NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES "The Interview," the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 movie theaters across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing many sell-out audiences and statements by patrons that they were championing freedom of expression. 
 
 Co-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who also co-stars in the low-brow comedy with James Franco, surprised moviegoers by appearing at the sold-out 12:30 a.m. PT screening of the movie at a theater in Los Angeles, where they briefly thanked fans for their support. 
 
 Sony Pictures this week backtracked from its original decision to cancel the release of the $44 million film after major U.S. theater chains pulled out because of threats of violence by Guardians of Peace, a computer hacking group that claimed responsibility for a destructive cyberattack on Sony last month. 
 
 The United States blamed the attacks on North Korea. 
 
 In China and South Korea, two countries that share a land border with North Korea, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to illegal video sharing sites to see the movie. 
 
 In the United States, movie theater managers and patrons alike said they believed there was nothing to fear from the threats, and the initial screenings on Thursday were uneventful. 
 
 But one of the online outlets that distributed the film ahead of its theatrical release, Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live, reported that users were experiencing problems getting connected on Thursday. 
 
 A hacking group called the Lizard Squad claimed it was behind disruptions at both Xbox and Sony Corp's PlayStation Networks, which was not carrying "The Interview." The group's claim could not be verified. 
 
 Neither Microsoft nor Sony offered explanations for the connectivity problems, though both services expected heavy use as consumers who received the devices for Christmas tried to log on all at once. 
 
 Extra network traffic on Xbox from users downloading "The Interview" may also have exacerbated connectivity problems for Microsoft. 
 
 The film also was available to U.S. online viewers through Google Inc's Google Play and YouTube Movie, as well as on a Sony website, www.seetheinterview.com. It can be seen in Canada on the Sony site and Google Canada's website. 
 
 A Sony spokeswoman on Thursday said she had no figures on the number of downloads so far, and the studio was not expected to have box office numbers from theaters before Friday morning. 
 
 The audience at the first screening of the film in New York City, at the Cinema Village in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, remained silent during a scene showing the death of Kim Jong Un in the downing of his helicopter. 
 
 Matt Rosenzweig, 60, of Manhattan, said the moments that drew the most applause had to do with the idea of acting against censorship rather than animosity toward North Korea. 
 
 RAUCOUS APPLAUSE 
 
 Although Cinema Village manager Lee Peterson said the New York Police Department planned to post officers outside the theater, there was no visible police presence outside or inside the venue for the first screening. 
 
 An afternoon screening at the Van Nuys Regency Theatres in the city's San Fernando Valley was two-thirds full and drew a diverse crowd ranging from teens to senior citizens, who laughed loudly throughout at Rogen and Franco's antics. 
 
 "It was much better than I thought it would be," said Carlos Royal, 45, a professor who came with a friend dressed in Santa hats and took selfies for the occasion in front of the theater's Hollywood sign marquis. "I wanted to support the U.S." 
 
 The movie, which is playing in theaters in major metropolitan areas as well as in smaller cities ranging from Bangor, Maine, to Jasper, Indiana, features Rogen and Franco as journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader. 
 
 In Asia, online audiences seemed to find the movie tedious. 
 
 "There is no drama and not much fun," said a blogger in South Korea. "It's all about forced comedy that turns you off. Couldn't they have done a better job making this movie?" 
 
 Sony decided to release the film after U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney and Republicans and Democrats in Washington, raised concerns that Hollywood was setting a precedent of self-censorship. 
 
 The audience in Manhattan exited the theater to a throng of network TV cameras and a crowd of people lined up for the next showing. 
 
 "It was more serious, the satire, than I was expecting," said Simone Reynolds, who saw the film while visiting from London. "There's a message for America in there too about America's foreign policy." 
 
 North Korea has called the film an "act of war." 
 
 Most fans simply called "The Interview" a funny movie. 
 
 Ken Jacowitz, a 54-year-old librarian from the New York borough of Queens, called it "a funny film made by funny people." He had a message for North Korea and the hackers: "You have given this movie whole new lives." 
 
