http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-interview-to-get-christmas-screening-after-all-theaters-say/

CBS/APDecember 23, 2014, 12:39 PM
"The Interview" to get Christmas screening after all, theaters say

James Franco is an American journalist meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park) in the comedy, "The Interview." COLUMBIA PICTURES

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Last Updated Dec 23, 2014 12:52 PM EST

Sony Pictures has authorized the Christmas Day screening of "The Interview," two independent theaters said Tuesday, after the studio scrapped the release of the North Korea satire following hacker threats of violence against theaters showing the film.

The Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas and the Plaza Theater in Atlanta announced on social media that they had the green light from Sony to screen the film.

Tim League, founder of The Alamo Drafthouse, tweeted:


The Plaza Theater in Atlanta also announced the news via Twitter:


According to TheWrap, Sony is expected to announce the film's release, which will also be available via video on demand, later Tuesday. Representatives for Sony did not immediately comment.

Such a release would enable "The Interview" to open in select theaters and avoid the national chains that dropped the North Korea satire last week.


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Obama: Sony "made a mistake" pulling movie
Sony's cancellation of the movie following terrorist threats from hackers drew widespread criticism, including from President Barack Obama.

The FBI has said the attacks on Sony came from North Korea.

On Monday, Sony's attorney, David Boies, hinted that the film would be released.

"Sony only delayed this," Boies said, adding, "Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed."

On Monday, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman and Tony Kushner were among the writers who signed a PEN American Center petition urging Sony Pictures to make "The Interview" widely available.

Monday's petition from PEN, a literary and human rights organization, said that pulling "The Interview" would be a "lasting blow" to free expression.


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Was North Korea's debilitating Internet blackout due to a cyber counterstrike?
Rushdie, a former PEN president, faced dire threats 25 years ago after the publication of "The Satanic Verses." The novel was condemned as blasphemous by some Muslims, and Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie's death. The PEN petition noted that "The Satanic Verses" continued to be published and sold.

Meanwhile, key North Korean websites were back online Tuesday after an hours-long shutdown that followed a U.S. vow to respond to the crippling cyberattack on Sony.

The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible for the Internet shutdown in one of the least-wired and poorest countries in the world.