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.

THE INTERVIEW: President Obama: Sony Made a ‘Mistake’ In Pulling ‘The Interview’

President Obama said that Sony Pictures Entertainment  on Friday, after the FBI announced that North Korea was responsible for the cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“Yes I think they made a mistake,” he said at a press conference, in response to a question on Sony’s decision. He cited what would happen for other types of films, like documentaries that certain foreign regimes don’t like.

“We can not have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship in the United States,” he said. His opinion on Sony’s decision to pull the movie was in line with a number of industry voices who wondered if it set a bad precedent.

He added that “We cannot start changing our patterns of behavior any more than we stop going to a football game because there may be a possibility of a terrorist attack.” He cited the case of the running of the Boston Marathon this year after a terrorist attack a year earlier.

The FBI announced on Friday that they have concluded that North Korea was behind the attack on SPE’s computer systems. The bureau cited malware linked to “other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed.”

A key question is what kind of response, if any, the U.S. government will take. MPAA chairman Chris Dodd called the cyber attack a “despicable, criminal act” that was the work of cyber terrorists.

Obama said that the U.S. would “respond, and respond proportionately…in a place and at a time of our choosing,” but he declined to go into specific details. He said that the U.S. had “no indication” another country like China was also involved.

Obama said that it “says something about North Korea” that they would launch an attack on Sony over a “satirical movie starring Seth Rogen.” he also mentioned James Franco, albeit mispronouncing his name as “James Flanco.” “I love Seth and I love James,” he said.

He called for measures to improve cybersecurity, noting that such attacks would threaten “not just a movie studio but the economy.”

He said that he has a “long list of movies I am going to be watching,” in response to a question of whether he will watch the movie.

EDITORIAL: Why People Should Agree With Sony Pictures

In light of recent events, “The Interview” being postponed indefinitely, I have decide to take the time to write my reasons why people shouldn’t be angry at Sony for not releasing it.

What comes to my mind is the horrific accident that occurred in Aurora, Colorado in July of 2012 at one of the first screenings of “The Dark Knight Rises”. This led to many injured and many sadly dead. Why would such a thing come to mind well for many reasons, mainly that such an event could have occurred in one out of many theaters that would’ve shown the aforementioned comedy. And yes I do realise that it would’ve been at the hands of North Korea(“Guardians of Peace”). But this would’ve caused much uproar in the movie and public communities as some would’ve seen it as a result of a production company(Sony Pictures) trying to make some money from their movie to which I would agree to some degree. But you may say that North Korea would not do such a thing well I would have to strongly disagree for one thing only and that is Kim Jong Un would be crazy enough to do such a thing.

Anyway I’m going off on a bit of a tangent. What people need to do is not to direct their anger and frustration towards Sony but to direct to the cowards who hacked them. They are the culprits who have made the cancellation a reality by threatening a “9/11” event to occur in the many theaters that would have screened “The Interview”. And yes I know it is hard to control your anger, I wish I had the power to serve justice to the hackers, but trust me this a smart move on Sony’s behalf to pull the plug.

What people need to realise is that if “The Interview” was to be released you could’ve woken up on Boxing/Stephen’s Day to the headline of: “MASSACRES IN THEATERS ACROSS THE WORLD”. Or something similar. So what I ask you to do is take my word on this, Sony made the right choice in the end, as people’s lives have been spared as a result.

Sony Recovering From Hacking

The hacking caused five films, including unreleased movies such as “Annie” and “Mr. Turner,” to leak online, but the company has not figured out how the breach took place. It is working with law enforcement officials to investigate the cause of the security failure and has hired security firm FireEye and its Mandiant unit to look into the incident.

A spokeswoman for Sony declined to comment.

Sony has not had email and other electronic systems running since last Monday, when a group calling itself “Guardians of Peace” took credit for the attacks. At the time, Sony’s computer system displayed an image of a skeleton along with a message that read, “Hacked by #GOP.” A news report on Re/Code last Friday speculated that the hack might have been orchestrated in conjunction with North Korean officials as punishment for the studio’s involvement in “The Interview.” The James Franco- Seth Rogen comedy centers on a talk show host tasked with assassinating North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

The North Korean link is one of many possible scenarios being investigated, according to an insider.