TheInterviewNYC
Crowds line up for the first New York screening of "The Interview" on Christmas Day 2014. Christopher Zara/IBTimes

We have lots of ground to cover this morning. From the official release of "The Interview" to Kwanzaa's commencement, below are the stories that you should be reading today.

"The Interview" Is Here

"The Interview" is now readily available online and in select theaters after Sony reversed its decision to not release the film over threats made by hackers. Many fans attended sold out screenings of the comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. The film has also been a huge success on YouTube with users able to rent or buy the movie from Google's streaming video service.

Box office estimates have not be released for "The Interview," but it is unlikely Sony will take the numbers into much consideration. What the studio may be looking at is the number of rentals or purchases from YouTube and Google Play.

"The Interview" is YouTube's most popular video, but piracy is also rampant. On KickAss Torrents, there are several torrents available to download -- the most popular has 24,284 seeders (number of users who completed a download) and 28,390 leechers (number of users currently downloading).

Japan Stem Cell Research Controversy

The Japanese stem cell research scandal has reached its final conclusion, and the study has been dismissed by Japan's Riken Institute. Nature, which first published the study detailing the reprogramming of stem cells via an acid bath, retracted the study earlier in the year.

The controversy is incredibly important as it provides a glimpse into the high-pressure world of scientific research and what happens when the scrutiny and desire to meet lofty standards leads researchers to falsify results. The controversy has led to one suicide while Japan's top research lab is facing harsh criticism over the scandal. Al Jazeera has a primer explaining what happened to a once-groundbreaking study.

The First Day Of Kwanzaa

Friday marks the beginning of Kwanzaa. The African-American holiday tradition is cultural in nature and was first established in 1966.

The Ice Bucket Challenge Continues To Pay Off For ALS Research

The Ice Bucket Challenge may have seemed like just another fad. And while many might believe that its attempts to raise awareness and funds for ALS had little impact, that does not appear to be the case. In fact, the ALS Association said it has received $115 million in donations in 2014, with $32 million donated toward the end of the year, NBC News reported.