Sony will release 'The Interview' after all. Why the reversal?
There are several reasons Sony is now releasing 'The Interview' to independent theaters for Dec. 25. But one big one might be that 'The Interview' is now all-American.
A worker removes poster for the movie 'The Interview' from a display case at a Carmike Cinemas movie theater in Atlanta last week. But some independent theaters have now said they will show 'The Interview' on Christmas Day.
David Goldman/AP
Washington
鈥淭he Interview鈥� will appear in public after all. Sony Pictures Entertainment on Tuesday announced that the embattled movie about an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be screened in a scattering of independent theaters on Dec. 25, the day it was originally supposed to be released.
Sony also intimated that the film will be available through some sort of video-on-demand service, though details aren鈥檛 yet set.
鈥淲e are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech,鈥� said Sony Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Lynton in a statement.
It has only been a few days since Sony pulled the film from general theatrical release in the face of vague threats about violence from hackers who crashed Sony computers and stole a vast trove of company information. The US government has since said that it believes North Korea itself was the driving force behind the hack.
That context has not changed. So why has Sony suddenly changed its mind?
The embarrassment of having caved to Pyongyang might be one reason.
It made business sense to pull 鈥淭he Interview鈥� from full release 鈥� the owners of major theater chains had already said they wouldn鈥檛 screen the flick. Nobody in Hollywood wanted to drive fearful patrons away from cineplexes at the Christmas season.
But the abrupt nature of Sony鈥檚 original decision, and the thinly-veiled glee North Korea showed at the action, turned into a public relations debacle for Sony executives. A CNN poll found that 62 percent of Americans felt the company had 鈥渙verreacted.鈥�
Sony needed a way to make its retreat look less total. By showing the movie somewhere, Sony gets to say it has stood up to the bad guys, whether it really has or not. (See 鈥渇ree speech鈥� statement above).
Another reason the film will now light up the dark of the inside of an actual theater is money. Sony was staring at a loss of more than $100 million if it just ditched the movie entirely. Now it gets a chance to start a trickle of revenue flowing from the film. Given the publicity 鈥淭he Interview鈥� has received, that trickle could even turn into a flood once movie-goers become convinced it鈥檚 safe to buy a ticket.
But the biggest reason Sony swerved is probably this one: 鈥淭he Interview鈥� has become a national security issue. Against all odds and/or common sense, a risqu茅 buddy comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco (or 鈥淛ames Flacco,鈥� as President Obama said at last week鈥檚 press conference) has become a symbol of American freedom. The chief executive of the nation has said Sony made a mistake by not showing the movie. So they鈥檒l show it 鈥� because Mr. Obama鈥檚 comments have effectively nationalized the movie鈥檚 defense.
We agree with on this one: Any physical attack on a theater screening the movie will in essence be 鈥渁n act of war.鈥� That means the primary response would come from the White House, not Sony鈥檚 executive suite.