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Gopher

The Interview | Limited Release on December 25, 2014

By Gopher, in Box Office Discussion

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BoxOfficeFangrl Box Office Gold

BoxOfficeFangrl

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I don't think it's so much as "wanting the movie to die" as "wanting the movie out so they can be done with it." They're ready to move on.

 

I agree that it is an odd move to release it VOD before even seeing how the limited release goes. The chains probably would've caved before the "holiday movie season" was over and it could've pulled a Borat. This move definitely shortens the theatrical window (which was going to be non-existent before, granted). Maybe they think they will make more with VOD right now, but with The Interview at this point, the hack has given Sony ulterior motives compared to most other movies out there, where it's mostly about money or awards (which will get the movie more money).

 

I would be wild if this really made day-and-date releases more of athing with not just indies and drove a lot of theaters out of business, on top of provoking an international incident and costing hundreds of millions thanks to the hack. All for a Rogen/Franco comedy.

Edited by BoxOfficeChica
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filmlover Cinematic Universe

filmlover

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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.

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AJG Global Phenomenon

AJG

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VOD will lead to epic piracy downloads .

Right now 17,308 people are trying to download it on Kickass Torrents.

EDIT: didn't refresh the page. Right now 23,750 people.

EDIT if you also add people downloading other copies of the movie an extra 8000 people are pirating this movie. This thing is huge.

Edited by AJG
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GiantCALBears Global Phenomenon

GiantCALBears

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I think this could be a watershed moment in the history of online film distribution, there maybe no going back anymore with SOME films going to direct to stream as well as theaters. It maybe able to reach a larger audience overall despite the usual piracy. Brick and mortars are on notice how disruptive this is potentially to their business. To think it all at this moment in time could have been avoided by AMC, Regal, Cinemark etc just going as scheduled and show the film.

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Yandereprime101189 Box Office Gold

Yandereprime101189

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I doubt The Interview will destroy the way the world looks at movie distribution. Maybe if Disney did this with Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Avengers: Age of Ultron, but there's no way in hell they'll do that.

 

Sony pretty much dumped this movie.

Edited by Yandereprime
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TLK Blockbuster

TLK

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I think this could be a watershed moment in the history of online film distribution, there maybe no going back anymore with SOME films going to direct to stream as well as theaters. It maybe able to reach a larger audience overall despite the usual piracy. Brick and mortars are on notice how disruptive this is potentially to their business. To think it all at this moment in time could have been avoided by AMC, Regal, Cinemark etc just going as scheduled and show the film.

 

This is a pretty common distribution strategy with smaller movies. Every year some 200+ movies go to day and date VOD. I don't think this revolutionizes anything because of piracy. The problem with day and date VOD is that you get the same HD copy of the movies on torrents within hours of becoming available on VOD. This strategy works only when your movie costs $5-10 million to produce with negligible marketing costs. In this case Sony has already spend up to $80 million on the movie. How are they going to recover that kind of money from VOD ? If the movie had taken the traditional theater route, it could've made $250 million + worldwide. Assuming that Sony gets 40-45% of the revenue, that's $100-110 million they won't be able to recover.

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TLK Blockbuster

TLK

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Should have done the vod release straight after the weekend. Either way, I hope people check it out in cinemas. There are some movies I found hilarious as part of a group viewing but lost their charm in an empty living room.

 

I agree. Comedy is a genre that works well on the big screen and with a big crowd. They shouldn't have given up on the big chains. Maybe a 1-2 weeks limited release followed by expansion into the AMC, Regal , Cinemark and other big theaters would've worked well.

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