Sony announced on Tuesday that it would be releasing The Interview on Christmas Day, opening up the possibility for theaters to screen the controversial movie.

Sony Releasing The Interview

Less than a week after pulling The Interview‘s release, Sony has decided to go forward with releasing the movie on its scheduled premiere date. In a statement, the studio claims that it was always its intention to do whatever it could to get the movie into theaters.

“We have never given up on releasing The Interview and we’re excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Entertainment, in the studio’s statement. “At the same time, we are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more theaters so that this movie reaches the largest possible audience.”

“I want to thank our talent on The Interview and our employees, who have worked tirelessly through the many challenges we have all faced over the last month,” Lynton added, referring to the work of the Guardians of Peace hackers. “While we hope this is only the first step of the film’s release, we are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech.”

Thus far, theaters in Austin and Atlanta have taken to Twitter to announce that they’ll host showings of The Interview come Dec. 25.

When Sony announced last week that it would be halting The Interview‘s release amidst pressure, many condemned the decision. By ceding to the demands of the hackers, which took great issue with The Interview‘s depiction of the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, celebrities felt as though freedom of expression was in danger. President Barack Obama openly admitted that he thought it was a mistake for Sony to give the appearance of giving in to the cyber terrorists.

The Interview stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as two unlikely assassins, who are trained to kill Kim Jong Un in the titular interview.