 (Additional reporting by Mary Milliken, Eric Kelsey and Jed Horowitz; Jack Kim and Kahyun Yang in Seoul; Adam Jourdan in Shanghai and the Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Leslie Adler; Editing by Howard Goller, Steve Orlofsky and Raju Gopalakrishnan) ||||| A bit of Hollywood history unfolded on Wednesday. And it might be a glimpse into the future. 
 
 The controversial Sony Pictures comedy "The Interview" was released on YouTube, Google Play, the Microsoft Xbox video game console, and a special Web site. 
 
 The movie, which started streaming online around 1 p.m. ET, costs $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy. 
 
 So it is having historic simultaneous release in both living rooms and, come Christmas Day, about 300 independently-owned theaters across the United States. 
 
 Sony announced the digital release just an hour ahead of time, after CNNMoney and other news organizations began to report on the studio's plans to distribute "The Interview" through YouTube's movie rental store. Word spread via social media, and some curious fans started watching -- and live-tweeting -- the movie right at 1 p.m. 
 
 Sony's extraordinary announcement encapsulated days of sometimes desperate negotiations between the studio and a number of potential Internet distribution partners. 
 
 Related: You won't get hacked streaming 'The Interview' online 
 
 There was a plan at one point to allow rentals through Apple's iTunes store, but it fell apart, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. An iTunes release could re-materialize sometime after Christmas. 
 
 Sony (SNE) could also cut a deal with a subscription streaming site like Netflix (NFLX), enabling wider access to the movie sometime after Christmas. 
 
 But at the moment, it's up on YouTube and generating an enormous amount of free publicity for the embattled movie studio, which fell victim to a cyberattack late last month. 
 
 A Sony representative said the company would not be releasing any immediate data about the number of rentals or sales. 
 
 A groundbreaking moment for the American movie industry 
 
 The online release is groundbreaking -- but also awfully contentious. Owners of major theater chains have steadfastly opposed proposals for simultaneous physical and digital releases, a concept known in the industry as a same-day-and-date release. 
 
 It's been tried, with varying success, for some documentaries and niche dramas, but never for a big, broad comedy like "The Interview," which was originally meant to premiere on 2,000 to 3,000 screens. 
 
 But extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary movie release strategies. This time last week, after hackers -- apparently objecting to the content of "The Interview" -- threatened American moviegoers, Sony canceled the movie's release. 
 
 Related: What we know now about the Sony Hack 
 
 Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he had no choice because "the movie theaters came to us, one by one, over the course of a very short period of time ... and announced that they would not carry the movie." 
 
 Some of the theater chains dispute that. But one thing is clear: that same day, December 17, Sony contacted Google (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and other potential online distributors. 
 
 "We never stopped pursuing as wide a release as possible for 'The Interview,'" Lynton said in a statement on Wednesday. "It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech." 
 
 He added, "We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release." 
 
 One of the platforms is a dedicated site, SeeTheInterview.com, done in partnership with Kernel and secure payments system Stripe. But that site appeared to be overwhelmed by traffic shortly after 1 p.m. ET. Kernel acknowledged "tremendous demand" but said the streams were "free flowing" by 2 p.m. 
 
 Google's streams appeared to be more stable. 
 
 Google senior vice president David Drummond wrote in a blog post that "security implications were very much at the front of our minds" when Sony contacted the company last week. 
 
 "After discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)," he wrote. 
 
 Next stop for 'The Interview:' indie theaters 
 
 As for the physical release on Thursday, the studio's list of participating theaters includes about 300 that will start showing it on Christmas and dozens of others that will start showing it on January 1 or January 2. Some of the Christmas Day screenings are already sold out. 
 
 "With what looks like a seriously limited release, limited supply is yielding substantial demand," the fan web site Moviepilot said. 
 
 For Sony's partners, the digital release of the movie is an opportunity to show off technological and commercial prowess. 
 
 YouTube, for instance, has a two-year-old movie rental system that many of its users don't know about; "The Interview" is chance to gain attention for it. 
 
