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“The Interview” Now Available on Google Play and YouTube Movies

85 points by Navarr 12y ago

encoderer 12y ago
(Applause) I wonder if Netflix was considered, or if the lack of PPV revenue disqualified the most popular streaming service in the country.
- kmfrk 12y ago
  Scuttlebutt is they're still in talks with them. What's really weird to me is that it isn't on iTunes.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - psbp 12y ago
    http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/24/sony-wanted-the-interview-on-itunes-for-christmas-but-apple-rejected-fast-timetable http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/24/sony-wanted-the-in...
antr 12y ago
and what a mistake it is to only release it in the US... lets keep building walls on the internet... sigh
- turnip1979 12y ago
  I'm in Canada right now and was puzzled why I couldn't find it. Shesh ... this sucks.
  - cdash 12y ago
    You can not find it in the US either, it is not actually released yet.
  - dominotw 12y ago
    Starting 10 am PST.
  - antr 12y ago
    It's the same story every time. If Sony doesn't want my money I'll be more than happy to continue paying my private BT tracker to watch it.
  - curiously 12y ago
    You'd think that we would start getting the same respect as other states. I mean come on! Canadian cities are richer than some American states now. Why won't you take our loonies?
shrig94 12y ago
seetheinterview.com redirects to kernel.com for me--is that intentional?
- kmfrk 12y ago
  Blank here. Looks like it's going through the motions.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- goldmouth 12y ago
  I assume that that is the vod platform they are using.
- gdb 12y ago
  (I work at Stripe.) Kernel is one of the companies putting this together. They temporarily put up the redirect (movie doesn't go live until 10a PT). About to put up a more informative redirect page.
SimonPStevens 12y ago
Is it possible that this whole thing has been a publicity stunt by Sony? Fake a threat, pretend to withdraw the film, wait for public uproar, release on a pay per view platform to massive sales. Before the story broke I didn't know anything about this film. Real case of cyberwar? Or PR master stroke?
- kanamekun 12y ago
  If this was a publicity stunt, then it may well be the worst one ever! They were humiliated in the press, the President reprimanded them, and their strongest partners (the big theater chains) all turned their back on them.
  - juliangregorian 12y ago
    You must not work in PR. This story has been at the forefront of the news cycle for awhile now, and it's probably a super forgettable film.
    - rifung 12y ago
      I agree that this is probably good coverage for the movie, as I imagine many others like myself would never have even considered watching it, but now actually want to see it given the interesting context. On the other hand, I still can't imagine they would be dumb enough to fake this, considering they opened an FBI investigation and there were threats of physical violence. The risk to reward just doesn't make any sense.
    - kanamekun 12y ago
      There's an old saying in PR: don't let your main distribution channel refuse to carry your product. Also, don't let anyone threaten your potential customers with death or terrorist attack! There's a possibility that showing The Interview on YouTube and other sites will result in online streaming becoming a huge runaway revenue success. But that's a huge gamble to make, especially when the movie is scoring just a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/
angersock 12y ago
Flagged. Seriously, this is a publicity stunt (this article at least). This is literally a non-tech consumer product advertisement being put on the front page of Hacker News. It should be treated as such.
- Navarr 12y ago
  While I kind of understand - at the same time I don't see it violating the Guidelines. Though it admittedly skirts the line between on-topic and off-topic
  - angersock 12y ago
    The "new" section is literally full of "Go check out the Interview here!" links. Links which contain nothing more than "Here's where you can watch the Interview". A film nobody cared about, seemingly, until the alleged NK hack. And the look at how fast some of the upvotes have happened on those stories. At the very least, we should be treating and flagging these things the same way we do any other stupid "Buy our product" submissions that creep onto the new section. EDIT: And so many downvotes today for questioning the obvious. Thanks folks!
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
sandesh247 12y ago
The post also mentions seetheinterview.com and xbox videos, perhaps the title can be amended to add those?
antimora 12y ago
Awesome! Although I am not currently in the US, I am able to watch the movie. Perhaps maybe because my account was previously established in the US.
- kuhhk 12y ago
  Interesting. I guess YT and Google Play don't geolocate the IP each time. Every other video streaming provider I've checked denied me on my recent trip to Europe.
Rapzid 12y ago
So made a huge mistake limiting this to the US.

