It appears that millions of Americans performed their patriotic duty to rent and watch “the Interview” this weekend despite threats from the diminutive dictator of North Korea and his basement-dwelling hacker geeks.
Sony says 'The Interview' made $15 million online in first 4 days, saying it was rented or bought 2 million times
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 28, 2014
Sony Pictures said Sunday that the scandalous Seth Rogen comedy was “rented or purchased online more than 2 million times” between Wednesday, when it was released, and Saturday.
The totals do not include Sunday, when Rogen and others held a live-tweet session to further promote online streams of the movie.
“Total consumer spending through Saturday for The Interview online is over $15 million,” Sony said in a statement. Earlier, studio executives would only say that rental numbers were strong.
That’s far more than the movie made in theaters — despite sold-out showings in a patchwork of theaters across the country. Through Sunday, “The Interview” is expected to make about $2.8 million at the 331 independently-owned theaters that have been showing it since Christmas Day.
This is about in line with industry expectations. Had it opened in the 2,000 to 3,000 theaters it was originally scheduled to be in, the movie would have made far more. But security fears scuttled that release two weeks ago and led to a hybrid in-theater and at-home release plan.
Among these patriotic interview-watchers was Charles Krauthammer, but he didn’t appreciate it much – watch his review here.