Netflix To Stream The Interview Jan 24.

Netflix will offer Sony Pictures Entertainment’s controversial comedy “The Interview” to U.S. and Canadian streaming members beginning Saturday, Jan. 24, the company announced Tuesday.

As previously reported by Variety, Netflix in December entered into talks with Sony about licensing “The Interview” to streaming subscribers after Starz, which has an output deal with the studio, released pay-TV window rights.

But it seems that the studio wanted to maximize digital and VOD sales first before opening up to SVOD: “The Interview” as of Sunday had generated more than $40 million in revenue via more than 5.8 million rentals and sales through digital distributors like Google Play, YouTube and iTunes as well as cable, satellite and telco TV providers, according to Sony Pictures.

The film stars James Franco and Seth Rogen as two bumbling American TV journalists enlisted by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The communist regime, according to U.S. officials, retaliated against SPE in one of the worst cyber-attacks on a private company to date, resulting in the release of internal studio emails, documents and several unreleased movies.

Netflix has exclusive SVOD rights to “The Interview” in the U.S. and Canada. CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells announced the deal in their fourth-quarter 2014 earnings letter to shareholders.

Sony launched digital distribution of “The Interview” on Dec. 24, 2014, a day before it opened in limited theatrical release. That came after SPE had pulled back plans on its original broad U.S. release in movie theaters, following threats by the hackers who attacked the company.

Sony has set Feb. 17 for the “Freedom Edition” release of the film on DVD and Blu-ray.

Source:Variety

THE INTERVIEW: Blu-ray And DVD Release Date Announced!

Sony Pictures has set a Feb. 17 release date for the DVD and Blu-ray versions of “The Interview,” the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy that provoked the massive hacking attack at the studio.

The Blu-ray version, which is being marketed as the “Freedom Edition,” which will have a suggested list price of $19.99, while the DVD will carry a suggested list price of $14.99.

Franco portrays a celebrity talkshow host and Rogen is his producer in “The Interview,” in which the duo snag an exclusive in-person interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and are recruited by a CIA agent (Lizzy Caplan) to assassinate the dictator.

The studio was hit by hackers on Nov. 24 and theater owners were threatened with terrorism on Dec. 16 if they showed the film. On Dec. 17, Sony pulled the film’s theatrical release in the face of a refusal by major chains to show the film, then reversed course six days later, launching the film on VOD on Christmas Eve and opening on Christmas Day at 330 independent theaters.

Sony announced Jan. 6 that the film had grossed $31 million from online and video-on-demand revenues through its first week and a half in release. The comedy has also generated nearly $6 million in limited theatrical release.

The “Freedom Edition” Blu-ray disc includes 90 minutes of bonus feature content, including 14 deleted scenes, multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes, a seven-minute blooper reel and three “line-o-ramas” of alternate takes of jokes during filming. In one of the featurettes, “Here Kitty Kitty,” Rogen breaks down the experience of working with a real tiger.

Both the Blu-ray and DVD include the Discovery Channel TV special “Naked and Afraid,” starring Franco and Rogen, as well as commentary by Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg.

THE INTERVIEW: UK AND Ireland Get Release Date

British and Irish cinema-goers will be able to see The Interview February 6th 2015 but no word on digital markets.Sony had withdrawn the film in the wake of a damaging studio cyber-attack, only to then release it in selected cinemas and make it available online in the US.The film has now made more than $31m (£20.5m) from its digital distribution.Its limited theatrical release, meanwhile, has netted its makers around $5m (£3.3m).

Dave Skylark, host of the talk show Skylark Tonight, interviews celebrities about personal topics and gossip. After Dave and his crew celebrate their 1,000th episode, they discover that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is a fan of Skylark Tonight, prompting the show’s producer Aaron Rapoport to arrange an interview. Aaron travels to rural China to receive instructions from Sook, a North Korean propagandist, and Dave accepts the task of interviewing Kim.

