Sony Claims ‘The Interview’ May Be Released Online

The past week has seen lots of change in the Sony Pictures hacking case, starting with U.S. officials confirming a connection between North Korea and hacking group #GOP. It has not been disclosed how the connection was found, but either way it has sparked major backlash against the communist state.

Just days before officials made a connection to North Korea, the #GOP threatened moviegoers if they went to see “The Interview” on December 25, with a 9/11 scale attack. In response, Sony Pictures messaged cinema chains in the U.S., allowing them to stop promotion and screening of the film. This has been seen as a major mistake on Sony’s part, with President Obama and various independent film makers calling Sony cowards for backing down to terrorist threats.

It looks like Sony has taken the criticism on board, and will attempt to make “The Interview” available to audiences in the U.S., either through an online route or smaller cinema chains. Various studios have moved in support of Sony Pictures, including BitTorrent, George R.R. Martin’s cinema and the US Capitol. Sony may even set up a streaming partnership with Amazon or Netflix, for maximum exposure.

The U.S. people are behind Sony’s attempt to get the movie out to moviegoers — the IMDb rating currently sits at 99 percent with over 30,000 votes.

It is still not clear if “The Interview” is even a good movie, most reviewers gave it a 5/10 rating in early screenings. However, the PR for the movie has become a catalyst for it to gain millions of views, wherever it is distributed.

The #GOP hacking group has gone completely off the grid in the past few days, after threatening an even larger leak at Christmas. China has also weighed in on the situation, claiming while the hack is devastating, there is no connection to North Korea.

And North Korea, being North Korea, said they would blow up the White House if U.S. officials did not work with the country to clear its name.

President Obama has revealed he plans to move to put North Korea back on the state-sponsored terrorist list, due to the attack.