'The Interview' tops movie sales on Google Play, YouTube

Sony Pictures Entertainment's comedy "The Interview" has become the bestseller on two streaming sites -- Google Play and YouTube Movies.

The controversial movie is listed as the top download as of late Christmas night, ahead of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Maze Runner", reports variety.com.

The studio began streaming "The Interview" Wednesday through the sites along with Microsoft's Xbox Video and its own dedicated site, www.seetheinterview.com, for $5.99 or $14.99 for an HD version.

Earlier, it was reported that Netflix was in talks with Sony to stream the film to its subscribers. Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., the leaders in online movie sales and rentals, have not joined signed deals with Sony.

Sony's PlayStation Video store said Wednesday that it would make the movie available in the US "at a date to be determined shortly", but the site was hit by hackers on Christmas Thursday.

The movie, in which Seth Rogen and James Franco portray a pair of bumbling journalists recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to assassinate North Korean premiere Kim Jong-Un, opened to a limited release in over 300 independent theatres on Christmas Day.

It has been in the news since Sony announced Dec 17 that it was scrapping the release of "The Interview" due to threats by hackers behind a massive cyber attack that began Nov 24.