Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

The Interview becomes Sony’s most downloaded film ever

The Interview has become Sony’s most downloaded film of all time, just four days after the controversial film was handed its digital release.

Having flirted with starting World War 3, The Interview – a satirical flick around a fictional plot to assassinate North Korea’s dear leader Kim Jong-un – has already generated more than $15 million (£9.6m) for the much-maligned Sony, the BBC reports.

Having been released digitally on Christmas Eve, The Interview, which stars Seth Rogan and James Franco, had been downloaded more than 2 million times as of December 27.

Download services offering the film include YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and iTunes.

At present, however, The Interview is still available exclusively in the US. There is currently no word on plans for a UK launch.

Related: Best TV series on Netflix

With the film having been described as an act of war by North Korea, it is believed The Interview is the cause of the recent Sony hacks which have seen dozens of the company’s films, plans and, embarrassing email exchanges leaked out.

Despite having briefly been canned, the eventual release, and mass of publicity, both positive and negative sounding the film, sparked much interest in the controversial movie.

The early download interest has seen The Interview already recoup a third of its $44 million (£28m) budget.

As well as becoming Sony’s most downloaded film to date, The Interview has also been proving a hit on torrent sites.

According to figures released by Torrent Freak, The Interview was illegally downloaded more than 750,000 times during a 20 hour period.

The Interview was also handed a limited US cinema release on Christmas Day.

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words