while hospitalized in houston. he s been there since tuesday when he was short of breath. the 90-year-old mr. bush had christmas visits from his wife and his son neil. those are some of our top stories on this friday, december 26th. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now. it was a happy day after, everybody, happy boxing day, whatever you want to kate. we begin this half-hour with movie-goers packing theaters to see the interview. despite a hacking scandal at sony and threats of terrorism, tickets for the movie sold out at hundreds of theaters nationwide. reporter: it wasn t just christmas presents coming out from under wraps. i am proud our fight was not for nothing and that cyber-criminals were not able to silence us. they
them reporter: the sony pictures ceo said the studio s move view movie release, the intervie interview, was the right thing to do. hinging on the fictional assassination of kim jong-un. sony withheld the movie after a cyber attack and threats of violence. president obama among many who condentialed the decision. now, he is not alone judging from the lines. americans won t be told what they can and cannot see. reporter: from los angeles to florida to new york. right over here. reporter: moviegoers said no holiday for free speech. we are here to celebrate human expression. you cannot allow dictators or fundamentalists to tell us what media we consume. reporter: at theaters they seemed to shrug off the threats. the audience of laughing. was laughing. i was laughing. reporter: it may not be the last laugh. sony also posted the interview on line and late thursday the company reported connection failures on play station network. hackers are claiming
it. now you can t avoid it. the movie, a hacking target and political lightning rod is the hottest ticket in theaters and on line. we have a special reporter: reason enough for the interview s co-writers to show up at l.a. s first screening. we thought this might not happen at all. [ cheers and applause ] reporter: much the same sentiment driving patrons to soldout theaters across the country. i came to express my very strong support for the free expression of ideas. we are taking a stand for freedom. we are, we want to show the world that that americans won t be told what they can and cannot see. reporter: even vacationing president obama. i m glad it is being released. reporter: the interview centers around a plot to assassinate kim jung-un.
it s not known if any user data was stolen. a very different problem with playstation for a man in colorado. when he opened the box he found bags of rocks. he says a wal-mart employee told him it had been returned to the store by another customer. at first walmart of skeptical but eventually gave him a refund. good thing he opened the box before giving it to his niece. that would have been a bad gift. that they similar to getting coal in your stocking i guess. it might be. all right. sony is claiming victory now in its surprise move to release the controversial comedy the interview to theaters nationwide. despite the hacking scandal and threats of terrorism, film fans lined up across the country to see the movie. abc s emit miller reports. they. them. few days ago you couldn t see it. now you can t avoid it. the movie, a hacking target and political lightning rod is the
sony reauthorized release a few days ago. it s been available through xbox, google, and youtube play. sony says it was essential for for our studio to release this movie especially given the assault pn our business by those who wanted to stop free speech. earlier reviews by patrons are mixed. ticket sales are so strong some theaters are adding more times. its creators couldn t be happier. because films usually hit the theaters long before they re offered on line, the movie industry is watching closely to see how well a simultaneous release works. in los angeles, emmett miller, abc news. really great to see that movie opening up. if it opened in 300 theaters. supposed to open to 3,000, so they re playing some catchup. see if they make good money on it after all. exactly. all right, coming up, the celebrities who caught our attention during 2014. from scandals to successes. our entertainment editor joins in a moment for an unbelievable look back. a tasty business proposition fo