Sony has announced a limited cinema release of The Interview, putting the comedy back on to screens after a huge international row.

Several US cinemas have said they will begin showing The Interview on Thursday, seemingly putting the comedy back on screen after Sony Pictures Entertainment cancelled its release.

Sony “made a mistake” in shelving a satirical film about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader, US president Barack Obama said, and he pledged the US would respond “in a place and manner and time that we choose” to the hacking attack on Sony that led to the withdrawal.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has told US cinemas they can cancel plans to show The Interview, hours after hackers invoking the memory of the September 11 2001 terror attacks issued ominous threats against film-goers and patrons of the comedy.

Hackers who took over Sony Pictures computers released the budget for The Interview, the Seth Rogen comedy about North Korea, adding to a breach that exposed pay at Deloitte Touche and studio head Michael Lynton’s credit-card number.

Three top US senators, including John McCain, the former White House hopeful, slammed a new Osama bin Laden manhunt film for suggesting torture helped find the al Qaeda chief.

It’s set to be the big blockbuster this summer — but Men in Black 3 very nearly didn’t make it to the screen. Chris Lee reports

BUCKETS of butter-coated popcorn, litres of fizzy drinks and an array of melt-in-your-mouth chocolates may be central to most cinema trips, but the treat could soon become a thing of the past.