Although Sony’s “The Interview” has taken in a record $15 million on its unusual opening day online release, it still has a long way to go to profitability.
The controversial
movie has pulled in strong digital video-on-demand activity from over 2 million downloads: Google Play; YouTube Movies; Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox video console; Sony’s own Web site area; and most
recently Apple’s iTunes Store.
But the movie’s estimated $70 million in production costs and $30 million in marketing costs make it a tough road for Sony to put the movie into the
black.
Looking at traditional distribution through movie theaters, "The Interview" has taken in a tiny in $2.8 million in box-office sales from 331 theaters since its release — about 10%
of the original number of theaters in which the movies were scheduled to be released.
Other reports suggest the movie may have been illegally downloaded as well — up to 1.5 million.
Since the initial surge of interest following the movie’s release on December 25, overall download activity has been slowing dramatically.
Pictures Entertainment said "The Interview"
already ranks as its top online film ever — where consumers can rent the movie for $5.99 and own it for $14.99.
Sony pulled the original wide-release rollout plans, due to threats of
violence at movie theaters from those who reportedly hacked into the company computer systems.
advertisement
advertisement