Surprise! Sony to stream controversialmovie ‘The Interview’ online

Sony will release “The Interview” online
Wednesday, the company announced.
The movie will be available at 1 p.m.
Eastern on YouTube, Google Play, and
Xbox Video.
It’ll cost $5.99 to rent or $14.99 to own.
Sony’s own site, SeeInterview.com, will
also have the movie.
Google Play is Google’s online store for
apps, music, movies, etc. It comes
included with Android devices. It’s also
available as a separate app on iPhones
and iPads.
You can also get the movie on YouTube
Movies, YouTube’s site for buying or
renting movies.
Xbox Video is available on Xbox video
game consoles and computers, tablets,
and phones that that run Windows 8. You
can also access Xbox Video on its
website.
Over the last few days, Sony has reversed
its position that the movie will not be
shown.
Last week, it decided to pull the movie’s
premiere in theaters after the five largest
theater chains said they wouldn’t show it.
Sony also implied it wouldn’t release the
movie online or through a video on
demand service.
But on Friday, President Obama told
reporters at a news conference that Sony
made a “mistake” by caving to the
demands of hackers. Also on Friday, the
FBI formally blamed North Korea for
backing the hacker group that forced
Sony to initially pull “The Interview” from
theaters. The movie portrays the
assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim
Jong Un.
Since then, Sony has reversed its position
and decided to release the movie in about
200 independent movie theaters. Now, it’ll
be released online too.
Sony was also exploring other online
distribution options too. According to The
New York Times, Sony asked the White
House for help convincing Apple to
release the movie on iTunes. Apple
reportedly declined.