The Sony hackers dubbed ‘Guardians of Peace’ seem to have apprehended control over the US as ‘The Interview’ has now been officially canceled from its expected December 25th theatrical release. The Department of Homeland Security previously claimed that “there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot” for the ‘Guardians of Peace’ to follow through with their bomb threat; however that didn’t prevent many American cinemas such as Regal, Cinemark and AMC fearing the consequences of featuring the upcoming film ‘The Interview’.
Now, Sony have retreated from releasing the actual film in general, fearing that a lack of major cinemas featuring the film will damage public awareness of the movie. Sony are now left at this decisive point where they must choose the future for their film. Some speculate that Sony intend to release the production soon after the initial tension cool down, whilst others suggest that Sony intend to move towards an online platform – something which I completely support!
Subscription Video on demand streaming has become an increasingly popular option to witness various fictions, in particular Netflix exclusives such as ‘Orange is the New Black’ or ‘House of Cards’ have gained such a wide universal awareness – something which can be mimicked with making ‘The Interview’ a Netflix exclusive too.
It’s worth noting that it wasn’t just the large distribution of users which generated the high viewership of these Netflix exclusives, but also the quality of writing and directing being near spectacular. Other Netflix exclusives such as ‘BoJack Horseman’ or ‘Marco Polo’ haven’t been able to gain as much of a fan-base, only due to the slow startup before the programmes began to deliver an engaging plot. Many early reviews of ‘The Interview’ seem to indicate that the writing isn’t as consistent enough to gain such a high appraisal as did ‘Orange is the New Black’, however the sheer fact that ‘The Interview’ is widely covered by the media due to all of the Sony hacking controversy suggests that many would seek to watch the film, even if the film can be considered mediocre.
Whilst Sony haven’t actually announced their plan of attack with the content of ‘The Interview’, online Video on demand seems the logical approach. Major cinemas will most likely remain persistent in rejecting to feature the film, and relying on smaller independent cinemas is too niche of a strategy and isn’t widely available to people worldwide. Unless the alleged Sony hackers intend to plant a nuclear bomb, there isn’t a simple approach for them to make sure that every online viewer faces repercussions. This alone is exactly why the Online platform must be prioritised!
Even additional scenes which were removed such as Kim Jong-un’s head exploding in a fiery death could be reimplemented into the movie.
The online restrictions could be less.
Even if Netflix were to impose strict regulations, other On Demand institutions or independently uploading the film online would always be a viable option. One thing is for certain, there will have to be a price tag for non-subscription based decisions. This is where the over 53 million Netflix subscribers could tie in, as such subscription On Demand services already have a widespread of users whom won’t have to pay extra to watch the film; however if the movie is to be uploaded independently online, users will most likely be forced to play a separate amount.
The resulting decision is of course to be made soon, most probably after the overblown proportion of media coverage cools down.
How would you like to see ‘The Interview’ be distributed? Leave a comment below!
yBaX |> PLAY 