Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that The Interview will be available online across the United States starting today, Christmas Eve.
As of 10am PST/1pm EST, the film will be available to rent in HD via the dedicated website seetheinterview.com, Google Play, YouTube Movies, and Microsoft’s Xbox Video at a price of US$5.99. The film can also be purchased in HD for $14.99.
“It has always been Sony’s intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment, in a statement. “With that in mind, we reached out to Google, Microsoft and other partners last Wednesday, December 17th, when it became clear our initial release plans were not possible. We are pleased we can now join with our partners to offer the film nation-wide today. We never stopped pursuing as wide a release as possible for The Interview. It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech. We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release.”
I want to thank Google and Microsoft for helping make this a reality. This release represents our commitment to our filmmakers and free speech. While we couldn’t have predicted the road this movie traveled to get to this moment, I’m proud our fight was not for nothing and that cyber criminals were not able to silence us,” Lynton continued. “No doubt the issues we have confronted these last few weeks will not end with this release, but we are gratified to have stood together and confident in our future. I want to thank everyone at Sony Pictures for their dedication and perseverance through what has been an extraordinary and difficult time.”
Fans can watch The Interview on several platforms including:
· seetheinterview.com: In addition, The Interview is available at the dedicated website seetheinterview.com, which is sponsored by Sony Pictures and powered by Kernel and with payments through Stripe, a secure payment platform.
· Google Play: the movie is available to buy or rent at play.google.com, and can be watched in the Play Movies & TV app on Android and iOS phones or tablets, or streamed in the living room via Chromecast, Roku or the Nexus Player.
· YouTube: the movie is available at youtube.com/movies and can be watched on the web, in the YouTube app, or on select living room devices like Chromecast, Apple TV, PlayStation and Xbox.
· Microsoft’s Xbox Video: the movie is available to buy or rent on the Xbox Video app on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and XboxVideo.com.
In addition to Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft and seetheinterview.com, The Interview is also being released in more than 300 United States theaters on December 25th.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Related article:
Will Apple put Sony’s ‘The Interview’ on Apple TV for Christmas? – December 24, 2014
That title is slightly misleading at first, although it did say Apple TV and not the iTunes Store. Hmmm, kinda makes Apple look like pussies.
I agree that it sucks that it can’t be rented / purchased from iTunes (yet) – my guess would be that Apple did not want to invest the manpower necessary to make this happen quickly on iTunes.
IMO – The really “pussies” are the Sony execs who pulled it from theaters to being with!
Pulling it from theaters was not a pussy thing.. It was the responsible and snart thing to do. ( all it would take was one moron to cause mass casualty and ass hysteria )
Releasing it on the Net t gets the movie exposed to even more people!
Without making a target availible to these criminals !
Wow.. In total shock after seeing the stars ..
unbelievable !
Yes some lonnutter could indeed have taken personal advantage of the cyber threat on the original date though in surrendering to that possibility will only make more such threats more common sadly. However I understood it was not Sony but the cinema groups who decided they would not show it so Sony had little choice but to pull it, though it might have been sensible at the time to not claim that they had no plans to show the film at all. It does indeed make them look like pussies and that the new attempts to show it are simply because of the wrath of the political powers that be and pressure NOT to capitulate.
“my guess would be that Apple did not want to invest the manpower necessary to make this happen quickly on iTunes.”
This is correct. It’s not so much about “investing”, but rather the fact that everyone at Apple responsible for content distribution has the week off.
In order for Apple to have been able to put this in iTunes, they would’ve had to have recalled people from vacation and broken policy for one company’s release. This would’ve opened them up to constant calls in the future for exceptions.
BS, manpower? Add it to iTunes and be done. Not rocket science
WHO?
There’s nobody at Apple to process the submission because Apple gave them the time off to be with their families during the holidays. What part of this aren’t you understanding? It’s not brain surgery.
I’m thinking there likely would have been people who would have done the work needed if given the opportunity. Kind of would have been the right thing to do.
In the end this doesn’t look good on my favourite company, but we can’t do everything I guess.
And good for Google and Microsoft for making it happen.
“Kind of would have been the right thing to do.”
What “right thing”? All it would’ve done is increased revenue for Sony (and less so for Apple). I’m sure if Cook asked people to come in, people would’ve come in to get this done. But that’s not the point. The point is asking dedicated employees to cancel their holiday time off to come in so that Sony could receive more revenue by releasing it online this week instead of next week.
It’s not like as if delaying the online release a week = win for the terrorists.
And it’s not like as if the movie is unavailable to Apple’s customers with any of their devices… Macs, iPads, iPhones, iPod touches, Apple TV, they can all watch The Interview on alternative services.
Sony is in an never ending series of screw ups here. This latest one screws the independent theaters like the Alamo Drafthouse from being the exclusive source of viewing the movie. The should’ve done that for a week and announced that the movie would then be available next week via every major online service including iTunes.
