Update: More than 300 indie theaters stepped up and started showing "The Interview" on Christmas Day. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is leading the charge. Fourteen of the Austin, Texas based chain's theaters have signed on, including their flagship New York location in Yonkers. Check out the theater list here.
"The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed!" Seth Rogen tweeted Dec. 23. "Sony didn't give up! The Interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it on Xmas day! Thanks Sony for making it happen. Booyah."
Facing anonymous threats, Sony Pictures had decided not to release The Interview on Dec. 18. After movie theater chains said they wouldn't show the film, Sony initially caved.
The movie - co-written, co-directed and co-starring Rogen - has incurred the wrath of North Korea. In The Interview, Rogen and James Franco play bumbling assassins whose job is to kill Supreme Leader Kim Jung-un. For months now, North Korea has not gotten the joke and called the film acts of provocation and terrorism. Several weeks ago, Sony's computer system was hacked. In the last few days, threats have been directed at film-goers who attend premieres and any future screenings, warning: "We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places 'The Interview' be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to."
The usually loquacious Rogen remained quiet when the news broke, but his friends and allies didn't, offering a range of opinions. One of the funniest was from Michael Moore: "Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I'd also like to see less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers."
Bill Maher chimed in: "Is that all it takes - an anonymous threat and the numbers 911 - to throw free expression under the bus?"
Zach Braff called it a "pretty horrible precedent to set" and joked, "There goes my Hitler comedy.."
Judd Apatow wondered: "Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?"
Jimmy Kimmel, in a rare serious tweet, charged Sony and theaters with committing "an un-American act of cowardice."
And Mia Farrow sighed, "Damn. Bad guys won."
Well, not quite. The movie's also available to watch via YouTube and Google Play. It earned $1 million at the box office after its first day in theaters.
