The Interview has opened in more than 300 cinemas across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing many sell-out audiences and statements by patrons that they were championing freedom of expression.

The Sony Pictures film has caused outrage in North Korea over the its plot – the assassination of leader Kim Jong Un.

Co-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who also co-stars in the low-brow comedy with James Franco, surprised moviegoers by appearing at the sold-out early morning screening of the film at a cinema in Los Angeles, where they briefly thanked fans for their support.

Sony Pictures this week backtracked from its original decision to cancel the release of the $US44 million film after major US cinema chains pulled out because of threats by the group claiming responsibility for a destructive cyberattack on Sony last month.

The US blamed the attacks on North Korea.

But US president Barack Obama, Republicans and Democrats in Washington, as well as such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney, had raised concerns that Hollywood was setting a precedent of self-censorship.

Movie theatre managers and patrons alike said they believed there was nothing to fear, and the initial screenings were uneventful.

The audience at the first screening of the film in New York City remained silent during a scene showing the death of Kim Jong Un in the downing of his helicopter.

Manhattan resident Matt Rosenzweig said the moments that drew the most applause had to do with the idea of acting against censorship rather than animosity toward North Korea.

After coming under fire for cancelling the release of the movie a week ago, Sony made it available online for rental or purchase on YouTube and other on-demand websites.

A Sony spokeswoman said she had no figures on the number of downloads so far or on how well the movie was doing at the box office.

A spokesman for Microsoft, whose Xbox Video customers can view the film, also said he had no information yet on downloads and declined to say if the company had taken any special security measures or stepped up customer support.

“Of course, it’s safe to say holiday season is always a very busy time of year for any consumer electronics company,” Sean McCarthy, general manager of Microsoft’s Xbox Product Services, wrote in an email.

“So we work hard to ensure the stability of our infrastructure when so many consoles are activating for the first time.”

The movie features Rogen and Franco as journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader.

Fans happy to see ‘funny’ movie

In Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, some filmgoers were blunt about their reasons for attending.

“You need to stand up for these things,” said Dennis Lavalle, an acting teacher who came with his daughter.

“And I am not going to let a country that regularly depicts in video the nuclear Armageddon of this country and that’s OK, and we can’t make a satirical picture about something that is not going to happen.”

An audience in Manhattan exited the cinema to a throng of network TV cameras and a crowd of people lined up for the next showing.

“It was more serious, the satire, than I was expecting,” said Simone Reynolds, who saw the film while visiting from London.

“There’s a message for America in there too about America’s foreign policy.”

North Korea has called the film an “act of war”.

Most fans simply called The Interview a funny movie.

Ken Jacowitz, a 54-year-old librarian from the New York borough of Queens, called it “a funny film made by funny people”.

He had a message for North Korea and the hackers: “You have given this movie whole new lives.”

Reuters