The Interview tops YouTube’s list of popular videos

A general view of atmosphere at the Premiere of Columbia Pictures' 'The Interview' on December 11, 2014 . Movie theaters have subsequently declined to show the movie following threats from the Sony hackers.

Getting hit by hackers who may or may not be from North Korea isn’t the worst way to drum up interest for a movie: “The Interview” is currently at the top of YouTube’s “Popular Right Now” list. A related video is third.

After initially canceling the December 25 release of “The Interview,” Sony backtracked and the film ended up showing in 331 U.S. theaters, according to Variety. That’s less than 10 percent of the locations at which the movie was originally slated to play. Only independent theaters showed the film after the large chains stuck to their original decision to drop the movie.

The film managed to hit the $1 million mark in theaters, but came in 15th for ticket sales on Christmas Day, Variety reported. A Sony statement said it sold out in some theaters.

So Sony’s decision to release the film online, where it is available for rent or purchase, was a smart one considering the interest in the movie after the hacking story received national attention. Sony’s anti-piracy measures, however, were not so smart. Variety estimates the film was illegally downloaded at least 900,000 times within 24 hours.

Interested in watching “The Interview” online? Here’s our guide to accessing it on your Apple TV, Roku, iPad or iPhone.

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