With Seth Rogen and James Franco's politically-themed comedy capitalizing on the Sony hacking scandal and grossing over $31 million on demand alone, it is time to repackage the film and try and make a little more on Blu-ray. Sony has announced a "Freedom Edition" of the recently released film coming in just over a month.
The cut of the film on Blu-ray will be identical to the theatrical/on demand version, but the disc will come with over 90 minutes of special features, the "Naked and Afraid" Discovery Channel feature with Seth Rogen and James Franco, a blooper reel, and several "Line O Rama" scenes featuring alternate jokes improvised by the cast during production.
I enjoyed the the movie quite a bit and already purchased the movie on demand. While these special features seem fun, I am not sure it is enough to entice me to drop more cash to have a physical copy. This may be the biggest quandary for studios trying to market films on demand, especially when online access could promote bootlegging that doesn’t happen during a strict theatrical release. Hopefully the movie makes some more dough to at least break even on the budget.
THE INTERVIEW hits Blu-ray on February 17, 2015.
DVD and Blu-ray Bonus Features Include:
"Naked and Afraid" – Discovery Channel TV special featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco
Feature Audio Commentary with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
"Freedom Edition" Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Features Also Include:
Gag Reel
Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scenes
Featurettes:
"Directors of This Movie" – Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comment on directing the film together
"Puppy Power" – Cast and Crew profess their love for the King Charles Spaniel puppy
"Here Kitty Kitty" – Seth Rogen breaks down the experience of working with a real tiger
"Joking Around" – The producers discuss the process of creating jokes on set
"Spies Among Us" – Hear from each of the cast members about their experience on the film
"Randall Park Audition Tape" – Randall Park table read audition video
"Dating a Dictator" – An authoritative touch on a convincing dating profile video
"Getting Into Character" – A look at Randall Park's transformation into looking the part of a dictator
Line-o-Ramas (short collections of alternate shots of jokes on set)