Sony Corporation’s (SNE) ‘The Interview’, after becoming the top-grossing online movie release, is now set to be available through pay TV services as well.
Sony announced its decision to extend the distribution network for this controversial comedy film. From Dec 31 onwards, key cable, satellite and telecommunications providers in the U.S., including Comcast Corporation (CCV), Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and DIRECTV (DTV), among others, have started offering the movie on a rental basis through their network. Apart from these, Verizon’s FiOS service and AT&T Inc's U-verse are also offering the movie to their subscribers.
Moreover, Sony has expanded its distribution to over 580 theaters in the U.S., and the movie is also being made available through its PlayStation Network and Wal-Mart’s video-on-demand service, Vudu.
This development comes as an attempt to reach a wider audience, after the original screening plans for the movie were stalled due to a cyber attack. Following the outage, the movie was released simultaneously across a small number of theaters and online platforms. (Read: Sony Scraps ‘The Interview’ Release on Hackers' Threat)
Sony has reportedly spent over $80 million for the production and marketing of this movie. According to media reports, if the planned theatrical release of the movie had not been hindered, Sony could have garnered around $120 million in the U.S. itself, as estimated by box office analysts. However, the availability of the movie via the on-demand medium has so far proved to be beneficial for the company.
‘The Interview’ became the highest grossing online release of the year, after having generated revenues to the tune of $15 million from online viewers and $3 million from its theatrical screenings on the opening weekend. (Read: Sony's The Interview: Top Grossing Online Movie Release)
The alternative distribution strategy by the company is an attempt to cover the costs and achieve a break-even, if not more. According to media reports, as many as 55 million subscribers will have access to this movie through Pay TV.
The cyber attack has proven to be a pricey affair for Sony. But so far, the movie’s reception across the digital media has been encouraging. Let’s see whether this new initiative will allow this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock to meet its cost of production.
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