Things are not looking well for Sony as the company is expected to lose $75 million due to the cancellation of comedy movie The Interview. The film was doomed after theater owners refused to play it because of threats from the hackers who brought the Japanese giant to its knees.
Sony spent $44 million to produce The Interview, and that number is part of the projected loss of $75 million. It is not certain at this point what the company is planning to do, as there are no plans right now to release the film via Video on Demand.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Sony had planned to use $36 million to market The Interview. Everything was in place to make this happen, but due to the hacking scandal, the company chose to keep the cash tucked away.
All is not lost, though, as a source claimed that Sony is in a position to reclaim some of the money it used on The Interview from insurance. However, it is not yet certain how much the company stands to receive, but we are confident that losses would still be in the tens of millions.
Sony could attempt to sell The Interview to another company that might be interested in releasing the movie via Video on Demand. However, we doubt any company would be interested in coming to any deal with Sony right now due to the nature of the situation.
Chances are, Sony might have to permanently shove The Interview down an enormous hole until the right time presents itself. This is a film that has garnered a lot of attention and would have no doubt made the company more money than anticipated. In the months to come when everything has died down, we wish Sony would work out a deal with theater owners to air The Interview.
At the end of the day, the $75 million that Sony is expected to lose don't compare to the massive scandal after several company emails were leaked by the hackers. This could make some movie stars refuse to work with Sony, and it could also force the company to give up properties such as Spider-Man back to Marvel.
