Though it was only released last week, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's The Interview actually did manage to make it on to a Top 10 list in 2014 thanks to it's financial success. It turns out that a spokesperson from Google has announced that the comedy was the company's best selling film of the year on their Google Play and YouTube platforms.
While we sadly don't have the numbers for the movie that wound up being placed second on Google's list, Variety notes that The Interview has been performing exceptionally well for a On Demand released film. As we reported this past Sunday, the movie made $15 million from online sales in its first four days, and was purchased or rented an impressive 2 million-plus times. The film is still currently rated the top film on YouTube, though it has fallen behind Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy over on Google Play.
Because big movies being released on VOD is still a rather new concept, it's a bit hard to contextualize exactly what The Interview's ranking means- but it helps to compare the movie's success to some other films that have done well on the platform. In their write-up, Variety notes three other films that also have found success in the online market, including the 2012 Richard Gere-led thriller Arbitrage (which managed to make $14 million); the 2012 Kristen Dunst-led dark comedy Bachelorette (which pulled in $8.2 million) and this year's Chris Evans-starring post-apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer (which has made $7 million).
The VOD numbers may just keep growing also. This past Sunday, a deal was reached with Apple that now sees The Interview available in the iTunes store, which obviously only extends the movie's reach. What remains unclear are the details of the negotiations that Sony made with its online distributors, but the recent trade report says that the percentages of gross are likely very much in the studio's favor (this is apparently a regular thing, rather than being a special situation). It's also worth noting that the controversial comedy has been doing rather well in limited theatrical release as well. Adding to the $15 million total brought in from On Demand sales, the 331 theaters nationwide and showing the film added $2.8 million to the gross.
In The Interview, James Franco and Seth Rogen star as Dave Skylark and Aaron Rapaport, an idiot celebrity journalist and his producer, who get the chance of a lifetime thrown at them when they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is a big fan of their show. Aaron is able to work out a deal that will see him and Dave travel to the Asian nation for an interview with the fascist leader - but the game changes a bit when the CIA gets word of the situation. The movie is in theaters and On Demand now.
