NBCUniversal committed to adding the “majority” of films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Illumination, and DreamWorks Animation Films to its Peacock streaming service as soon as 45 days after they hit theaters, according to a press release. The new strategy kicks off with its 2022 slate of films.
This model means that movies including The 355, Halloween Ends, and Downton Abbey: A New Era will be available on Peacock soon after they debut in theaters. However, some of the company’s bigger 2022 movies, including Jurassic World: Dominion and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, aren’t expected to be part of this arrangement, according to Variety.
Entertainment companies have been experimenting with release strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to help drive interest in their streaming services. WarnerMedia, for example, committed to releasing its entire 2021 slate of films simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, though will return to theatrical exclusivity for its 2022 film releases. Disney made a handful of movies available on Disney Plus day-and-date with theaters for a fee as part of its Premier Access program, though shifted to theatrical exclusivity for many of its 2021 films released later in the year.
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.
