Amid a swell of controversy and threats, Sony Pictures has released "The Interview" online Wednesday, in a bold move against the hackers who spoiled the Christmas opening of the comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader. "It has always been Sony's intention to have a national platform on which to release this film," Sony Pictures chair and CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement. "We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release."

"The Interview" is now available on a variety of digital platforms Wednesday afternoon, including Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a Sony website. The film will also be released in over 300 venues on Christmas.

Viewers can rent the movie for $5.99 or buy it for $14.99. Rentals are good for 48 hours. The movie's running time is 1 hour, 52 minutes.

Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, condemned the release, calling the movie an "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader."

The enormous publicity "The Interview" has received could augur well for the movie.

But decisions by Google and Microsoft to show the movie could open their sites to hacking.