14 DAY TRIAL // In today’s funny news related to Sony Pictures’ “The Interview,” which just wrapped the extended 4-day Christmas weekend with solid sales considering the limited release, one man from Ohio spent a small fortune on tickets for the film and is now asking for his money back.
Here’s where it gets even funnier: though he spent $650 / €533 on tickets for screenings at the Esquire Theater in Clifton, the man didn’t really want to see the film, despite the buzz around it caused by the Sony Hack.
Basically, he wanted to scalp the tickets and sell them at a higher price to people from out of town, who were looking for theaters that would run the film. This happened right before Sony un-canceled the premiere and announced the film would get a limited theatrical release, but before it said “The Interview” would also be released on various platforms online.
In that small window, the man acted on what he considered a solid plan to make a buck: he bought regular prized tickets and wanted to sell them online. He was certain he had a backup plan as well, because he read on the site he purchased them from (tickets.com) that tickets were refundable.
What he did not see was the note that certain theaters could opt out of refunds in the case of special events. “The Interview” was screened at the Esquire Theater as a special event. Bummer for the dude.
When Sony announced the online availability of the film, interest in ticket sales went down considerably, so the man was left with about 50 tickets he could not move around. Still, he’s upset and angry and quite outraged as well, even though what he wanted to do was illegal.
On a more serious note, “The Interview” made about $17.8 million (€14.6 million) on its extended release weekend, $15 million (€12.3 million) from online sales and rentals, and the rest from actual ticket sales.