative decision — nothing more. And it was enabled by the fact that the vague threat of physical attacks on movie theaters, never deemed credible, was essentially neutralized when North Korea was fingered as the culprit. Still, the White House saw fit to bury the hatchet with Sony, releasing this statement Tuesday morning:
“The President applauds Sony’s decision to authorize screenings of the film. As the President has made clear, we are a country that believes in free speech, and the right of artistic expression. The decision made by Sony and participating theaters allows people to make their own choices about the film, and we welcome that outcome.”
– mashable