The Interview was one of the most controversial films of 2014 and it also stirred up a whole lot of problems for Sony Pictures. The studio not only became a target of a hack but it also received 9/11-skewed threats, which caused The Interview to be pulled from cinemas. However, public support rallied and Sony relented, allowing the film to be screened in just over 300 cinemas in the United States. They also released the film online, which garnered some pretty interesting results.
The Interview generated USD1 million from its cinematic release but online, it managed to rake in over USD15 million in online sales and rentals. The success it has garnered online has made The Interview the top-selling movie for both YouTube and Google Play for this year. And most importantly, this could change the way studios will market their movies in the near future.
With the rise in online viewership, we may well see big released movies simultaneously released digitally, which could help combat piracy and also provide an additional revenue stream for film studios. Netflix is already working on several releases of its own, one of which is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 2 and Xbox has also been working on several of its own properties, most recently the Halo: Nightfall series.
Could cinemas be a thing of the past in the near future? That’s certainly something to think about in the New Year…