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Update: Showtimes for Christmas week screenings of 'The Interview' in Ann Arbor

"The Interview" looked as if it would not be coming to theater near you.

But a national coalition of independent art house theaters have worked to change that, and Ann Arbor's Russ Collins led the charge. (With some success, apparently, since the Michigan Theater recently announced via Twitter on Tuesday, December 23 that the State Theater would offer screenings of the movie on Christmas Day. Screening times are not yet available.)

Collins - executive director and CEO of Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater, and director of the national organization Art House Convergence - recently wrote an open letter, on behalf of AHC, to Sony Entertainment Inc.'s chairman and CEO, Michael Lynton, and Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group co-chair, Amy Pascal, regarding the release of the controversial new comedy "The Interview."

"The Interview," starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, tells the story of a shallow tabloid TV interviewer and his producer, who are invited to interview North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - but the CIA wants the 2 men to use the opportunity to assassinate Jong-un.

The film was supposed to be released nationally in theaters on Christmas Day, but after a North Korean group hacked Sony's system, released inter-company information, and made threats warning Americans to stay away from theaters showing the film, Sony decided to pull the theater from theatrical release.

Art House Convergence, meanwhile, pressed Sony for the chance to exhibit the film in art house theaters across the country. Here's the text of Collins' letter.

Dear Mr. Lynton and Ms. Pascal Your Art House motion picture colleagues wish to support you and your company at this difficult time. We empathize with the ruthless attack your company suffered and we want to help in our small but powerful way. The enormity of the attack your company has suffered and the difficulty of the decisions you have been forced to make in recent days are nearly unimaginable; similarly is the monumental nature of the business disruption your company has endured in recent weeks. Your life, and possibly your judgment, has been disrupted beyond comprehension. The financial bottom line impact will be, frankly, unfathomable for an independent Art House to comprehend. However, in life and art, values are the ultimate “bottom line” and striving for freedom and goodness are the sometimes conflicting, but paramount values of enlightened societies. We understand that “The Interview” is on one level “just a movie,” meaning, in terms of human history, a probably facile entertainment and business investment. But circumstance has propelled this work into a nexus of values, both societal and artistic. It is also, as an artistic and national community, an opportunity to respond clearly to the behavior of an international bully opposed, by word and deed, to the value of freedom. We, the independent Art House community, will gladly exhibit “The Interview” as a special, one-day showing without pecuniary expectation, or as a regular part of our cinema programming. We do this to express the value and power of freedom and to support you, our artistic and business colleagues, during a time of great vexation. Best wishes to you and all your Sony Entertainment colleagues as you endeavor to restore normalcy (if that is possible in show-business!) to your work-life and your business. Most Sincerely - Russ Collins, Director, Art House Convergence

AHC also set up a petition for independent exhibitors to pledge their support of Sony for a theatrical release of "The Interview."

The petition reads:

On Tuesday, December 23, the Michigan Theater tweeted this:

We are working to schedule The Interview to open on December 25th at the State. More TBA. — Michigan Theater (@michigantheater) December 23, 2014

Shortly thereafter, the Michigan Theater confirmed the booking with another tweet.

Screening times are still being worked out.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at jennmckee@mlive.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.