It looks like "The Interview" will appear in theaters after all. Select exhibitors are preparing Christmas Day screenings of the controversial James Franco/Seth Rogen comedy, with the Plaza Atlanta theater and Alamo Drafthouse announcing via social media that Sony Pictures has authorized them to show the film despite major exhibitors cancelling screenings in the wake of a cyber attack that debilitated the studio.
There is also growing speculation that the studio will offer the film via VOD. Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton stated in an interview with CNN on Friday that no on-demand providers had stepped forward to offer to handle the VOD release, but that may have changed in the past few days with the intense media coverage of "The Interview" situation.
The FBI on Friday said it believed North Korea was behind the hack attack on Sony Pictures in retaliation for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy that involves the assassination of the nation's leader, Kim Jong Un. Later in the day, President Obama criticized Sony's decision to pull the film's planned Dec. 25 release after the hacker org threatened violence against theaters that showed the pic.
"The Interview" imbroglio has sparked a national discussion about freedom of expression and the dangers of cyber warfare in the digital age.
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