LOS ANGELES — Three digital distributors joined an expanding effort to save “The Interview,” as Sony Pictures Entertainment disclosed the first deals to show the film online after a terror threat limited access to theaters.

Among the partners named on Wednesday morning were Google Play, YouTube Movies and Microsoft’s Xbox Video. Sony also said it would show the film on a website of its own.

The film will be available to rent for $5.99, and a high-definition version will be sold for $14.99. The film became available on those services on Wednesday afternoon.

A day earlier, Sony had revealed plans to release the comedy, about the assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Christmas Day in about 200 theaters owned by small chains or independent operators. Sony said on Wednesday that number had grown to 300 theaters.

In announcing the deal, Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures’ chairman, said conversations with the digital partners began last Wednesday, when it became clear that a planned theatrical release would be scrapped.

“It was essential for our studio to release this movie, especially given the assault upon our business and employees by those who wanted to stop free speech,” Mr. Lynton said in a statement.

The patchwork of unconventional distribution outlets was hastily assembled, as Sony responded to a decision by major theater chains not to show the film, as well as harsh criticism of its own decision to withdraw the film from theaters last week. The initial retreat followed a threat — traced by the F.B.I. to the North Korean government — of 9/11-style violence against theaters that showed the comedy, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco.

North Korean officials began promising retribution for the film in June; the public threat was followed by a Nov. 24 attack on Sony’s computer systems, and then by an explicit threat by anonymous hackers of attacks on theaters.

While aligning Sony with new digital allies, the week of confusion weakened the studio’s ties with traditional allies: the large theater chains that typically get a first cut at its films.

Privately, people associated with those chains — the largest of which are Regal Entertainment, AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Carmike Cinemas — complained bitterly over the last week that Sony had forced them to clean up a studio problem by taking a lead in canceling the film. At the same time, they have been wary of the effort to make “The Interview” an online event, lest it become a precedent for the digital sale of films that are still working their way through theaters.