'The Interview' Online, Video on Demand Sales Reach $31 Million

Sony Pictures Entertainment has reported over $31 million in online revenues through Sunday for its comedy The Interview with more than 4.3 million downloads.

Seth Rogen and James Franco’s $40 million comedy has already generated over $5 million in limited theatrical release for a total of $36 million in grosses.

The studio previously announced that The Interview made $15 million in its first four days of release with only a fraction of the number of distributors, so the latest numbers indicate that sales and rentals have slowed as the controversy surrounding the film has died down. These latest figures end on January 4.

The film about a hapless TV host tasked with assassinating Kim Jong-un was originally intended to be released on roughly 3,000 screens on Christmas Day. It was expected to generate $20 million during its opening.

However, the gory subject matter likely inspired a cyber-attack from North Korea that brought Sony to its knees. After hackers evoked 9/11 and threatened violence, a theatrical release was briefly scuttled before Sony backtracked and lined up hundreds of arthouse and independent theaters willing to show the film. Its decision to release the film simultaneously on-demand and theatrically infuriated major exhibitors who refused to show the picture on their screens.

Initially, the film was only available on YouTube, Google Play and Microsoft Xbox. Apple and its iTunes platform joined the fray after the film had been in release for five days. Last week the list of providers expanded to include cable, telco and satellite companies — a contingent that includes Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV; Verizon FiOS, Cablevision and Dish.

It’s not clear what the financial terms are between Sony and the various distributors. Theatrical revenues are typically an even split between studios and exhibitors.

Sony’s decision to make its on-demand and digital sales figures public provides a rare glimpse at home entertainment revenues. Those finances are typically kept private. Only a handful of arthouse and independent releases have reached these kind of levels, such as Snowpiercer ($8.2 million), Arbitrage ($14 million) and Bachelorette ($8.2 million).