Sony confirms limited release of 'The Interview'

Merry Christmas, North Korea: The Interview will be a coming attraction after all.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will release its shelved assassination comedy in a limited number of theaters Christmas Day, on the film's original release date.

"We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day," said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment in a statement. "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."

President Obama weighed in while on vacation in Hawaii. "The President applauds Sony's decision to authorize screenings of the film," said White House spokesman Eric Schultz. "As the President made clear, we are a country that believes in free speech, and the right of artistic expression. The decision made by Sony and participating theaters allows people to make their own choices about the film, and we welcome that outcome."

Cue Interview star and co-director Seth Rogen tweeting jubilantly at the news. "The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn't give up!"

His co-star James Franco was similarly triumphant.

The movie, starring Rogen and Franco as a couple of chuckleheads recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un, was pulled last week after the studio and major theater chains freaked out when unknown hackers threatened Sept. 11-style chaos in theaters if it opened.

The indie-friendly Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, based on Austin, confirms to USA TODAY it will play the film, according to founder Tim League. League has been among the leading critics of the studio's decision, and originally tweeted the news of the film's limited run.

League calls Sony's decision patriotic. "This is the best Christmas gift anyone could give us," League said in a statement.

As for safety? League told USA TODAY his first move was to contact local police departments, who conducted a safety briefing with his teams. Though he doesn't see screening the film as a significant security risk, "we are going to be on alert. We're going through training with our staff. Everyone understands the safety procedures and protocol."

Sony confirms over 200 theaters will now screen The Interview, including the Alamo, The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville and at the Plaza Atlanta theater. Plaza Atlanta theater president Michael Furlinger told CNN he got the call at 11 p.m. ET Monday night from Sony "saying they're ready to go."

It's another head-snapping turnaround in the Sony hack-attack saga, ongoing since November, when hackers, now believed to be controlled by North Korea, pried gigabytes of data out of Sony, dumped it all online (leading to revelations of embarrassing emails and even employee medical records), and then began issuing near-illiterate online threats unless Sony killed the movie.

So Sony killed the movie. Then outraged scorn poured over the studio, from First Amendment advocates, politicians, literary stars, industry leaders and even President Obama.

On Sunday, the studio's lawyer, David Boies, told Meet the Press that Sony decided it would release the movie, but wasn't clear yet how.

Financially, speaking, The Interview's limited release will be small potatoes as Sony works to recoup its $44 million budget. But the symbolic theatrical run will likely have a "great per-theater average," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, and could create a ripple effect.

"It's a message and a start" for the Rogen satire, says Bock, which, incredibly, has now become an art-house film. "And maybe it's enough for other theaters to eventually play it as well as the hoopla dies down."

With the news that The Interview will hit theaters after all, Lynton thanked all those involved with the controversial film. "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," he said.

Contributing: Bryan Alexander