Raunchy North Korea comedy hits US theatres

Raunchy comedy 'The Interview', the movie that has outraged North Korea for lampooning dictator Kim Jong-Un opened in US theatres today, a development its star cheered as "super (expletive) exciting."
Its future had been in doubt after Sony said it was cancelling the release following an embarrassing cyber attack on its corporate network and threats against moviegoers.
Star Seth Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg made a surprise appearance at one of the first showings in Los Angeles just after midnight, when they thanked moviegoers and theatres for pushing to get the film out.
"We thought this might not happen at all," Rogen told a cheering crowd, according to a video posted on YouTube. The theatre was near Rogen and Goldberg's homes, the men said.

"The fact that it's showing here and that you guys all came out," Goldberg said, "is super fucking exciting," Rogen finished.
"We just really wanted to say thank you. If it wasn't for theatres like this and for people like you guys, this literally would not be fucking happening right now," the Canadian actor added.

Many of the biggest US movie theatre chains had gotten cold feet about showing the film after anonymous online threats, prompting Sony to pull the film.
The United States has blamed the Sony cyber attack on North Korea, and President Barack Obama has threatened reprisals.

But Sony came under fire from Obama and free speech advocates for cancelling the release, and some 300 independent theatres so far have stepped up to show the film.
The madcap, irreverent R-rated comedy from entertainment giant Sony was also available online starting yesterday.
"After discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country -- however silly the content might be," Google chief legal officer David Drummond said in a blog post.
The movie was being distributed on Google's YouTube for a USD 5.99 rental fee, on the Google Play app for Android devices and on a dedicated website, seetheinterview.Com.

On vacation in Hawaii, Obama, who had previously called Sony's move a mistake, told reporters he was "glad it's being released.