Seth Rogen and James Franco, stars of The Interview. NBC/"Saturday Night Live" Following its decision to pull "The Interview" from most theaters, Sony reached out to Apple to distribute the movie on iTunes, according to a report by The New York Times.

Apple said no.

It's unclear from the Times report if Apple didn't want to show the movie because of hacking concerns, but the story does mention that the quick time crunch might have been a factor. Sony also asked the White House to help it find alternative methods of distribution.

From the Times report:

It remained unclear, however, whether any on-demand service would take “The Interview.” According to people briefed on the matter, Sony had in recent days asked the White House for help in lining up a single technology partner — Apple, which operates iTunes — but the tech company was not interested, at least not on a speedy time table. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Even though the major movie theater chains won't show the movie, about 200 independent theaters in the US will show "The Interview" on Christmas Day.