Portland-area audiences flock to ‘The Interview’

Movie houses screening “The Interview” in Oregon and Southwest Washington appear to have reaped a minor windfall.

Theaters in Vancouver and Portland, Beaverton and Salem in Oregon were among the handful nationwide that agreed to screen the film. Sony Pictures canceled the planned release of the film after a major cyberattack. The group that claimed responsibility for the hack also threatened attacks on theaters that chose to screen “The Interview”.

Rudyard Coltman is the CEO of Cinetopia Theaters, which screened the film in Beaverton and Vancouver. He said the company did add extra security for the screenings, but he said customers were ringing Cinetopia’s phones off the hook when Sony said it would distribute the film in limited release.

“Ticket receipts were phenomenal,” Coltman said. “Our locations, out of the 300 theaters showing it nationally, posted, I think we were number eight in the United States in attendance.”

Coltman says he feels the film made a fraction of what it could have grossed, if distributed. Cinetopia plans to continue showing the film for at least three more weeks.

Other theaters, like Portland’s Hollywood and Living Room Theatres, also have screenings scheduled through the weekend.