The Interview now available on iTunes as Apple joins Google and Microsoft to offer the controversial comedy
- The movie debuted on December 24 on Sony's website, Google's YouTube and Google Play and the Xbox gaming console
- Sony originally wanted to pull the movie due to 9/11-style terrorist threats against theaters who showed the film
- But the company decided to release the movie anyway online and independent movie theaters
- The film grossed $ 1million on Christmas Day
The controversial
film The Interview is now available for streaming on Apple,
one of the
last movie websites to license the movie from Sony
Apple Inc said its iTunes store
is now carrying Sony Corp's 'The Interview', the film
that angered North Korea and triggered a cyberattack against the
studio.
'We're pleased to offer The Interview for rental or
purchase on the iTunes Store,' Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said
in a statement.
The movie, steeped in gross-out humor depicting the travails
of two journalists who get enlisted to assassinate North Korea
leader Kim Jong Un, costs $14.99 to buy and $5.99 to rent on
iTunes, according to the website.
Apple was one of the later tech companies to sign on to
carrying the film via video-on-demand, and waited four days
after competitors first released it on their digital video
platforms on December 24.
Sony Pictures released the movie online via Google Inc's
YouTube and Google Play, Microsoft Corp's
Xbox gaming console and a Sony dedicated website first made the
movie available last week after large movie theater chains
refused to screen the comedy following threats of violence from
hackers who opposed the film.
The movie was also shown in 331 mostly independent theaters,
which helped generate more than $1million in sales on Christmas
day.
Until
Sony discloses the online revenues, it will be hard to
know if the studio will come anywhere near recouping the $ 44million it
cost to make the film, plus the $ 30million - $ 40million that some estimate
was spent on marketing the film and
its stars, Seth Rogen and James Franco.
The movie stars Seth Rogen (center)
and James Franco (right) as a couple of TV journalists recruited by the
CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after they land an
interview with the dictator
The movie grossed $ 1million in its
release in independent theaters on Christmas Day.
Sony originally wanted
to pull the movie, for fears of terrorist attacks against theaters
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