Los Angeles, Dec 22 (IANS): After Sony Pictures pulled the plug on the theatrical release of "The Interview" recently following threats of major disruption by hackers, one of the studio's lawyers is assuring consumers that the movie will be available in the future.

"Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed. How it's going to be distributed, I don't think anybody knows quite yet. But it's going to be distributed," Sony lawyer David Boises said Sunday morning on "Meet the Press", reports eonline.com.

Reports have indicated that the movie will be shown online for free on Crackle, an online streaming service backed by Sony. The studio, however, has yet to confirm the news.

Earlier this weekend, the Facebook page for the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy was deleted. The film's Twitter account is still active, even though all past tweets have been removed.

As some in Hollywood continue to express their disappointment at Sony for stopping the release of the film, US President Barack Obama recently said it was a "mistake" on the studio's part to pull the movie out of theatres.

While the debate continues, Boises wishes Sony Pictures Entertainment had a little more help to fight back against the "state-sponsored criminal attack" they endured.

"If the NSA (National Security Agency) had invaded people's privacy like this, people would have been outraged. North Korea does it, and couples it with physical threats, and people sort of sit back for three weeks while Sony fights this issue on its own," Boises added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, who has blamed the North Korean government for the attack, continues active investigation in the case.