'Interview' rakes in more than $15 million online

Controversial low-brow comedy "The Interview" scored more than $15 million in online rentals and purchases, entertainment giant Sony said, following an embarrassing cyberattack and threats that led the company to pull the film from theaters.
      
The madcap R-rated comedy featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco revolves around the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
      
Sony canceled the film's release after many of the biggest US movie theater chains got cold feet following threats from hackers who also claimed a cyberattack on Sony Studios.
      
The White House has said the attack was orchestrated by North Korea, but Pyongyang has denied any involvement.
      
In the end the comedy, which received widespread publicity throughout the episode, played in some 330 independent movie houses that offered to show the film after Sony came under fire for the cancellation.
      
It was also made available beginning Wednesday across Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and on a dedicated website, seetheinterview.com       

Sony Sunday said the comedy was rented or purchased online more than two million times over four days through Saturday, for a total of more than $15 million.
      
This, it said, made it the studio's "#1 online film of all time."       

It was available for rent for $5.99 or $14.99 for purchase.
      
Meanwhile "The Interview" earned an estimated $1.8 million in theaters over the weekend, adding to the $1 million it raked in on its Christmas Day limited release, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
                      

While "The Interview" did not land a spot in the North American box office's...