It's not looking good for The Interview. The film, which saw its release canceled in the wake of the epic Sony Pictures hack and subsequent terror threats from the hackers, may not appear on the screen of any theater for a very long time. President Barack Obama weighed in on the matter Friday, saying it was a "mistake" for Sony to pull the release of the film. Sony CEO Michael Lynton responded, saying the company was still committed to some kind of release, and blamed the halted release on theater owners, who refused to screen the film after threats of physical attacks.

Putting aside the buck-passing nature of the comments, there's an obvious alternative that's been pointed out by many already, including Newt Gingrich: Distribute The Interview online. However, no video on demand (VOD) service has been willing to work with Sony to do so, Lynton said. It's easy to see why. The hackers have already demonstrated an impressive ability to pilfer data, and they've proven even more adept at instilling fear. Sony and the theaters capitulated to their demands, even though the threat of terror attacks wasn't deemed credible by the FBI. To a Netflix or a Comcast, there's very little upside to hosting the movie, and a big downside: It will guarantee that you'll be the next target of the cyberattack from the "Guardians of Peace," which the government said was working at the behest of North Korea. But there is one VOD service where the potential upside might outweigh the risk: Google Play. Even for owners of Android phones, Google Play Movies typically isn't their first stop when it comes time to stream a movie. The service has a long way to go, and now that Amazon Instant Video has come to Android, Google Play is getting squeezed even more. The service could use a high-profile boost, and hosting The Interview would finally put it front and center in the VOD world, casting aside its afterthought status, at least for a time. Yes, that would make Google a target, but the company is no stranger to controversy and attacks from hackers. On the shortlist of companies almost guaranteed to withstand a major cyberattack, Google is near the top. Additionally, Google offering to host The Interview would benefit the company in two indirect ways: It would raise its reputation among lawmakers, whose support the company is in constant need of, especially for its many "moonshot" projects like drones and self-driving cars. Secondly, it would extend an olive branch to Sony, and by extension, Hollywood. One of the more disturbing things to come out of the hack has been the revelation that Sony and other studios were working to resurrect SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act), a set of laws that could have led to more Internet censorship, something Google obviously opposed. The company is derisively referred to in the email exchanges as "Goliath." By hosting The Interview, Google instantly grabs the moral high ground in this fight. How will it look if Sony proceeded with its neo-SOPA plans if it acted against the very company that bailed it out of its darkest hour? Put simply, Sony — and Hollywood — would owe Google one. Finally, Google has a real principle to stand on here, one of supporting free expression. Catchy slogans haven't really done a good job of describing what Google does, but the old favorite "Don’t be evil" comes to mind here. Not that Google would be evil by not hosting the film, but if it chose to do so, it would be actively fighting against it. I know: It sounds too pat, too much like a feel-good ending in one of those movies Hollywood keeps making. I'm under no illusions that it will actually happen, but it could. All it would take is someone to put aside the fear.