ATLANTA (CBS46) -
The Plaza Theatre has announced they will be showing "The Interview" on Christmas Day.
The theater will be one of the few in the nation to open the film.
The theater's owner was notified by Sony late Monday night, they would be allowed to show the satirical movie about North Korea.
Buzz about the theatrical release ignited after posts to social media made the news public.
Throughout the day, several moviegoers stopped by the Plaza attempting to purchase advanced tickets. One of them was Anthony Lorusso, a Navy veteran.
Lorusso says, before all of the controversy he wasn't planning on seeing the movie in theaters at all. But that all changed when Sony pulled it after major theater chains refused to show the film.
"Our
guys out there, they're fighting every day and they've sacrificed, we've
sacrificed, for our freedoms, we're not gonna let some meatball, you know, take
it away from us," said Lorusso.
It's been four weeks since a hacker group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" crippled Sony Pictures' computer systems and began leaking emails and data, insisting that the movie starring Seth Rogen and James Franco not be released.
The hacking escalated to terrorist threats against theaters showing the film. On Friday, the FBI officially named North Korea as the source of the hacking attacks.
The Plaza's owner Michael Furlinger says this is victory for freedom and free speech.
"If
they want to come, they'll spend their money. If they don't, that's their
choice. But it should not be the choice of somebody from North Korea, or China,
or anywhere else," said Furlinger.
Neither Lorusso or Furlinger are concerned about the threats of violence against the theater.
"Whatever meathead is going to come try and ruin our movie
and try to take away our freedoms is gonna be stopped, you know, by either one
of us, or the police, or the FBI, or the CIA, NSA, I mean, you know, we have a
lot of people that care about us in this country," said Lorusso.
Furlinger is optimistic about the turn out and says, they will still take extra precautions with security.
The movie will run Christmas Day through New Year's Day.
On Christmas Day, show times are 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:35 p.m.
Advanced tickets for Christmas Day only are available at the box office.
The Plaza, located at 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave North, has been in operation since 1939.
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