 The movie, oddly enough, became a political and geopolitical symbol. It is about an assassination plot against the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. And it is widely believed that Sony Pictures suffered a cyberattack last month partly due to North Korea's fury over the movie. 
 
 Backlash to Sony's original cancellation decision was fierce, including from President Obama, who said the movie studio had made a mistake. 
 
 Since then, Sony executives have stayed in close touch with White House officials, appraising them of the studio's efforts to seek distribution. And on Wednesday, administration officials signaled that they were pleased with the theatrical and digital plans. 
 
 Shortly after 1 p.m., the White House responded to reporters' inquiries with a statement: "The President welcomes the news that people will be able to decide for themselves whether or not to see this film, and appreciates Sony's work on this effort over the past few weeks." 
 
 The statement added, "With today's announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that's how it should be." 
 
 Related: Dennis Rodman on 'The Interview': Watch my movie 
 
 Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus concurred. In a followup to his Saturday message calling on theater owners to support the movie, he said the renewed Christmas release "was the right decision." 
 
 Priebus added, "Anything else would set a horrible precedent and allow our freedom to be ceded to the whims of a totalitarian regime." 
 
 --CNN's Pamela Brown and Michelle Kosinski contributed reporting. ||||| Patrons queue up to see "The Interview" at the the Cinefamily at Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. The film's Christmas Day release was canceled by Sony after threats of... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Critics and early viewers agree that "The Interview" is less than a masterpiece. But thanks to threats from hackers that nearly derailed its release, it has become an event. 
 
 Hundreds of theaters Thursday, from The Edge 8 in Greenville, Alabama, to Michael Moore's Bijou by the Bay in Traverse City, Michigan, made special holiday arrangements for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures had initially called off the release after major theater chains dropped the movie that was to have opened on as many as 3,000 screens. 
 
 But with President Obama among others criticizing the decision, Sony officials changed their minds. "The Interview" became available on a variety of digital platforms Wednesday afternoon, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website. Meanwhile, Sony and independent theaters agreed to release it in over 300 venues on Christmas. 
 
 "We are taking a stand for freedom, said theater manager Lee Peterson of the Cinema Village East in Manhattan, where most of Thursday's seven screenings had sold out by early afternoon. "We want to show the world that Americans will not be told what we can or cannot watch. Personally, I am not afraid." 
 
 Some venues showing "The Interview" were more likely to feature documentaries about North Korea than a low-brow comedy about it. At the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, New Mexico, owned by "Game of Thrones" author George RR Martin, the schedule also includes the Spanish art-house release "Flamenco," the locally made "The Twilight Angel" and an Italian film festival. The Film Society of Lincoln Center, which begins screening "The Interview" on Friday, will soon be hosting a tribute to "Force Majeure" director Ruben Ostlund of Sweden and a documentary about the late Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer. 
 
 The back story of "The Interview" has itself played out like a Hollywood satire, in which a cartoonish farce distracts from some of the holiday season's most prestigious films: "Selma," the drama about the 1965 civil rights march; Angelina Jolie's adaptation of the best-selling World War II story "Unbroken"; and the all-star, big-screen version of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods." 
 
 Security was light at many theaters, with the occasional police officer on hand. The possibility of violence was taken more seriously by the movie industry than by government officials. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying that there were no credible threats. 
 
 Meanwhile, Darrell Foxworth, a special agent for the FBI in San Diego, said Wednesday the agency was sharing information with independent movie theater owners showing "The Interview" out of "an abundance of caution" and to educate them about cyber threats and what help the FBI can offer. 
 
 Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, condemned the release Wednesday, calling the movie an "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader." But Kim said North Korea will likely limit its response to condemnation, with no "physical reaction." 
 
 Decisions to show the movie through the Internet could open up companies to hacking. Xbox and PlayStation's online gaming services were down Thursday afternoon but the cause was unclear. Meanwhile, YouTube and other Google products were not having any disruptions. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the Xbox outage but declined further comment. Sony PlayStation representatives did not immediately respond to inquiries. 
 
