Sony is planning to release Seth Rogen's controversial comedy, "The Interview" for free on its own streaming service Crackle, The New York Post's Dana Sauchelli reports, citing unnamed sources.However, Re/code reports that Sony hasn't made a decision yet and a spokesperson says "the Post report isn't accurate."That doesn't mean "The Interview" will never appear on Crackle. It just means plans have not been finalized.A lawyer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, David Boies, stated on "Meet The Press" Sunday that the film would be distributed, but he wasn't sure how."It will be distributed. How it's going to be distributed I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed," Boies said.But if Sony were to distribute the film on Crackle, it wouldn't be able to charge users who watch it. The inability to recoup some of the movie's production costs might deter Sony from going an internal route. CNN's Brian Stelter spoke with a Sony source this morning who confirmed that Sony is "pursuing all options" to release the film, although the source didn't seem to specify which outlet Sony was leaning toward. "I think it’s very, very likely [Sony will release the movie], I would be shocked if we don’t see this movie someway, somehow," Stelter stated on CNN Sunday. "The question now is how? One source at Sony said to me today, ‘We are pursuing all options.’ So let’s imagine what those could be. Could be Netflix, could be Youtube, it could be independent movie theaters or it could be the big movie theater chains that originally decided not to show the film about 4 days ago. ”Stelter added that Sony is having discussions with potential distributors about releasing "The Interview" this weekend, and it could inform the public of its plans either this week or in very early 2015."The Interview" was scheduled for a Christmas Day release in theaters nation-wide. Sony canceled it after hackers threatened it and breached its servers, releasing 32,000 private email messages written by Sony executives.Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria Friday that his company did not "cave" to the pressure of hackers. Lynton said the film's release was canceled because theaters came to Sony one by one over the course of a "very short period of time ... and announced they would not carry the movie."Lynton says Sony had "no alternative" but to cancel the Dec. 25 theatrical release. He also stated that Sony was considering online alternatives for the release, including YouTube, but that it needed a distribution outlet to show the film.Sony may have felt pressure to release the film after President Obama stated Friday that the company's decision to cancel the showings was a "mistake.""What I was laying out is a principal that I think this country has to abide by," Obama told CNN's Candy Crowley after his Friday press conference. "We believe in free speech. We believe in the right of artistic expression and satire and things that powers that be might not like. And if we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber a company’s distribution chain or its products and, as a consequence, we start censoring ourselves, that’s a problem ... I expect all of us to remember that and operate on that moving forward." When asked why Sony didn't release the film online when it canceled the theatrical release, Sony Pictures president Michael Lynton replied:"There are a number of options open to us and we have considered and are considering them. While there have been a number of suggestions that we deliver this movie digitally or via VOD [Video On Demand], there has not been one major VOD distributor, one major e-commerce site, that has stepped forward and said they're going to distribute this for us. Again, we don't have that direct interface with the American public, so we need to go through an intermediary to do that."He did not mention Crackle.Sony Pictures did not immediately respond to a request for comment.[/url]
I doubt Sony will simply take a loss on this movie and give it away.Perhaps they will just put it straight-to-dvd?
Quote from: Rocketman287 on December 21, 2014, 08:26:54 PMI doubt Sony will simply take a loss on this movie and give it away.Perhaps they will just put it straight-to-dvd?They cancelled it, did they not? The best thing for Sony to do is to release it for free
I can't help but to think this was all just a ploy to get attention for a movie that was largely ignored.
Quote from: challengerX on December 22, 2014, 01:25:00 AMQuote from: Mad Max on December 21, 2014, 09:13:35 PMI can't help but to think this was all just a ploy to get attention for a movie that was largely ignored.There are far better ways to get attention. To be fair, this was one of the best ways I could think of. You make a movie about assassinating the president of North Korea and no one gives half a fuck about it. Then suddenly decide to completely pull the movie from all theaters because you got hacked by North Korea because they don't want the movie to be shown? Guaranteed publicity and a shit ton of people getting interested in a movie they never would've seen in the first place. The FBI announcement killed it being a publicity stunt, of course, but otherwise I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that this was all just a way of promoting the movie.
Quote from: Mad Max on December 21, 2014, 09:13:35 PMI can't help but to think this was all just a ploy to get attention for a movie that was largely ignored.There are far better ways to get attention.