By Ryan Faughnder
Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES – Sony Pictures’ controversial comedy “The Interview” is coming to Netflix.
The Los Gatos, Calif., streaming video company said that the film, thought to be at the center of the devastating cyberattack against Sony, will be available to stream for subscribers in the U.S. and Canada starting Saturday.
The film, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, satirizes an assassination plot against North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.
Netflix’s Chief Executive Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells made the announcement in a Tuesday letter to shareholders coinciding with the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report.
The movie hits the streaming service one month after the film launched through online services including Google Play and YouTube Movies. The film has since expanded to multiple digital services and cable and satellite video on-demand services, and has collected about $40 million in gross revenue from those platforms as of Sunday.
The movie also had a limited theatrical release through independent cinemas and has grossed about $6 million in ticket sales.
Originally planned for a wide theatrical release on Christmas Day, Sony Pictures pursued the unusual release strategy after major theater chains dropped the film in the face of threats from hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace.
