Despite an ongoing hacking scandal and a launch that was canceled and only recently rescheduled, The Interview has managed to rake in $15 million since its online debut on Wednesday. The film’s sales numbers were revealed in an official statement from Sony released on Sunday. “Through Saturday, December 27, including all of its online distribution platforms, The Interview has been rented or purchased online more than 2 million times,” read a statement from Sony Pictures. “Total consumer spending through Saturday for The Interview online is over $15 million.”
The Interview did far better online than it did in its limited theatrical release. Sony Pictures has revealed that the film pulled in over $15 million over the holiday weekend from online purchases and rentals alone in the US and Canada. The studio has also announced that the film has already been rented or purchased over 2 million times. That handily beats the estimated $2.8 million the film earned over the same time period in theaters. However, only a relatively small sampling of independent theaters carried the film — had the major theater chains been willing to show The Interview, these numbers would likely be very different. Sources tell The Verge that the vast majority of the film’s sales came through YouTube and Google Play Movies. The film was also available on Xbox Video and a dedicated Sony website, and as of this afternoon, Apple’s iTunes Store. The figures reported by Sony today only include sales through Saturday, so the final weekend count will be a bit larger.
