VENTURE CAPITAL POST

"The Interview," the Sony Pictures comedy believed to have triggered a cyber attack on the studio, has racked up over $40 million in sales from 5.8 million digital downloads, the studio said on Tuesday.

Over the past seven weeks, Sony Pictures' chief executive has dealt with the fallout from a cyberattack he likens to having your house robbed and burned to the ground.

Sony Corp Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai on Tuesday said he does not expect the November cyber attack on the company's film studio to have a significant financial impact, two weeks after the studio rolled out the movie at the heart of the attack.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said its iTunes store is now carrying Sony Corp's (6758.T) "The Interview", the film that angered North Korea and triggered a cyberattack against the studio.

North Korea called U.S. President Barack Obama a "monkey" and blamed Washington on Saturday for Internet outages it has experienced during a confrontation with the United States over the hacking of the film studio Sony Pictures.

"The Interview," the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 movie theaters across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing many sell-out audiences and statements by patrons that they were championing freedom of expression.

Google Inc's decision to screen Sony Pictures' film "The Interview" may help legitimize its YouTube platform as a serious rival to paid video streaming services, Netflix and Amazon.com Inc.

Sony Pictures will allow "The Interview" to play in more than 200 U.S. theaters as of Christmas Day, reversing its decision to pull the film, after coming under criticism from President Barack Obama and others for caving into pressure from North Korea.

China opposes all forms of cyberattacks and cyber "terrorism", the country's foreign minister told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday.Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks in a telephone call with Kerry on Sunday night, according to a statement posted on the foreign ministry's website on Monday.

The New York premiere of "The Interview", a Sony Pictures comedy about the assassination of North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, has been canceled and a source said one theater chain had scrapped plans to show it, after threats from a hacking group.

Two U.S. security officials cast doubt on a threat against theaters planning to show Sony Corp's (6758.T) controversial movie about an assassination of the leader of North Korea, but police across the country vowed on Tuesday to take extra precautions.

Hackers used tools in a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that were based on ones used in similar attacks conducted against South Korea by North Korea, a person familiar with the company's investigation said on Wednesday.