After the media firestorm the release of The Interview caused these last few weeks, it turns out that SONY is the one laughing all the way to the bank. After being available in VOD and On Demand services for two weeks, the movie has pulled in an impressive $31 million, making it the most popular VOD movie ever. A title that it would more than likely not hold for long as the fledgling service continues to grow.
To date, the film has pulled in $1.8 million from its limited theatrical opening over the Christmas holiday and the $1.1 million it grossed last weekend. Add that to the VOD numbers and the film still falls short of its $45 million production/marketing budget. Before it was taken out of theaters across the country, the film was projecting to make $80 million, so the film is still far from being in the black. If there is a silver lining to all of this, SONY now has a case study in VOD sales for future ideas even though the media attention and The Interview did help fuel the sales.
