Despite "brutal intrusions" into the company, Sony said it still wants to show "The Interview," and it blames theater owners for ultimately cancelling the film's Christmas Day release.
Sony's statement came hours after President Barack Obama said the company "made a mistake" in shelving the film's Dec. 25 release. The president also said he wished the studio had spoken with him before making its decision to pull the film in the wake of a major cyberattack by North Korean hackers.
Sony shrugged off the blame.
"Let us be clear—the only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it. Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day. We had no choice," Sony said in a Friday afternoon statement.
Read More Obama: Sony made a mistake by pulling 'The Interview'
The company also kept hopes alive that it would eventually distribute the film—a comedy that features Seth Rogen and James Franco setting out to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un—even if that means going around theater owners.
"After that decision [to pull the film], we immediately began actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform," Sony said. "It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so."
It's possible the company will move to distribute the film as video-on-demand.
When questioned about possibly taking on the film's distribution, Netflix demurred, saying, "We are approached on virtually every unconventional release by the networks and studios and, as a matter of course, don't discuss publicly the pitches, concepts or ideas that come our way."