15 Movies You Thought Were Doomed (But Weren't)
6. The Interview
Roughly a month before the planned release of the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview, leaked e-mails from the Sony Pictures hack revealed that the studio didn't have much faith in the movie at all.
Sony's Peter Taylor called the movie "desperately unfunny", and executives wrestled with directors Rogen and Adam Goldberg over some of the film's more objectionable content, specifically requiring the money shot of Kim Jong-Un's (Randall Park) head exploding to be toned down for release.
The hack itself was rumoured - though never confirmed - to be the work of North Korean operatives protesting the movie's release, which snowballed into Sony eventually cancelling the film's theatrical release after the hackers threatened to attack cinemas showing the film.
It briefly seemed like The Interview would probably be dumped on home video a few months later and quietly forgotten about, but Sony ultimately caved to public demand and released the film on VOD on Christmas Eve 2014.
Though it opened to mixed reviews, the movie effortlessly recouped its $44 million budget through VOD and cable sales in less than a month, ensuring it was neither the embarrassment nor the money sink many suspected.
More important than anything, though, people got to see it and the terrorists didn't win.