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Why Indie Movie Theaters Decided to Save 'The Interview'

Sony reversed its decision to cancel the release of the controversial film.
'The Interview' official poster. Image: Wikimedia Commons

​After cyber security exp​erts, cri​tics, and the President of t​he United States called Sony's decision to cancel its release of The Interview a bad idea, Sony has backpedaled on the call. Now indie film houses have jumped on the opportunity to run the now-infamous flick.

Earlier today, a handful of indie movie theaters started spreading the word that Sony gave them the green light to release the film, after Sony initially cancelled the cinemati​c release in response to terrorist threats from a group claiming to be responsible for a mass​ive hack of the company's internal documents.

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Tim League, the founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema—the indie theater chain that first announced it would be showing the film—says he got the go-ahead from Sony earlier this morning after some back-and-forth about whether the film would come out, and when.

"There were a huge number of factors. It's been swirling so fast and there's been conflicting stories but yesterday in the conversations [with Sony] it seemed like there was genuine interest to get this out and they were trying to evaluate options," he told me over the phone.

Alamo, along with dozens of other theaters in the art house community, had rallied behind Sony and encouraged the release of The Interview in the interest of freedom of speech. They gathered over 500 signatures on an online petit​ion showing support for Sony and requesting the film be released.

"I'm sure Sony really appreciated the support and I'm sure that was a factor, though I'm also sure it wasn't the only factor in this decision," League said.

Sony released a statement from CEO Michael Lynton shortly after news broke that The Interview would run after all.

"We have never given up on releasing The Interview, and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters Christmas Day," Lynton said, adding Sony hopes it will just be the first round of cinematic release. "At the same time we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience."

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Cinemas from Pittsbur​gh to Atla​nta have started releasing showtimes and selling tickets for the film, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as a TV producer and host who land an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but are tasked by the CIA with assassinating the dictator.

Lo and behold, a butt-and-dick-joke, Seth Rogen and James Franco movie becomes an art film

So far, only indie and art house cinemas have announced they will be showing the movie; before Sony had cancelled the release, the five biggest commercial theater chains announced they were pulling the film. Now, what would have been one of the more commercial cinematic releases of the year has transformed into an art house indie flick in the pursuit of free speech, League said.

"It became way more than just The Interview, more than just a Seth Rogen comedy, especially once it was pulled. It just becomes a freedom of expression issue and I want to be on the right side of that fight," he said.

"Art house theaters love to support important films, films that have a little bit of edginess to them, there's some controversy to them," he added. "That's the bread and butter of what art house cinemas do. So lo and behold, a butt-and-dick-joke, Seth Rogen and James Franco movie becomes an art film."

Alamo's website has been blowing up since the news broke, League said, though mostly due to links from news sites spreading the word. Still, he expects a large turnout and tickets selling out for the showings after all of the heightened awareness. He also said he hopes larger chains will reconsider and decide to run the film eventually, even if that would take some of the special attention away from the art house cinemas.

"It's really important that the movie shows and that people support it and that we don't back down," he said.