Columbia City movie theater to screen “The Interview” in Seattle

Ark Lodge Cinemas in Seattle’s Columbia City is among the 200 indie theaters nationwide that will show the nearly shelved “The Interview” on Christmas Day, according to entertainment site Deadline.com and the theater’s website.

The move by the independent movie theater comes after the major theater chains in the country pulled out of showing “The Interview” causing distributor Sony Pictures to shelve the planned wide release on Christmas Day. The movie chains reacted after hackers stole emails and other information from Sony executives and then threatened to retaliate against movie theaters. Ark Lodge Cinemas is an independent theater that opened several years ago reviving the spot that had been the former Columbia City Cinema.

The plot of the comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen had centered around TV reporters recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.

The theater’s fans cheered the news on Twitter and on the movie theater’s Facebook page.

Proud of our neighborhood theatre, @ArkLodgeCinemas for showing #TheInterview.

— Adam Bartz (@ABartz) December 24, 2014

Was completely disgusted by #TheInterview Xmas showings, but if it means @ArkLodgeCinemas get heaps of publicity, I'm all about it!

— bastardang (@ba5tardang) December 24, 2014

While President Barack Obama said that the Sony hack had ties to North Korea and the U.S. would respond proportionally, North Korea leaders denied that the Sony hack originated from its government and threatened retaliation and accused the U.S. government of being behind the movie, according to CNN.

Several other theaters in the Northwest will open the movie on Christmas day according to the movie’s official Facebook page, including:

Bainbridge Island – Bainbridge Cinemas 5
Bremerton – Olympic Cinemas
Ellensburg – Grand Meridian
Oak Harbor – Plaza Three Cinemas
Stanwood – Stanwood Cinemas 5
Vancouver – Cinetopia 8
Vancouver – Cinetopia Vancouver Mall 23 14
Yelm – Yelm Cinemas 8
Tacoma – Grand Tacoma 4

Reviews of “The Interview” have been mixed.

Venice Buhain

Venice Buhain is an online and print journalist whose work has appeared on TVW News, AOL/Patch, The Olympian and other news organizations. She is also the former Editorial Director at The Seattle Globalist. Venice has covered diversity, education, local news and politics. She also is a past Seattle chapter president of the Asian American Journalists Association.