I agree why should ordinary people suffer because Sony can’t make up its mind what it wants to do and keeps changing its mind under pressure from others rather than stand up and do the right thing clearly their Japanese Masters have played a role here in the hesitation sadly and only changed tack when pressured in the US especially Obama’s strong comments. I’m sure it will go on as soon as the normal timetable processes it as it would other films something perhaps that Sony itself might take note for itself in future rather than running around like headless chickens trying to please everyone and pleading none in the process.
The title is inaccurate (or at least disingenuous). The only way the movie can be watched on Apple TV is via YouTube application.
If you mention both Apple TV and YouTube in the headline of the article, you imply that the film is watchable on AppleTV through something other than YouTube (or NetFlix, or any other channel that can be accessed via AppleTV), which essentially implies implies iTunes.
Apple had nothing to do with this release.
correct.
(note: “The Interview” that is available for rent on iTunes is a 2012, 12 minute “short film.”) That headline is a total fabrication.
I was able to watch it on my big screen using Airplay from iPad to Apple TV. Rented the movie from seetheinterview. Worked perfectly.
Helluva PR stunt.
Always the pessimist. Between you and 2014, you have negativity wrapped up.
Sometimes, I think of MDN and its readership as a medicine cabinet — a place you can go that is full of pills.
Spot on, certainly a broad reflection upon mental health in the country.
SONY will be raking it in big time on this one. The risk is quite low, but the mileage they’re getting is massive. That press release is tailored to press all the right buttons. Every patriotic American will have no choice but fork over $5.99 and rent this sucker, no matter what; if you don’t, you’re unpatriotic, cowardly and supportive of the North Korean dictator. This is free speech at its most commercial…
of course there’s a choice: simply do not rent it.
Precisely; unfortunately, after the SONY’s press release, not many Americans will choose not to rent it.
Oh great.
Now Dear leader will launch his missile towards the United States Mainland.
Some poor guy in a rowboat 20 miles off the North Korean coast is doomed!
Some of their missiles can easily reach Japan, and the ones they’re still supposedly testing can reach Alaska and Canada. While the country itself is a ridiculously absurd little fiefdom of the Kim dynasty, their utter craziness shouldn’t be underestimated. Half of the population has been starved to death in order to afford nuclear warheads and long-range missile technology. Apparently, it is operational and dangerous. The country and its ‘dear leader’ may be a joke, but these weapons sure aren’t.
You’re correct of course, but I can never resist an attempt at humor, even though much of the time I probably should. Let’s hope the Hermit Kingdom can take a joke.
Just need to get to a real US president and this will be properly resolved. Hopefully, we make it through two more years of ineptitude and many, many rounds of really bad golf.
You’re an asshat. Really.
Like Putin, who is running Russia into the ground, the West is still the best just like Apple.
Scary thought, or do you have a fiendish plan Baldrick. (Disclaimer: Americans may not get that joke)
If Dear Leader ever initiates a missile attack, we can use Dennis Rodman has a shield.
^as
Let’s just hope Dear Leader doesn’t try to shoot down Santa.
Well I for one I’m glad Apple is not embarking on a cyberwar, putting their users’ information across the world at risk, for a stupid movie that is only available to US viewers anyway.
I’m not sure any of those fanatical hackers will care to notice the distinction. At this point, my only hope is that Apple’s track record in security will save us all from those zealots.
They sure seemed to know how to attack Sony with great precision.
Remember when the Chinese hacked Gmail in 2011?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-google-hacking-idUSTRE7506U320110602
No connected system, no matter the track record, is impenetrable.
iTunes is closed for the holidays. Sony had to provide this movie weeks ago for Apple to show it now.
Good job Sony!
They tried to shut u up.. But this way more people will see it ..
Right on!
Wish apple was onboard !
You say that as if the movie had any useful, informative content – or actual North Koreans for example.
A movie with actors playing North Koreans and farting would be as or more interesting.
But hey great PR turn around after such a major screw up Sony!
People will quickly forget just how bad it was and that personal details are now available to hackers everywhere.
I say that as ….someone tried yo black mail to block the movie ( whatever its content ) and they ended up in a worse situation.
now more people will see it.
FWIW, the not-too-straightforward method of watching the movie on Apple TV or an iOS device is outlined here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/watch-interview-apple-tv-roku-190430008.html
I think Apple walks a very fine line with the Chinese Government and the market for Apple products is exploding upwards. The PR hype for this movie might not be worth the cost of pissing off the puppetmaster behind the curtain of North Korea…..
Obviously a AppleTV “free release” by Apple would be huge………
Are you really that starved for 2nd-class entertainment on CHRISTmas?
“The Interview
Pervasive Language, Crude and Sexual Humor, Nudity, Some Drug Use and Bloody Violence
Yeah, real quality viewing to promote the US lifestyle worldwide. (snarky remark) /s
It’s either The Interview, or Borat for the 20th time. What else am I supposed to watch with the family on Christmas!?
