Long Lines for “The Interview” at Hartford Movie Theater Christmas Day

Christmas Day was busier than usual at the Spotlight Theatres in Hartford, which is one of only two theaters in the entire state of Connecticut screening the film, "The Interview" satirizing the isolated communist regime in North Korea.

Many theaters declined to show the film and Sony initially pulled the movie's release following backlash and a controversy involving North Korean hackers.

“I’d say normally we’d do 20 to 30 tickets for a normal movie" Tyler Pulsifer, the presentations manager at Spotlight Theatres on Front Street in Hartford, said Thursday. "We did 140 tickets sold for a 1:45 showing this morning which is quite a lot for an early afternoon show nevermind a Christmas day afternoon.”

The other theater showing the film in Connecticut is the Apple Cinema in Waterbury.

Several customers said they'd watch the movie even if it hadn't prompted a cyberattack on Sony, leading the studio to initially pull the film.

“Nobody tells us what we’re gonna see and not gonna see" said Sharon Stabile, of West Hartfod, who saw the movie with her husband.

Ken Stein, of Coventry, said the uproar over the movie was a "little ridiculous" and that seeing the movie in person is the patriotic thing to do.

“Just kind of seeing it means we win, the terrorists lose. We’re not afraid to go see a movie that we’re being told halfway across the world that we can’t see.”

More than 300 theaters nationwide screened the film Christmas Day and it's being streamed simultaneously on the Internet.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us