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 Co-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who also co-stars
in the low-brow comedy with James Franco, surprised moviegoers
by appearing at the sold-out 12:30 a.m. PT screening of the
movie at a theater in Los Angeles, where they briefly thanked
fans for their support.
Sony Pictures this week backtracked from its original decision
to cancel the release of the $44 million film after major U.S.
theater chains pulled out because of threats of violence by
Guardians of Peace, a computer hacking group that claimed
responsibility for a destructive cyberattack on Sony last month.
The United States blamed the attacks on North Korea.
In China and South Korea, two countries that share a land border
with North Korea, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to
illegal video sharing sites to see the movie.
In the United States, movie theater managers and patrons alike
said they believed there was nothing to fear from the threats,
and the initial screenings on Thursday were uneventful.
But one of the online outlets that distributed the film ahead of
its theatrical release, Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live, reported
that users were experiencing problems getting connected on
Thursday.
A hacking group called the Lizard Squad claimed it was behind
disruptions at both Xbox and Sony Corp's PlayStation Networks,
which was not carrying "The Interview." The group's claim could
not be verified.
Neither Microsoft nor Sony offered explanations for the
connectivity problems, though both services expected heavy use
as consumers who received the devices for Christmas tried to log
on all at once.
Extra network traffic on Xbox from users downloading "The
Interview" may also have exacerbated connectivity problems for
Microsoft.
The film also was available to U.S. online viewers through
Google Inc's Google Play and YouTube Movie, as well as on a Sony
website, www.seetheinterview.com. It can be seen in Canada on
the Sony site and Google Canada's website.
A Sony spokeswoman on Thursday said she had no figures on the
number of downloads so far, and the studio was not expected to
have box office numbers from theaters before Friday morning.
The audience at the first screening of the film in New York
City, at the Cinema Village in Manhattan's Greenwich Village,
remained silent during a scene showing the death of Kim Jong Un
in the downing of his helicopter.
Matt Rosenzweig, 60, of Manhattan, said the moments that drew
the most applause had to do with the idea of acting against
censorship rather than animosity toward North Korea.
RAUCOUS APPLAUSE
Although Cinema Village manager Lee Peterson said the New York
Police Department planned to post officers outside the theater,
there was no visible police presence outside or inside the venue
for the first screening.
An afternoon screening at the Van Nuys Regency Theatres in the
city's San Fernando Valley was two-thirds full and drew a
diverse crowd ranging from teens to senior citizens, who laughed
loudly throughout at Rogen and Franco's antics.
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"It was much better than I thought it would be," said Carlos Royal,
45, a professor who came with a friend dressed in Santa hats and
took selfies for the occasion in front of the theater's Hollywood
sign marquis. "I wanted to support the U.S."
The movie, which is playing in theaters in major metropolitan areas
as well as in smaller cities ranging from Bangor, Maine, to Jasper,
Indiana, features Rogen and Franco as journalists who are recruited
by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader.
In Asia, online audiences seemed to find the movie tedious.
"There is no drama and not much fun," said a blogger in South Korea.
"It's all about forced comedy that turns you off. Couldn't they have
done a better job making this movie?"
Sony decided to release the film after U.S. President Barack Obama,
as well as such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney and
Republicans and Democrats in Washington, raised concerns that
Hollywood was setting a precedent of self-censorship.
The audience in Manhattan exited the theater to a throng of network
TV cameras and a crowd of people lined up for the next showing.
"It was more serious, the satire, than I was expecting," said Simone
Reynolds, who saw the film while visiting from London. "There's a
message for America in there too about America's foreign policy."
North Korea has called the film an "act of war."
Most fans simply called "The Interview" a funny movie.
Ken Jacowitz, a 54-year-old librarian from the New York borough of
Queens, called it "a funny film made by funny people." He had a
message for North Korea and the hackers: "You have given this movie
whole new lives."
(Additional reporting by Mary Milliken, Eric Kelsey and Jed
Horowitz; Jack Kim and Kahyun Yang in Seoul; Adam Jourdan in
Shanghai and the Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Leslie Adler; Editing
by Howard Goller, Steve Orlofsky and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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