Sony will show The Interview on Christmas Day in theaters after all, suggesting that the entire farce could have been one huge cynical marketing campaign to promote the movie, bolstering the contention that the hack was an inside job.
Get suckers to rent the film that otherwise would never have reached the proverbial mindset. How much did they grease Obama’s palm for this one? Not a snarky comment.
“V
I thought of that at first, but then realized that Sony would be in some deep sh*t if they did that themselves and included the FBI. I don’t think so.
Not a publicity stunt in the slightest, and the film would have to be seriously successful in order to dent the money the cleanup has and will cost them.
Sucker or not, I rented it in YouTube app on my Apple TV this evening. Fun/gross comedy, even the gory parts near the end. I’d rate it a B+ movie for enjoyable light entertainment.
Wow, I don’t know who was behind this move to save Sony’s ass, and Amy Paschal’s at the same time, but it’s beyond brilliant. First, we get the hack that exposes all those snarky racist emails making fun of stars and starlets the company employs for its films, and the ones mocking President Obama’s racism. Day after day Sony and Little Amy dig their heads deeper into the ground. Then try the Obama tactic of shaming the press into not reporting on the news, basically the Christmas Present threat and saying if the press reports on any new emails then it’s like posting all those nude starlet selfies and an invasion of their privacy, the old ‘this is a private matter and we hope the press and the American Public will repect our privacy’ (a canard that actually stared with the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal). That inhibits the flow a good deal, but then the threat of violence upon the Xmas release of The Interview comes out and Sony whims out, telling theater owners they are on their own and then those guy buckles so Sony blames them. All this time America’s own Dear Leader hasn’t said a word about Amy and Sony leaderships’s embarrassing emails, a corporations and people who raised bookoo money and put out numerous propaganda films to get Him in office and keep him there. So how to save Sony’s ass and resources and shame them at the same time? Well, how about the Prez comes out in ‘Freedom’s favor (something almost laughable coming out of a guy’s mouth who calls the press into his office and curses them when they report actual news about his blunders and also chastises them publicly as well) in spite of his usual position of acquiescing to foreign interests by attacking critical artistic expression of foreign enemies, like Islamic states (films must now portray ‘moderate’ Muslims who disavow ‘extremist’ Isam, otherwise known as the parts of the Koran and Muhammed’s/Islam’s history of promoting world domination under the perceptions of Allah/God’s will, and even going so far as imprisioning a filmmaker for releasing a film holding Muhammed in a critical light).
So Dear Leader’s move galvanizes the usually also American-enemies-complacent ‘Free Press’ and they elicit ‘Patriotic’ support to shame Sony into releasing The Interview.
AND IT WORKS!!! Now Sony (also almost laughably funny saying their intent was to never placate Korea’s Dear Leader but just find a better time to release this idiotic otherwise inconsequential film) not only has blown those nasty snarky emails off the front pages, but will make millions more than this otherwise idiotic inconsequential could have possibly made.
BEYOND BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!
Liberty is dead, get used to it America. Obama, with minions like Sony and others, will change your diapers for you and tell you what to think at the same time.
Enjoy it while it lasts….
And yet, away from this it looks as if Obama has played one serious masterstroke. By arranging an extremely convenient “trade war” with Saudi Arabia, the oil price has tanked. This destroys Putin’s finances, Iran’s finances, Venezuela’s finances and even puts pressure on the Koch Brothers’ finances. That’s a serious amount of problems suddenly going away, and all the while the American public enjoys cheaper prices at the pump.
Your President isn’t stupid, you have to give him that.
Hey and Google’s Youtube sucks because when you try to watch the movie on a 3rd gen Apple TV it gives you an error.
Sorry, there was an error processing your request.
This video may be inappropriate for some users.
Doesn’t tell you how to fix it, or give a date of birth to confirm that you are an adult. Just a stupid error. And that’s why the iTunes store is so much better experience then this crap!
You need to login to a YouTube account linked to a credit card to purchase the rental. It’s easiest to do this from a desktop browser. Once you’ve purchased the rental, return to the Apple TV YouTube app logged in with this account, search for the movie, and play it.
Yes, not all that intuitive, but that’s Google’s fault with how the app works, not Apple’s.
I purchased a rental from seetheinterview.com; but their streamer wouldn’t stream. I hope they issue a refund or at least fix the problem.
The headline is a lie. Deceptive writing. Not true.
Delete this headline. Is not Apple related!
Anyone with any taste whatsoever will eschew this rotting turd of a movie. It’s all over the torrents, so get it for free, please, and, see if you can outlive my own monumental effort- I was able to endure 26 minutes of this fetid disease of a film. Needed a good dose of bourbon afterwards, natch. I’m still amazed I lasted that long….