Embattled executive Amy Pascal is stepping down as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of SPE Motion Picture Goup. Her departure comes in the wake of the computer hack perpetrated against Sony ahead of the premiere of the feature film The Interview and the subsequent release of leaked emails, executive salaries and other confidential studio information.

Pascal will officially vacate her current position in May and launch an independent production venture based at Sony.

Although Pascal had oversight of Sony Pictures Television, her focus was directed on Sony’s film business. She had been with the company since 1988, when she joined the staff of Columbia Pictures. Recent films produced under Pascal include Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, Zero Dark Thirty and The Social Network.

Many of Pascal’s emails were among those leaked to the public in December after an attack against the studio’s computer systems believed to have been perpetrated by hackers working for the North Korean government, which was lampooned in the Sony film The Interview. Several emails in which Pascal wrote derisively of talent such as Angelina Jolie and Adam Sandler were among those leaked, as was an email exchange in which Pascal and producer Scott Rudin made racist jokes about President Obama’s taste in movies.

Bowing to threats of violence against theaters and potential patrons and caught amidst the hacking scandal that embarassed the studio, the movie became available online through Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and iTunes and the dedicated website www.seetheinterview.com on Christmas Eve.

The film opened to some 300 theaters on Christmas Day, a far cry from the 2,500 or more that were expected to be in play before things ran afoul. It subsequently ran in more independent theaters and then subsequently became available via In Demand, Netflix and Sony's Crackle OTT service

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Netflix will begin streaming Sony Pictures' controversial movie The Interview to its subscribers beginning next week, the over-the-top service said Tuesday.

The movie, which aired in theaters and via digital video-on-demand last month, will debut on Netflix Jan. 24, said the company.

"We are thrilled to offer exclusively the controversial comedy, The Interview, to our US and Canadian members beginning this Saturday, Jan. 24 --just thirty days after it debuted in theaters and pay-per-view," said the company in a letter to shareholders.

The Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy, which portrays the assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un by two TV personalities, hits Netflix one month after debuting in limited theatrical release and on digital VOD outlets. Sony initially pulled the movie from wide theatrical distribution after a cyber-attack on the studio and threats to theaters who exhibited the film.

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said during the Television Critics Association Winter press tour earlier this month that the film's strong VOD sales -- Sony has reported that the movie has drawn $31 million in digital sales  – bodes well for the future of digitally distributed movie programming.

“It’s been a great  example of what can happen with a big budget movie if you give people distribution choices,” Sarandos said. “You can create a lot of revenue.”

The Interview and the recent hack attack on Sony got top billing at Sony’s CES’s press conference, with Sony president and CEO Kazuo praising Sony employees for their response to the attack.

Hirai noted that Sony was “the victim of one of most vicious and malicious cyberattacks in recent history” and praised Sony employees who “stood up against some of the extortionists that attacked Sony and worked tireless 24 hour a day to bring The Interview to audiences in U.S. and Canada.”

Highlighting the importance that over-the-top platforms are playing this year at CES, Hirai began discussing their products with the new PlayStation Vue Internet video service, calling it a product that “reinvents the TV experience.”

But he provided few new details on the service which will launch in the first quarter and Sony executives did not discuss pricing or channel counts.

Hirai did note that PlayStation 4 has been the fastest launch of any of their PlayStation products, selling 18.5 million consoles since launch and about 4.1 million during this year’s holiday season.

In addition, its subscription service now has 10.9 million subs.

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Many industry observers are speculating that the holiday-weekend digital distribution of Sony’s controversial movie The Interview will build momentum toward the release of big-ticket movies on digital video-on-demand platforms at the same time as the film’s theatrical release.

Sony on Dec. 28 reported that the movie drew 2 million downloads and $15 million from digital sales on YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video and Sony’s SeeTheInterview.com standalone site since its Dec. 24 digital release. Sony said The Interview has already generated more revenue than any other studio digital release, but that statement requires an asterisk.

First, the movie was distributed under unprecedented circumstances. The Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy, which portrays the assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un by two TV personalities — and North Korea’s alleged digital hacking of Sony’s servers that superseded the release — created a phenomenon that is unlikely to be replicated again. The news coverage surrounding the film combined with a curiosity factor among consumers afforded The Interview with awareness and publicity that no other film is likely to receive.

Second, the film was only released in 331 independent movie theaters after hackers threatened those exhibitors distributing the film. It’s unclear that the studio’s digital performance would have been as robust had the movie been fully distributed theatrically, as intended.

Still, a $15 million take from digital distributors under any circumstance is nothing to sneeze at, especially since it didn’t include traditional cable video-on-demand revenue. In Demand and other VOD distributors did not strike a deal to pick up the film until Dec. 31.

Many independent film distributors are already offering movie titles on digital VOD at the same time or before a film’s theatrical release. In August, Netflix will stream the much-anticipated sequel to 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, simultaneously with its release in IMAX theaters.

While The Interview may or may not turn out to be the panacea that the digital VOD industry is expecting, it’s clear the movie’s digital performance has opened some eyes in the film industry. Time will tell if The Interview will sure the major film distributors to experiment with day-and-date digital/theatrical releases of big-budget movies in the near future.

On the heels of the Sony Studios cyber hacking controversy, Syfy announced Monday it will develop an original series that follows the world of high-tech cyber attacks.

The series, Hackers, will be produced in tandem with Relativity Television and will reveal the secrets behind the most infamous cyber-crimes ever committed, according to network officials.

The series will focus on “ripped from the headlines” stories of real-life hackers who turned entire industries upside down through interviews with the actual perpetrators as well as law enforcement agents who tracked them down, according to Syfy.

The series comes amid last month's Sony hacking scandal over the release of the studio's film The Interview. Initially, the studio shelved the film -- which centers on the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim-Jong Un --  in the wake of a cyber attack and threats by hackers that the FBI confirmed to be connected to the North Korean dictatorship, although some news outlets are now reporting that the cyber corruption may have eminated from a Sony insider.

The film over the past two weeks has been released via video on demand through several distribution outlets incliuding In Demand, as well as to more than 500 independent theaters.

Sony confirmed its plans to release The Interview online on Wednesday, Dec. 24, a day before the controversial film's original premiere date.

The studio will make the Seth Rogen-James Franco film available beginning at 1 p.m.( ET) on Wednesday across a number of platforms, including Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft’s Xbox and a dedicated website seetheinterview.com. Viewers can rent the film for $5.99 or purchase it for $14.99.

“It has always been Sony’s intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,” said Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment. “With that in mind, we reached out to Google, Microsoft and other partners last Wednesday, December 17th, when it became clear our initial release plans were not possible. We are pleased we can now join with our partners to offer the film nation-wide today.”

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Sony Pictures Entertainment currently has no plans to release The Interview for home viewing, the company confirmed Wednesday after canceling the film’s scheduled Christmas-day theatrical release earlier in the day.

“Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film,” a Sony spokesperson said.

The decision not to release the film, starring James Franco (pictured) and Seth Rogan followed several national theater chains — including AMC, Cinemark and Regal — said they would not screen it. Those chains responded to threats issued this week by the group that hacked Sony’s computer system in November, promising that theaters showing the film would be subjected 9/11-style terrorist attacks.

Speculation had turned to a possible video on-demand or DVD release for the film, but those options now appear to be off the table. Either would require beleaguered Sony to work with physical or digital distribution partners — companies that could be exposed to threats.

Multiple news outlets reported Wednesday that U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed that North Korea is behind the Sony hack, which has been framed as a retaliation for The Interview, which portrays the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.