WATCH ABOVE: It looks like a massive cyber-attack was all Sony Pictures needed to turn “The Interview” into a box office hit. Nicole Bogart explains.
TORONTO – Sony Pictures’ controversial comedy The Interview has raked in over US$15 million in online rentals and purchases since its last-minute Christmas Day release.
According to the film studio, the comedy – starring Seth Rogan and James Franco as journalists hired to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un – was rented or purchased more than 2 million times over four days.
READ MORE: How the Sony Pictures hacking scandal unfolded
Sony said the massive online sales have made The Interview its number one online film of all time.
The Interview was made available on a number of different steaming services, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and on Sony’s dedicated website seetheinterview.com.
The movie was also screened in some 330 U.S. movie theatres, but only earned an estimated US$1.8 million at the weekend box office, adding to the US$1 million it made on its Dec. 25 release.
On Sunday Apple confirmed The Interview would be available to iTunes users in Canada and the U.S., to rent (CAD$6.99) or buy (CAD$17.99).
READ MORE: ‘The Interview’ reviews: Did hackers do movie-goers a favour?
The early digital release for The Interview also marks one of the first times that a movie has been shown simultaneously in theatres and online. Usually, larger studio films aren’t made available on digital platforms for at least a few months after the initial theatrical release, to ensure maximizing theatre box office.
Sony announced its decision to make the movie available online just one day after reversing a previous decision not to show the film at all after hackers threatened moviegoers with violence. The decision to scrap the movie was widely criticized by the entertainment industry and even U.S. President Barack Obama.
Devastating hack, brilliant marketing campaign
The FBI has formally named North Korea as the culprit in the devastating cyber-attack on Sony, which resulted in thousands of confidential internal documents being leaked online.
And although the hack has already had some serious repercussions on Sony’s business – including a class-action lawsuit filed by two former employees over its security protocols – it sparked a hugely successful marketing campaign for a movie with not-so-hot reviews.
READ MORE: Capacity crowds turn up to see ‘The Interview’ in theatres
“Sony couldn’t have come up with a better marketing campaign for The Interview if they tried,” wrote Forbes contributor Paul Tassi.
“The Seth Rogen/James Franco feature was originally destined to be forgotten nearly as soon as it was released, sandwiched somewhere between Pineapple Express and This is The End in terms of quality. Instead, it practically started World War III.”
Comments