“‘The Interview,’ the raucous comedy that became the center of a dispute over cybersecurity between the United States and North Korea, will be released in a small number of theaters on Christmas Day after all, Sony Pictures said on Tuesday,” Brooks Barnes and Michael Cieply report for The New York Times.
“Sony also left open the door to video-on-demand availability of the movie, either simultaneously with its debut in theaters, or nearly so,” Barnes and Cieply report. “In announcing the new plan on Tuesday, Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures’ chairman, said his studio was continuing efforts ‘to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.'”
“‘Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn’t give up!’ Seth Rogen, who co-directed, co-wrote and co-stars in ‘The Interview,’ wrote on Twitter,” Barnes and Cieply report. “It remained unclear, however, whether any on-demand service would take ‘The Interview.’ According to people briefed on the matter, Sony had in recent days asked the White House for help in lining up a single technology partner — Apple, which operates iTunes — but the tech company was not interested, at least not on a speedy time table. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Major mistake – unless Apple wants to continue to ignore Apple TV. This is free promotion! Apple should stand up artists’ freedom of expression. They should be pouncing on this. Hopefully, their disinterest is only being feigned as a negotiating tactic.
Do it, Apple. What are you going to lose, the vibrant North Korea market?