The hack job happened. The threats were manufactured. People thought they looked brave by attending the movie when what they really did was follow the herd with Sony Marketing being the lead bull.
If an attack had actually happened in one of the theaters the number of courageous people would have plummeted and all the rest of the theaters would have been empty.
Sony is reaping the profits, but this movie, dumb as it is, is teaching millions of young people about the evils of communism. I don't think that's an accident - I think we're looking at a carefully thought-out op.