Netflix to stream The Interview: Seth Rogen and James Franco movie to be available this weekend

The controversial movie was pulled from cinemas following a cyberattack on Sony last year

A poster for The Interview at the Plaza Theatre on Christmas Day 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia (Getty )

The Interview, the controversial comedy embroiled in a cyber-attack scandal, will be available to stream on US and Canadian versions of Netflix later this month.

The streaming service entered talks with Sony Pictures Entertainment late last year, to discuss offering the film to its subscribers.

On Tuesday, Netflix confirmed that The Interview will be available from 24 January, Variety reported.

The announcement comes after Sony Pictures confirmed that digital sales for The Interview have hit $40million (£26,000) from more than 5.8 million rentals and sales. This figure puts the movie on track to eclipse comedy Bridesmaids as the biggest online release ever.

Last December the studio also revealed The Interview had become Sony’s biggest film released online after it made more than $15 million (£9.6 million) in just four days.

The film, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen as two bumbling journalists, was due for a Christmas Day release in the US.

However, the plans were shelved following a large-scale cyber attack, which resulted in weeks of embarrassing email leaks, security threats and controversy over the choice to kill off North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the storyline.

Following a huge backlash, Sony announced The Interview would be screened in a few independent cinemas and available to stream from Boxing Day, through digital distributors Google Play, YouTube and iTunes as well as cable, satellite and telco TV providers. By 27 December, it had been downloaded two million times.

Following limited screenings in the US, the film will be released in UK cinemas on 6 February.