Dive Brief:

• Sony's movie 'The Interview' has shot to number one on Google Play after the company pulled the film from theaters because of online hacker threats. 
• The company decided to release the film for online streaming on Christmas Eve -- it has since racked up over 1,000 comments in support of the film and American Free speech. 
• In order to stream the film, Sony had to mend ties with rivals Microsoft and Google to initiate a release on YouTube and Xbox Live. 

Dive Insight:

While the threats could persuade some people to forgo seeing the film, the incident has also brought more attention to the movie than Sony could have ever imagined. The entire incident—from the email hacking, to getting the movie pulled, to deciding to re-release and stream online—has turned out to be an unexpected marketing stunt that Sony is using in its favor. The email hacking is terrifying, but it goes to show that sometimes the best marketing can come out of sticky situations if you play your cards right.