The Interview

When a foreign government gets involved, you know it's bad.

FOX’s The Last Man on Earth literally went into orbit for its first season finale, but Lord, Miller and Will Forte have come back to Earth a bit for Season 2. The post-apocalyptic comedy has added a writer of The Interview for Season 2, taking over direct showrunning duties for The Last Man on Earth.

If you haven’t watched Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s ‘The Interview’ yet, either because you’re too cheap to spend $6 to rent it online, or you were worried North Korean hackers would catch you buying it and share your private emails slagging your boss with the world (I’m sorry Mike! When I called you “a giant goober,” I meant that in an affectionate way, like Goobers candy! Which everyone loves!) you are in luck. As part of their quarterly letter to shareholders, Netflix announced that they will “exclusively” offer the comedy to its U.S. and Canadian customers starting this Saturday, January 24. Sorry Netflix Netherlands! You’re out of luck for now.

The Razzie Awards are the joke of the awards community, handed out annually to films and stars viewed as the worst of that given year. Some people view film awards as arbitrary and largely hollow prizes, and many of the annual Razzie nominees only to serve to validate that perception as the Razzies don’t typically go to the bottom of the barrel, but to high-profile films. Some believe this is merely attention-seeking an obnoxious, and the films on this year’s shortlist aren’t doing anything to contradict that sentiment.

Did you rent ‘The Interview’ online over the Christmas weekend? You did? I hope you were not assailed by nefarious hackers! Change all your passwords, just to be safe. Regardless, your purchase or rental of ‘The Interview,’ Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s ultra-controversial poop-joke-laden comedy about the attempted assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (and poop jokes), helped make the film the biggest digital release in the history of Sony Pictures. After many of the country’s major theater chains declined to screen the film in the wake of threats of violence (by those same nefarious hackers), Sony canceled ‘The Interview’’s release outright. But then, early on Christmas Eve, they did an about-face, and made the film available on Google Play, YouTube, and Xbox Live. (It’s since been added to Apple’s iTunes Store as well.)

Following the massive controversy surrounding Sony’s ‘The Interview,’ the film finally made its way to theaters, On Demand, and various streaming services. It’s been a victorious few days for the film following the hacker attack on Sony and threats from a mysterious terrorist group, which have made ‘The Interview’ more than just a comedy—it’s become a symbol for freedom of speech and creativity. Now that we’ve all mostly moved on from the events of the last few weeks, we can just focus on watching and (maybe) enjoying the film. And Seth Rogen and James Franco would like to enjoy it with you today, when they live-tweet ‘The Interview’ later this afternoon.

Just last week it seemed possible that 'The Interview' may never be seen anytime soon as Sony Pictures canceled the theatrical release and claimed they had no immediate plans for a VOD debut. But, following yesterday's news that 'The Interview' will run in select theaters on Christmas Day, comes more details on their plans to simultaneously stream the film online.

Earlier today it was announced that Sony will release ‘The Interview’ in select theaters and on VOD this Christmas Day after all. Following the massive hacker attack on the company and subsequent terrorist threats from the group known as Guardians of Peace, Sony had no choice but to cancel the film’s release after major theater chains decided not to show the film. In a wonderful turn of events, following a petition from Art House Convergence, which was signed by many independent exhibitors, Sony is moving forward with the release. We have the full list of theaters that will screen the film this Thursday.

Full details are still forthcoming, but it looks like ‘The Interview’—Seth Rogen’s ultra-controversial comedy about an American assassination attempt on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un—will open on Christmas after all. Sony initially cancelled their planned December 25 release after hackers threatened theaters that dared to show ‘The Interview’ with terrorist attacks, and many of the biggest exhibitor chains in the country (including Regal and AMC) subsequently decided not to run the film.

‘The Interview’ has quickly become a huge point of interest for the American public, with the controversy surrounding it and the Sony hacker attack driving up even more interest in the film. Yesterday, we reported that Sony has removed the social media pages for ‘The Interview’ and deleted all clips from YouTube, while North Korea officially denied any involvement in the attack and offered to work with the U.S. government to find the culprits (oh, and they threatened us, too). And while Sony has waffled on whether or not they plan to release the film, the latest update suggests we’ll see it pretty soon.