James Franco as Dave Skylark

Seth Rogen as Aaron Rapoport

Lizzy Caplan as Agent Lacey

Randall Park as Kim Jong-un

Diana Bang as Sook[11]

Timothy Simons as Malcolm

Anders Holm as Jake

Charles Rahi Chun as General Jong 

THE INTERVIEW: YouTube, Sony in Tentative Deal to Stream ‘The Interview’

Reports are coming that Sony Pictures Entertainment has struck a tentative deal to stream “The Interview” on Google’s YouTube starting on Christmas Day, the same day it will have a limited theatrical release, according to CNN.

Under the preliminary pact, fans of the controversial movie — a spoof that prompted a major cyber-attack by North Korea against the studio, according to U.S. officials — could pay a rental fee on YouTube to watch it on the world’s biggest Internet-video platform, per the report. Pricing info is not available.

In addition, “The Interview,” which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as two bumbling American TV journalists tasked with assassinating North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, will be available for rental at Google Play on on a Sony-owned website, Re/code reported. Sony is expected to sign additional digital distributors.

Sony last week pulled plans for “The Interview” Dec. 25 theatrical bow after hackers threatened moviegoers with 9/11-style violence — and major chains said they wouldn’t screen the film. But on Tuesday, Sony did an about-face, announcing that the film will now play in more than 300 independent cinemas across the U.S.

The developments with Google and YouTube to make “The Interview” available come after Sony Pictures chief Michael Lynton said in a CNN interview last Friday that no video-on-demand providers were willing to release the movie. That apparently has changed after a groundswell of support in the U.S. for releasing “The Interview” — with President Obama praising Sony for reversing course and deciding to authorize screenings on Christmas Day.

THE INTERVIEW: Sony To Release This Christmas In Select Theaters And VOD!!!

After Sony Pictures made the decision last week to pull Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg’s latest comedy The Interview from its forthcoming Christmas Day release in theaters, they’ve decided to send the film out after all. The Wrap reports that Sony is distributing the film in participating theaters as well as VOD on Christmas Day, despite the threats dished out by Guardians of Peace. This comes just after the Art House Convergence, a national coalition of independent movie theaters, petitioned to ask Sony to let them release The Interview for America to see. We’re just glad the film is getting released.

Specific details on participating theaters haven’t been revealed yet, but here’s a couple tweets:

Breaking news: Sony has authorized screenings of THE INTERVIEW on Christmas Day. We are making shows available within the hour. #Victory
— Tim League (@timalamo) December 23, 2014

The Interview -Times Christmas Day 4pm 5pm 6:30 7:30 9:35 12/26 to 1/1 times will be announced tomorrow. On 2 screens
— Plaza Atlanta (@PlazaAtlanta) December 23, 2014

The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn’t give up! The Interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it on Xmas day!
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) December 23, 2014

That’s The Plaza Atlanta and Alamo Drafthouse theaters confirmed to have The Interview on Christmas Day, and we’re betting there’s some more coming soon. As for the VOD release, the streaming service that will be carrying the movie has yet to be revealed, but we’re expecting some kind of official press release from Sony later today. We just hope that whoever handles the VOD release can handle the inevitably high traffic that will be coming for the movie after all this controversy turned even more heads than it otherwise would have.

Sony has released a statement from CEO Michael Lynton confirming the release saying:

“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. 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.
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.”

We’re still waiting for a list of theaters and plans for the VOD release, so keep checking back for more.

THE INTERVIEW: It Will Eventually Be Released

Though the world won’t get to see it on Christmas Day, The Interview will eventually be released, according to Sony Pictures.

Sony lawyer David Boies confirmed yesterday morning that Sony will eventually release the controversial comedy. Though Boies said that the studio has “been fighting” to release The Interview, he said that he was not sure when and how they actually do it.

“It will be distributed,” Boies clarified in an interview with Meet The Press. “How it’s going to be distributed, I don’t think anybody knows quite yet. But it’s going to be distributed.”

The Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy, The Interview, became an international discussion for its story about the attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The plot, which openly mocked Jon-un, lead to North Korean hackers dismantling Sony’s internal affairs, then threatening any moviegoer who went to see the film. After the threats were made last week, Sony decided not to release the film on December 25th as it had originally intended.

Sony’s remaining options also remain slim. As a later theater release date seems unlikely, even video-on-demand distributors are refusing to distribute the movie for Sony, according to Entertainment Weekly.