Harkins Theatres announced on Tuesday, December 23, that it will show Seth Rogen's The Interview at Tempe's Valley Art starting on Christmas Day. That announcement follows Sony Pictures' December 23 statement that the film will be available as a limited release at theaters across the country.
The Interview has been at the center of controversy, after an anonymous group calling itself the Guardians of Peace promised to attack any theater showing the Sony Pictures comedy, which stars Rogen and James Franco as two fledgling journalists tapped by the CIA to assassinate North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. America's five largest theater chains, including AMC, dropped the film from their release schedules. Then Sony, which was hacked about a month ago, announced that it had "no further release plans for the film." President Obama weighed in after Sony pulled the film, saying that the studio had made a mistake. (For the complete story, see Amy Nicholson's long-form piece about The Interview.)
See also: Scary Funny: Seth Rogen's The Interview Proves That Sometimes the Mightiest Weapon Isn't a Bomb -- It's Butthole Jokes
But the studio has since reversed the decision to keep The Interview out of theaters. "We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we're excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day," Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement. "At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience."
Since then, theaters across the United States have announced plans to screen the film. And it sounds like there's a good chance The Interview will end up with more than just a limited release, as the Harkins announcement stated: "Due to the unique nature of how Sony is releasing this film, it will be only at the Valley Art at this time. We are hopeful that there will be opportunities for additional locations at a later date."
For now, Harkins has scheduled the following screening times for The Interview:
- Thursday, December 25, at 10:45 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:15 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9:45 p.m.
- Friday, December 26, and Saturday, December 27, at 10:45 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:15 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:45 p.m., and 12:30 a.m.
Tickets to these showings are available online at www.harkinstheatres.com.
Editor's note: This post has been updated from its original version.
