Sony premiered the controversial comedy The Interview online Wednesday ahead of releasing it to nearly 300 theaters on Christmas Day.
After initially shelving the film following a hacker attack, the movie studio switched course and debuted it on Google’s (GOOG) YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft (MSFT), Xbox Video and on its own website.
Fortune watched the film, which is based on a silly plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and live-tweeted our impressions along with the circus around the event. What we saw was a juvenile buddy movie that has, oddly, become a monument to free speech.
From the official Twitter (TWTR) account for the film:
We watched the film on YouTube (cost: $5.99) without any technical glitches. However, some people reported problems, particularly with mobile streaming.
Here is a rundown of our live-tweeting about the film (don’t bet on it winning any Oscars) and interesting tweets by others:
Interestingly, the cost of renting the film and buying it is much lower than if you view it in theaters:
James Franco, one of the stars of the film, was elated about the news and tweeted in earnest about its availability online:
Seth Rogen, his co-star, also took to Twitter to apologize that the service was not yet available to his fans in Canada:
And after nearly two hours, we signed off:
For more Fortune coverage of The Interview saga, read:
