The Interview is top of YouTube’s Popular Right Now chart after being released online on December 24th through four digital channels: Google Play, SeeTheInterview.com, Xbox Video, and YouTube Movies.
From a nationwide US opening in 331 small and independent theaters, The Interview took in $1 million in Christmas day ticket stubs according to reports from both Variety and Deadline.
The top earner in the same time period was the Angelina Jolie-directed war flick Unbroken (an estimated $15.6 million), followed by Disney’s musical Into the Woods ($13.6 million)
Users who paid $5.99 to rent the film for 48 hours could simply copy and paste the site’s URL to share the film with friends – this hurt the number who actually PAID!
Variety estimates that high-quality versions of the movie were torrented more than 900,000 times in the 24 hours after the film’s legitimate release.