The controversial film “The Interview” is now available to stream online.
The Sony Pictures comedy, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, portrays an attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and was originally slated for a Christmas Day theatrical release.
But the movie appeared to be sidelined last week, after hackers from North Korea threatened terrorist attacks on any theaters planning to show the flick.
After several major theater chains said they wouldn’t screen it, Sony killed the Dec. 25 release entirely. But the studio had a change of heart this week — presumably after harsh rounds of criticism from Hollywood, lawmakers and President Obama alike.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was made available for rent for $5.99 or purchase for $14.99 from Google’s Play Store and YouTube site, as well as Microsoft’s Xbox Video online store.
“[A]fter discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be),” Google said on its official blog website Wednesday.
Sony will also offer the movie through a special website: seetheinterview.com.
Roughly 315 U.S movie theaters — mostly independently owned — also plan to show the film beginning on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
