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Sony generates 15m from The Interview

Article By: ,  Financial Analyst
December 30, 2014 10:26 AM

It has become the most infamous and controversial films of all time and now The Interview is paying dividends for Sony.

After finally being released on December 24th, the title starring Seth Rogen and James Franco has been downloaded over two million times generating $15 million (£9.65 million) in the process, as of December 27th. It is now Sony's most-downloaded title ever and has made back a third of its $44 million budget in that time.

The film has sparked controversy as it centres around a fictional US plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It sparked outrage in North Korea and led to Sony computer systems being hacked by the group "Guardians of Peace". The hackers threatened the US with 9/11-type attacks on cinemas showing the film.

Many movie theatres across the US decided to pull screenings and the New York premiere was also cancelled. With the hacking leading to the leaking of confidential information about upcoming film scripts, emails and actors' salaries, Sony took the decision to cancel The Interview's December 25th release date.

It was an act condemned by President Barack Obama who stated that the hack meant that freedom of expression was being put under threat. Sony seemed to have a change of heart and The Interview was given a limited Christmas Day release and was shown in some US cinemas as well as being released online.

It was not just movies that were targeted by hackers over the Christmas period as Xbox and PlayStation games consoles were also the subject of breaches. A hacking group called Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for attacks on Christmas Day which disabled online services for gamers using either Xbox Live or Sony's PlayStation system.

The hacks hit Sony's share price with the company seeing stock value dropping 3.46 per cent at 09:00 GMT on Tuesday (December 30th).

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