Image copyright Film company Image caption The Interview tells of two US journalists who are co-opted into a CIA assassination plot

Controversial comedy The Interview is to have "a wide release" in the UK and Ireland, Sony Pictures has confirmed.

The film, the story of which involves a fictional plot to kill the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will be shown, in cinemas only, from 6 February.

Sony had withdrawn the film in the wake of a damaging studio cyber-attack, only to then release it in selected cinemas and make it available online in the US.

The film has now made more than $31m (£20.5m) from its digital distribution.

Its limited theatrical release, meanwhile, has netted its makers around $5m (£3.3m).

Co-written and co-directed by its star Seth Rogen, The Interview was described last year as a "blatant act of terrorism" by North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency.

Its scheduled release is thought to have motivated the orchestrated attack that saw films, confidential emails and Sony staff's salary details being leaked online.

Sony faced widespread criticism for initially cancelling the film's theatrical release, a decision that President Obama called a "mistake".

The US has placed sanctions on three North Korean organisations and 10 individuals after the FBI blamed Pyongyang for the cyber-attack.