85 points by Navarr 12y ago

(Applause) I wonder if Netflix was considered, or if the lack of PPV revenue disqualified the most popular streaming service in the country.

kmfrk 12y ago
Scuttlebutt is they're still in talks with them. What's really weird to me is that it isn't on iTunes.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- psbp 12y ago
  http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/24/sony-wanted-the-interview-on-itunes-for-christmas-but-apple-rejected-fast-timetable http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/24/sony-wanted-the-in...

antr 12y ago

and what a mistake it is to only release it in the US... lets keep building walls on the internet... sigh

turnip1979 12y ago
I'm in Canada right now and was puzzled why I couldn't find it. Shesh ... this sucks.
- cdash 12y ago
  You can not find it in the US either, it is not actually released yet.
- dominotw 12y ago
  Starting 10 am PST.
- antr 12y ago
  It's the same story every time. If Sony doesn't want my money I'll be more than happy to continue paying my private BT tracker to watch it.
- curiously 12y ago
  You'd think that we would start getting the same respect as other states. I mean come on! Canadian cities are richer than some American states now. Why won't you take our loonies?

shrig94 12y ago

seetheinterview.com redirects to kernel.com for me--is that intentional?

kmfrk 12y ago
Blank here. Looks like it's going through the motions.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
goldmouth 12y ago
I assume that that is the vod platform they are using.
gdb 12y ago
(I work at Stripe.) Kernel is one of the companies putting this together. They temporarily put up the redirect (movie doesn't go live until 10a PT). About to put up a more informative redirect page.

SimonPStevens 12y ago

Is it possible that this whole thing has been a publicity stunt by Sony? Fake a threat, pretend to withdraw the film, wait for public uproar, release on a pay per view platform to massive sales. Before the story broke I didn't know anything about this film. Real case of cyberwar? Or PR master stroke?

kanamekun 12y ago
If this was a publicity stunt, then it may well be the worst one ever! They were humiliated in the press, the President reprimanded them, and their strongest partners (the big theater chains) all turned their back on them.
- juliangregorian 12y ago
  You must not work in PR. This story has been at the forefront of the news cycle for awhile now, and it's probably a super forgettable film.
  - rifung 12y ago
    I agree that this is probably good coverage for the movie, as I imagine many others like myself would never have even considered watching it, but now actually want to see it given the interesting context. On the other hand, I still can't imagine they would be dumb enough to fake this, considering they opened an FBI investigation and there were threats of physical violence. The risk to reward just doesn't make any sense.
  - kanamekun 12y ago
    There's an old saying in PR: don't let your main distribution channel refuse to carry your product. Also, don't let anyone threaten your potential customers with death or terrorist attack! There's a possibility that showing The Interview on YouTube and other sites will result in online streaming becoming a huge runaway revenue success. But that's a huge gamble to make, especially when the movie is scoring just a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/

angersock 12y ago

Flagged. Seriously, this is a publicity stunt (this article at least). This is literally a non-tech consumer product advertisement being put on the front page of Hacker News. It should be treated as such.

Navarr 12y ago
While I kind of understand - at the same time I don't see it violating the Guidelines. Though it admittedly skirts the line between on-topic and off-topic
- angersock 12y ago
  The "new" section is literally full of "Go check out the Interview here!" links. Links which contain nothing more than "Here's where you can watch the Interview". A film nobody cared about, seemingly, until the alleged NK hack. And the look at how fast some of the upvotes have happened on those stories. At the very least, we should be treating and flagging these things the same way we do any other stupid "Buy our product" submissions that creep onto the new section. EDIT: And so many downvotes today for questioning the obvious. Thanks folks!

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

sandesh247 12y ago

The post also mentions seetheinterview.com and xbox videos, perhaps the title can be amended to add those?

antimora 12y ago

Awesome! Although I am not currently in the US, I am able to watch the movie. Perhaps maybe because my account was previously established in the US.

kuhhk 12y ago
Interesting. I guess YT and Google Play don't geolocate the IP each time. Every other video streaming provider I've checked denied me on my recent trip to Europe.

Rapzid 12y ago

So made a huge mistake limiting this to the US.