Update: SONY TO RELEASE ’THE INTERVIEW’ IN THEATERS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

From the WSJ:

Sony Pictures Entertainment will release “The Interview” on a limited number of screens Dec. 25, the studio said, six days after a hacking attack and terrorist threats led the studio to cancel the slapstick comedy about an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The studio called the limited theatrical opening “only the first step” in the movie’s release plans.

The Sony Corp. unit has told theaters that it will release the film via video-on-demand, a person familiar with the matter said.

The nation’s biggest theater chains are unlikely to play the film, this person said. It is expected to open on just a fraction of the thousands of screens it was supposed to play on. Sony last week gave theaters the option of not playing the film. The largest chains responded by saying they wouldn’t play it and asking the studio to postpone or cancel the film altogether. Sony said last Wednesday that it wouldn't open the film as planned.