Sony’s ‘The Interview’ Hits $40 Million In Streaming, Online Sales

Sony Pictures is slowly earning back the funds it spent to make The Interview. The studio announced its online streaming rentals and sales revenue from the comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen has now hit the $40 million mark.

Almost two weeks ago, Sony reported it had earned $31 million from roughly 4.3 million digital downloads and streaming rentals of The Interview. Now, the studio issued a press release, which claims the new $40 million milestone was reached thanks to 5.8 million total digital streaming and rental sales from December 24, 2014, through January 18, 2015. This 5.8 million figure also includes the number of consumers who downloaded or purchased the film through cable, satellite, and telecom providers.

Additionally, The Interview has pulled in another $6 million

from its limited theatrical release (Sony had previously planned to release the film in over 3000 theaters, not 300, before the studio pulled the film due to terrorist threats). That brings the total online and theater earnings from The Interview to about $46 million.

Sony spent $44 million on production for the film, but an insider told Bloomberg Sony thinks it can break even despite the film ultimately costing about $75-80 million to make after factoring in marketing expenditures. “We always said that we would get the movie to the greatest audience possible,” said Sony Entertainment’s CEO Michael Lynton in the release. “Achieving over $40 million in digital sales is a significant milestone.”

However, the National Association of Theatre Owners isn’t so sure Sony should be celebrating. NATO’s CEO Patrick Corcoran believes Sony will end up losing about $30 million from the botched premiere and last-minute digital release of The Interview. “In this simultaneous-release game, Sony is $30 million in the hole and almost out of cards,” he wrote in a blog post.

Regardless of the final tally, Sony has a few accomplishments it can be proud of from The Interview. Only a few days after the film’s release, The Interview became the #1 seller on YouTube and Google Play. The Rogen-Franco comedy also attracted more than 243,000 new subscribers to Sony’s Home Entertainment YouTube channel.