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 The raunchy comedy that depicts the assassination of North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un made almost as much money through
online distribution and in limited theaters in its opening
weekend as it would have in a wide release that was shelved
after threats from hackers.
The studio said on Sunday the film had been purchased or rented
online more than 2 million times on the four days through
Saturday, making it Sony Pictures' No. 1 online movie of all
time.
"That is a huge number," said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst at
Exhibitor Relations.
"This is almost what it was going to do theatrically before it
was pulled. It made about what people expected, but in a
completely different way."
The film that triggered the devastating cyberattack on the
studio last month, which the United States says was launched by
North Korea, opened Thursday in 331 independent theaters with a
$1 million box office and $1.8 million over the subsequent three
days, according to Sony. Many filmgoers and theater owners said
they supported the film in the name of free speech.
The $44 million film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco had
been expected to gross at least $20 million in its opening
holiday weekend if it had gone to wide release, according to
Boxoffice.com.
After large movie theater chains, like AMC <AMC.N> and Regal
Entertainment <RGC.N>, refused to screen the comedy following
threats of violence from hackers who opposed the film, Sony
stitched together a limited release in theaters and a $5.99
video-on-demand (VOD) rental and $14.99 purchase option on
YouTube Movies, Google Play <GOOGL.O>, Microsoft Xbox Video <MSFT.O>
and a dedicated site starting Dec. 24.
Sony had been fiercely criticized by top Hollywood talent and
President Barack Obama for what many considered caving to the
hackers. Sony maintained it had no choice but to pull the wide
release and immediately began looking for alternative platforms
with technology companies.
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'WEIRD WATCHING THIS ON TV'
It was still unclear whether Sony, which is still struggling with
the impact of the cyberattack, would recoup the money it spent to
make the film and the $30 million or $40 million in estimated
marketing costs.
But in a sign of the film's power and place in the cultural debate,
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> said on Sunday it plans to carry the movie for
rental and purchase on iTunes, the biggest and most-popular online
content store.
"The Apple component will be significant," said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst at tracking firm Rentrak. "I’ve heard anecdotes
of people who have never downloaded a movie on iTunes doing that for
this movie."
"The Interview" is now considered by experts a test case for
simultaneous VOD and theatrical release, a taboo topic for the movie
theater chains that want to retain their exclusive window.
"It’ll be interesting to see how quickly industry moves forward with
these kinds of services," Bock said. "This is money they don’t need
to share with the movie chains and that’s a big deal. It could shake
a lot of things up."
The film's unconventional rollout has also been a hot topic on
social media. Rogen took to Twitter on Sunday to live tweet a
viewing of "The Interview," in which Rogen and Franco play two
journalists who snag an interview with Kim and then are enlisted by
the CIA to take him out.
"It's at this point that I gotta say it's (expletive) weird I am
watching this on TV right now," Rogen tweeted.
(Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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