By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--December 24, 2014
American Politics, News | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
Starting Wednesday afternoon, you can watch the controversial Sony Pictures comedy "The Interview" via YouTube, Google Play, the Microsoft Xbox video game console and a special Web site. Sony said in a statement that it will become available at around 1 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve. Sony said its dedicated site, SeeTheInterview.com, will be done in partnership with Kernel and secure payments system Stripe. The extraordinary announcement encapsulated days of negotiations between Sony and a number of potential Internet distribution partners.
As a result, "The Interview" will have a historic simultaneous release in both living rooms and about 300 independently-owned theaters across the United States. An earlier plan to rent "The Interview" through Apple's iTunes store broke down, according to two of the sources, but it could re-materialize sometime after Christmas. As for the physical release on Thursday, the studio's list of participating theaters includes about 300 that will start showing it on Christmas and dozens of others that will start showing it on January 1 or 2. Some of the Christmas Day screenings are already sold out.Aside from the obvious angle concerning the film and the accompanying controversy, this is a big deal because there's never before been a film released theaterically and online at the same time. Of course, this is a very unusual situation. Only about 300 theaters are taking Sony up on its offer to screen The Interview on Christmas Day, and yet the interest in the film would suggest a lot more people than that are going to be interested in seeing it. So if you're already for Christmas and you've got some time on your hands this afternoon, enjoy the show! If North Korea's Internet is back up, maybe Bowl Cut Jr. can rent it too.
Support Canada Free Press
View Comments
Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain
Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.