After free-speech row, Sony agrees to release The Interview

As North Korea felt the effects of an attack on its internet systems, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced it will release The Interview, the satirical comedy at the center of an international dispute, on Christmas Day. Movie-goers can see the film in a limited number of theaters. Many major chains said last week they would not show the movie because of threat made against theaters that showed it.

“While we hope this is only the first step of the film’s release, we are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech,” Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement.

The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, depicts two American TV personalities recruited by the U.S. government to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. North Korea called the movie “the most undisguised act of terrorism and a war action” and an “evil act of provocation.” The Kim dictatorship is believed to be behind a cyberattack that crippled Sony in November. A handful of unreleased Sony movies leaked to the internet, as did many off-color and negative emails that embarrassed Sony executives. A group claiming responsibility for the attack made vague threats against people who went to see the film, prompting Sony to cancel its release.

U.S. President Barack Obama chided Sony for giving in and said the U.S. government planned a response to North Korea’s actions. Reports that the internet had gone down in North Korea surfaced yesterday, with U.S. officials neither confirming nor denying they orchestrated the outage. Intermittent outages and downed websites continued today.

If the U.S. caused North Korea’s computer woes, the move is largely symbolic since almost no one in the country has internet access. North Korea only has about 1,000 official internet protocol addresses, which allow devices to publicly access the world wide web. Access is limited to government elite and foreigners.

The White House welcomed Sony’s decision, saying it was a victory for free speech and the right to artistic expression.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.