Seth Rogen and James Franco's movie, "The Interview", shows the fictional story of the CIA's plot to assassinate North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. The Sony Pictures film was released in theaters nationwide on Christmas day, attracting moviegoers who said that they supported the company's decision to stand up to efforts to bowdlerize the low-budget comedy.
One of the main stars in the film, Seth Rogen, along with co-director Evan Goldberg surprised the moviegoers when they appeared at the 12:30 a.m. sold-out screening of the movie at a theater in L.A. where the two also thanked the fans for their unwavering support.
While waiting for the movie to start, the group of people outside the theater said that they came to show their support for freedom of speech and of choice.
Over the past week, the planned release of the film triggered a whirlwind of virtual reactions. After being the target of a destructive cyberattack last month on the company, Sony Pictures cancelled the release of "The Interview", where the attacks were blamed on North Korea.
The movie is currently playing in the theaters of major metropolitan areas as well as the smaller cities like Bangor, Maine, Indiana, Jasper.
Because of the attack threats made by hackers on the theaters and audiences, major movie chains decided to not release the film, so major chains are not included in the scheduled screenings nationwide.
However, it will still be shown in 320 small, independent movie theaters across the country, with several of them having sold out the day before the big screening, as the film's controversy made headlines worldwide.
"You know, this is a film I probably would not have come to see but because of the controversy I thought I would come out tonight to stand up for freedom of speech," said Tamsin Hollow, who showed up for the screening in L.A.
Many of the movie fans were even happy. After watching the film, fans found "The Interview" to be a great and funny movie.
"It's a farce of the highest level," said Matt Orstein while leaving the theater. "I would equate it to something like 'Airplane!' or 'Hot Shots!' you know. I mean it's funny but it's definitely nothing that could topple a monarchy."
The fans praised the appearance made by Rogen and Goldberg at an L.A. theater.
"It was a great movie, it was really funny, they did a fantastic job. It was really great that Seth came out, Seth Rogen himself came out and greeted everybody. Hey, go America," said Tom Sopit, another fan of the movie.
