Sony Announces Limited Theatrical Release Of 'The Interview'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Sony Pictures Tuesday announced a limited theatrical release of "The Interview" beginning Christmas Day.
The announcement was made after several theaters, including the Mission Grove Theater in Riverside, the Tristone Jurupa 14 in Riverside, and the Los Feliz 3, said that the film will be shown Thursday despite recent controversy.
Locally, Regency theaters will show the film, and the Laemmle Theater chains also announced on Twitter they will show the movie at its North Hollywood location on New Year's Eve.
"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," Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment, said in a statement. "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."
Actors Seth Rogen and James Franco, who star in the comedy about the fictional assassination of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, responded on Twitter.
"I want to thank our talent on The Interview and our employees, who have worked tirelessly through the many challenges we have all faced over the last month. 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," Lynton said.
Outside Laemmle Theater in North Hollywood, moviegoers were overwhelmingly supportive of the decision to release the film, KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports.
"I think they should show it, absolutely. I don't think we should cave in to terrorist threats, which I think are idle threats," one moviegoer said.
Sony originally made an announcement last week canceling the film's theatrical release after several of the largest movie theater chains said they would not show it.
The company was hacked by a group identified as "Guardians of Peace", which also threatened theaters and moviegoers citing the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
The incident was considered a matter of national security, prompting an investigation by the FBI and the NSA.
FBI officials announced Friday there was enough evidence to determine the North Korean government was responsible for the cyber attack and the threats that followed.
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