 Members of an Arkansas family who say they otherwise would have never seen "The Interview" were among the first patrons at the Riverdale 10 theater in Little Rock. Kay Trice and her husband drove an hour from Stuttgart, Arkansas, to see the movie with their daughter and appreciated "the freedom to see it." 
 
 "It should be shown in this country and somebody in North Korea should not have the right to scare us out of seeing this," Trice said. 
 
 A few dozen people lined up early outside Tempe, Arizona's Valley Art theater, where tickets for all five showings on Thursday had sold out. "There are a lot of people going crazy over (the controversy). It's bigger than the movie," said Omar Khiel, 20. 
 
 At the Cinema Village theater in Manhattan, the 10 a.m. screening was near capacity. Derek Karpel, a 34-year-old attorney, said that "as many people as possible should go see it. In fact, the government should subsidize tickets to make that possible." 
 
 But he didn't say that "The Interview" was a great movie. 
 
 "No one should go into expecting it to be a serious commentary on politics," he said. "But it's fun. People should go." 
 
 ____ 
 
 Jonathan Lemire and Scott Mayerowitz in New York, Eric Tucker in Washington, Kelly Kissel in Little Rock and Alina A. Hartounian in Tempe contributed to this report. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 LOS ANGELES — Carolers dressed in Dickensian costumes sang “Silent Night” at 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday here, as a woman with a strip of shiny gold garland tied around her head handed out hot cider. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 “I could think of no place better to be on Christmas Eve than here, with like-minded people, coming together for something we strongly believe in,” said Julia Paredes, a bookstore manager. 
 
 This was not a midnight Mass. It was one of the first screenings of Sony’s “The Interview,” which improbably became a symbol of free speech in the last week as hackers who attacked the studio first got the movie withdrawn from distribution, then, after a groundswell of support for releasing it that reached the White House, watched it open after all. 
 
 As moviegoers lined up at the 331 scrappy, independently owned theaters that played “The Interview” on Christmas, it was obvious that many, like Ms. Paredes, 28, were there to make a political stand. They turned out in red, white and blue attire. At one theater in California, a ticket taker dressed up as “Uncle Sam-ty Claus.” A manager at Cinema Village in Manhattan introduced the film by reciting “America,” also known as “My Country ’Tis of Thee.” 
 
 Continue reading the main story Video 
 
 The number of tickets sold was not immediately available. Sony said only that it would disclose results on Friday. The studio similarly declined to report sales figures or estimates for online rentals and sales. But there were indications of strong interest: Many theaters reported sellouts, and “The Interview” was listed as the No. 1 seller on YouTube Movies and the Google Play store on Thursday morning. 
 
 The small theaters playing the film — art houses that only rarely get such a hot ticket — appeared to be doing well while doing good. Some theaters started selling souvenir soft drink cups shaped like rockets for a $6 premium over the standard drink price. Individual tickets in spots ran as high as $24. 
 
 “It’s been gangbusters,” said Christian Parkes, chief brand officer of Alamo Drafthouse, which showed “The Interview” in 19 theaters across multiple states. “Christmas Day is sold out across the chain.” 
 
 Many of the theaters playing “The Interview” did not have showtimes until midday in their various time zones. But the Cinefamily Theater — a 174-seat cinematheque here still identified on its purple neon marquee as the Silent Movie Theater — held a 12:30 a.m. screening, which is the one Ms. Paredes drove an hour from her home in Santa Ana, Calif., to attend. 
 
 Continue reading the main story More on Sony and ‘The Interview’ Highlights from The Times’s coverage of the Sony Pictures Entertainment cyberattack. 
 
 As the lights came down in the 72-year-old theater, two men appeared with microphones to make an introduction: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. They directed “The Interview,” a raunchy comedy about the assassination of North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un. Mr. Rogen, who also stars in the film, gave a profanity-laced warm-up. 
 
