James Franco and Seth Rogen's comedy, The Interview, has managed to make $15 million online via YouTube and Xbox Video. This was achieved during just the first four days of release, so imagine if the film was released properly in all theaters across the United States.
From what we understand from the Sony Pictures Entertainment announcement, The Interview was purchased and rented a combined 2 million times online. This is very impressive, even more so when one takes into account that this film is Sony's most popular on the web.
Apart from the Internet, the movie was also released in 300 theaters across the United States but could only manage to muster a gross of $2.8 million during the same four-day period. Clearly this movie is more popular online and could help usher in the possibilities of more big-budget films taking an early video-on-demand release.
Rogen, one of the lead actors in The Interview, came out in full support of the film release in theaters and via video-on-demand.
"I'm so grateful that the movie found its way into theaters, and I'm thrilled that people actually went out and saw it," Rogen stated on Dec. 28. "The fact that people actually left their houses when they had the option of staying home is amazing."
It should be interesting when Sony Pictures announces the full gross of The Interview in the coming months. The company might not get a return on the $75 million spent to direct and advertise The Interview, but it should be able to close the gap just a little bit.
If this movie is capable of earning Sony Pictures a solid $15 million in just four days, then imagine how much money the studio could muster in a six-month period. This is considering if the movie can keep itself in the news and on the forefront of social media for this long.
At the end of the day, we're glad Sony Pictures released the movie. We just wished it was worth watching. After all the hype and controversy, The Interview deserved to be something special.
