Yeah, they really should've waited to see how it would perform in limited release before going down the streaming route by pulling a Borat or Paranormal Activity (there was even talk yesterday that if they had failed to secure a VOD platform, the major chains would've reversed their decisions and shown the film). That they threw in the towel like this shows that Sony just wants to move on from all this.
Yeah, that's another reason I'm waiting to see about Netflix. Would rather see it in a theater (one that's conveniently close by) than take that sort of risk.
Absolutely love this movie, which has stood the test of time wonderfully a decade later. I even saw it on the big screen again last year even though I have watched the DVD several times. A true Christmas classic.
Gonna wait and see if that Netflix deal pans out. We're the spending the holidays with extended family (think The Family Stone), so if Netflix agrees, I won't watch it until we get back home on January 4 or 5.
They could've easily waited to see what the grosses would've been this weekend, to see if the major chains would've caved. That they're releasing it on all these platforms makes it seem like they're just over it all.
Yeah, it's clear that they're over all this and just want the movie to disappear.
A 16-screen theater is opening it close by next weekend. I'll try to check it out, don't really feel like watching it online.
People are actually questioning whether any of this was a publicity stunt? Does anyone really think that Sony is happy that their big Christmas Day release has been rejected by all the major chains and is gonna end up in 1/10th the amount of theaters it was originally going to open in (and not even "high-end" theaters for the most part at that)? Seriously?
Then again, I'm sure Sony is happy they're giving it a quiet release so the movie can fade into obscurity as quickly as possible at this point.
It's what he would do.
“Sometimes I get a little sad, and I feel like being alone. Then I talk to my cat about it, and he reminds me I’m James Franco. Then we dance.”
At this point I don't care if The Interview is hilarious or a steaming pile of crap. The fact that it's going to see the light of day despite the worst wishes of some anonymous assholes should be a sign to the rest of the world that we won't take this bullshit.
Hollywood Reporter is now saying that if no one agrees to a VOD release (iTunes, Comcast, DirectTV, and inDemand have all passed), the major chains will very, very likely end up showing the film.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-hack-studio-wont-provide-760133
notfabio at HSX says that they have now secured over 400 theaters but not all of them will be able to show it on Christmas Day due to how late the reversal happened.
Screen space might be an issue though due to how short notice this is. A number of theaters won't be able to show it until next weekend because they can't rework their schedules. Although who knows, maybe the opening will be explosive enough the major chains will be pretty much forced to show it by next weekend.
Borat did a $31,607 PTA in 837 locations in November 2006. If The Interview manages 1/4 the number of theaters and scores the same PTA, that would be an opening between $6-7M for the weekend, which doesn't sound like a stretch at this point.
This is keeping track and updating with all of the theaters that will be showing it:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/23/7441219/where-to-see-the-interview-on-christmas-day
No, it's playing for at least a whole week. I guess they'll wait and see if the major chains will cave into showing it (all this fallout stuff will be swept under a rug as if it never happened if they do).
Yeah, they should to see how this does (especially since the theater count is gonna grow throughout the day, I imagine) and if to does crazy business (like, an 80K average from how many theaters), then I imagine the major chains would cave into showing like next week.