UPDATE: Vancouverites will get a chance to see Seth Rogen’s international-incident comedy The Interview in theatres this Friday but not downtown. We”ll have to drive out to Surrey (Hollywood Surrey), Pitt Meadows (Hollywood Pitt Meadows) or Chilliwack (Cottonwood Cinema) to catch a screening. These are three of only seven theatres in B.C. and 27 theatres across Canada who’ve agreed to screen it since the major chains, including Canada’s Cineplex, pulled the film from their schedules before Christmas because of threats of possible terrorist attacks by a hacker group linked to North Korea. Seth Rogen and James Franco star as journalists involved in an improbable plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jon Un shot on location in Vancouver and Squamish a year ago.
James Franco and Seth Rogen in Robson Square with giant prop statue of Kim Jon-Un.
Sony later managed to cobble together a limited release of The Interview in the U.S., taking in almost $3 million over the four-day Christmas weekend from about 330 art house theatres who agreed to screen the movie despite threats. Rogen and co-director/high-school pal Evan Goldberg attended a Los Angeles screening on Christmas Day.
.@Sethrogen and @evandgoldberg introducing THE INTERVIEW! pic.twitter.com/0WIWUL0AvE— The Cinefamily (@cinefamily) December 25, 2014
The Interview did better online, making over $15 million in rentals or sales over the four-day Christmas weekend on Google Play in the U.S. and Canada, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox and the website seetheinterview.com for a total of 2 million downloads.
Seth Rogen filming in The Ascot in downtown Vancouver.