Four days after Microsoft and Google began streaming “The Interview,” Apple today made the movie available on iTunes to customers in the U.S. and Canada for $5.99 to rent, and $14.99 to own. On Wednesday, Sony released the video on YouTube, Xbox, Google Play, and its own site after originally canceling the planned Dec. 25 theater premiere of “The Interview” following threats of physical violence from a group that had already hacked Sony Pictures.
As far as the short delay, Re/code notes that Apple likely “didn’t want to move at Sony’s speed.” Sony announced on Friday that it brought in more than $1 million in ticket sales from the 300 or so independent theaters that screened the film. The movie was also downloaded by nearly one million torrent users within just a few days.
Update, 2:40 p.m. PT — Sony announced that it has brought in more than $15 million in online sales from “The Interview” since Wednesday. The flick was downloaded or rented more than two million times.
