‘The Interview’ Will Be Distributed, Sony Has Only Delayed The Release: Lawyer

“The Interview,” a controversial comedy movie that prompted a massive hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment's systems in November, has not been entirely dropped by the studio as it still has plans for the film to be distributed, according to Sony lawyer David Boies.

Boies appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday to discuss Sony’s decision to cancel the Dec. 24 release of “The Interview.” According to him, the company only delayed the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy, which shows how two journalists attempt to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed,” Boies was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as saying. “How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed.”

Boies’ statement comes after Sony Pictures said Friday that the company was exploring alternative ways to release the movie “on a different platform.”

In response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement that Sony Pictures had “made a mistake” by pulling the movie from theaters, the company’s CEO and Chairman Michael Lynton, on CNN, defended the studio's decision to cancel the scheduled Christmas release. He added that the company was considering a release of the movie on the Internet.

Referring to last month’s hack as “a national security problem,” Boies stated that the cyberattack was “a state sponsored criminal attack on an American corporation and its employees.”

Now, “the rest of the government has got to get behind it and has got to figure out a way that we can protect our national security,” he added.

Sony Pictures canceled the Dec. 25 release of “The Interview” last week in the wake of threats from hackers. The company’s announcement came at a time when Obama has vowed to “respond proportionately” to North Korea after the FBI formally confirmed its involvement in the hack.