 “We live near here,” Mr. Rogen said. “We just wanted to say thank you.” 
 
 “The Interview” has received mixed-to-negative reviews. (“A goofy, strenuously naughty, hit-and-miss farce,” wrote A.O. Scott in The New York Times.) But curiosity about the controversy surrounding the film at least in some instances trumped taste. “I’m just here for the hype,” said Pam Silverthorn, 49, a defense contractor, who turned out for a matinee at Williamsburg Cinemas in Brooklyn. 
 
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 Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 Noel Rodriguez, 21, made a first-time visit to the Regency theater in Commerce, Calif., in part to participate in an unusual chapter of Hollywood history. “I just wanted to be able to say I saw it,” he said. 
 
 Photo 
 
 Sony made its initial theatrical retreat after a threat — traced by the F.B.I. to the North Korean government — of 9/11-style violence against theaters that showed the film. The smaller theaters Sony eventually lined up to present it promised heightened security. Weezie Melancon, president of the Crest Theater in Los Angeles, said she had been in contact with the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff’s department, both of which had promised an extra presence. Officers huddled with a ticket taker shortly before showtime. 
 
 Noah Elgart, 28, the manager at Williamsburg Cinemas, said his staff would be checking bags as a precaution but did not expect any problems despite the threats against the film. 
 
 Toby Leonard, programming director at the restored Belcourt Theater in Nashville, said he had been in touch with a local representative for the F.B.I. and was told “in so many words that there really isn’t much of a credible threat here.” Mr. Leonard said he also checked with the Belcourt’s insurance company, which responded “by asking if they could buy a block of tickets.” In a rare move, Sony made “The Interview” available for rental or sale online Wednesday. Among the Internet services that offered it were the Google Play store, Google’s YouTube and Microsoft’s Xbox Video. Sony began showing the film on a website of its own. 
 
 On Wednesday night, Sony’s hastily assembled online release of “The Interview” hit bumps. Some early would-be viewers could not load or pay for the film on Sony’s SeeTheInterview.com site, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Separately, users of Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox Live game services — in an episode apparently unrelated to the film — complained of service problems. 
 
 Photo 
 
 In addition, digital pirates were already offering “The Interview” online. One link had been downloaded more than 20,000 times as of Thursday morning. Although Sony has not yet made “The Interview” available overseas, it was also widely available for streaming on Chinese video-sharing sites, with an unofficial version with English and Chinese subtitles. The Chinese title for that version of the film translated as “Assassinate Kim Jong-un.” 
 
 But gratitude and patriotism ruled the day in theaters. 
 
 “The fact that they’re showing this movie shows that America still has a backbone regardless of the critics,” said Jay Killion, a golf pro who caught a screening at Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland. 
 
 At Alamo Drafthouse, screenings began with a recorded video message of thanks from Mr. Rogen to members of the Art House Convergence, an alliance of small theaters that was instrumental in reviving the film. 
 
 “Thank you, America,” Mr. Rogen added in the recording, to cheers from one audience at Alamo’s Lubbock, Tex., location.
– After Sony's U-turn on releasing The Interview, the controversial movie played in 331 independent cinemas across America on Christmas Day, often to sellout crowds. Many moviegoers made it clear they were there to take a political stand, with one ticket seller in California dressed as "Uncle Sam-ty Claus," the New York Times reports. "We are taking a stand for freedom," the manager of the Cinema Village East in Manhattan tells the AP. "We want to show the world that Americans will not be told what we can or cannot watch. Personally, I am not afraid." Security was light at most theaters, though some had police officers standing by. Co-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen made a surprise appearance at a screening in Los Angeles, where they thanked moviegoers for their support, reports Reuters. A North Korean diplomat, meanwhile, called the release an "unpardonable mockery" of the "dignity of our supreme leader," but said there would probably be no "physical reaction" from Pyongyang. In a first for a major studio, the movie had a simultaneous release online. The groundbreaking release strategy is being closely watched by the industry, although Sony says it won't release any immediate data on the number of sales or rentals, CNN reports.