Sony has confirmed that The Interview will be distributed online and on-demand on Wednesday, reversing an earlier decision to withdraw the film from distribution entirely. The company confirmed that more than 200 sites across the US will also screen the movie starting Christmas Day.  The Interview will be available on Wednesday at 1pm ET on YouTube, Google Play, Xbox and at Sony’s dedicated website, Seetheinterview.com.  “It has always been Sony’s intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,” said Michael Lynton, Sony’s Entertainment’s chairman and CEO.  Sony had cancelled the film’s release following threats of violence against cinemagoers.  The number of sites is a small proportion of the cinemas that major studio films tend to appear in – The Hobbit, for example, was screened at more than 3,800 sites this week – but if successful and incident-free, the the comedy could potentially be rolled out to more screens.  President Obama, who previously dismissed the decision to cancel The Interview’s release as a “mistake”, has welcomed Wednesday’s decision.  “With today’s announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that’s how it should be,” Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said in a statement released by the White House.  Meanwhile, the film’s stars James Franco and Seth Rogen took to Twitter to celebrate.  VICTORY!!!!!!! The PEOPLE and THE PRESIDENT have spoken!!! SONY to release THE INTERVIEW in theaters… http://t.co/0KyZQAB6cf  The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn't give up! The Interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it on Xmas day!  But not everyone was happy with Sony’s decision. According to Deadline, US exhibitors are frustrated with the move.  Landmark Cinemas said it would not be showing the film, saying it couldn’t accommodate it in a busy festive schedule. It said: “It would never occur to us not to honour our existing commitments to our distribution partners during one of the busiest times in the year.”  Another anonymous source complained that “Sony threw theatre owners under the bus last week when they blamed the theatres for pulling the wide release”.  Studio heads have contradicted claims by George Clooney that the actor approached them with a petition against Sony’s cancellation of the film.  Clooney recently complained that no one signed the petition, aimed at fighting back against the terror threats being made against cinemas for exhibiting the film. He said: “As we watched one group be completely vilified, nobody stood up. Nobody took that stand. Nobody wanted to be the first to sign on.”  Representatives for Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros and Lionsgate, plus talent agencies WME and UTA, told the Hollywood Reporter that their executives were never approached by Clooney.
Studio expands release plans for controversial film to include YouTube, Google Play and others while moving up release date to Christmas Eve