Entertainment giant Sony on Wednesday streamed The Interview, the movie that has outraged North Korea for lampooning its leader Kim Jong-un, giving an early online Christmas present to US viewers.
The madcap, irreverent R-rated comedy was available for rent in the US on several platforms, a day before a limited release in about 200 cinemas on Christmas Day.
It was being distributed on Google’s YouTube for a US$5.99 rental fee, on the Google Play app for Android devices and on a dedicated Web site, seetheinterview.com.
Photo: Reuters
A bawdy, expletive-laden tale full of sexual innuendo and scatological humor, the film’s future had been in doubt after Sony said it was canceling the release after an embarrassing cyberattack on its corporate network and threats against moviegoers.
The US has blamed the hack attack on North Korea and US President Barack Obama has threatened reprisals, but Sony had come under fire from Obama and free speech advocates for pulling the film and the studio quickly performed an about-face.
On vacation in Hawaii, Obama, who had previously called Sony’s move a mistake, told reporters he was “glad it’s being released.”
While some movie theater chains got cold feet after online threats, a limited number agreed to show the film from yesterday.
Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft joined forces with Sony to release the film to online audiences.
“After 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 chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog post.
Starring comic actors Seth Rogen and James Franco, the film is a silly, low-brow romp about a CIA plot to assassinate Kim.
A kind of a cross between a slapstick James Bond movie and The Hangover, it is aimed squarely at an audience (most likely teenage boys) out for a fun, but vacuous night at the cinema.
Almost two hours long, the film depicts how girl-chasing, hard-partying, always fashionable tabloid TV presenter Dave Skylark (Franco) and his bro-romance producer (Rogen) score an exclusive interview with the leader of the world’s most reclusive state.
That is when the CIA steps in and presents them with a plan to kill Kim.
However, once in Pyongyang Skylark begins to bond with Kim over basketball, Katy Perry songs piped into his Russian-made tank and margaritas served during a drug-fueled evening with a bevy of naked beauties.
There are shots of a naked Kim’s backside and he is portrayed as a man deeply scarred by never winning his father’s approval and determined to show the world how tough he can be.
Eventually, even Skylark learns the truth about the regime’s brutality and he sets out to take down Kim by exposing him as a liar during his live interview.
“Kim must die — that’s the American way,” says Skylark, as the plot is hatched.
“It has always been Sony’s intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,” Sony Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton said in a statement. “It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech.”
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