Universal Pictures has inked a new deal with Peacock that will see their slate of 2022 films heading to the streaming service after their deal with HBO expires later this year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic saw theaters shut down, forcing studios to find new ways to distribute product, movie theaters would generally have 200 days before their theatrical releases hit streaming services. After Warner Bros. made a massive deal with HBO Max for their 2021 theatrical releases, and now with movie theaters bouncing back, the time films play in theaters before coming to streaming is being truncated. While Universal's new deal shortens the theatrical release window from 200 days to 120 days, it shows the new dynamics that are now at play with studios and theaters in a post-pandemic era.
According to Deadline, this new partnership between Universal and Peacock has some caveats. Peacock will have an 18-month pay-one period that gives them exclusive streaming rights during the first four months and the last four months during that time. After 120 days in theaters, Peacock will be the only place to stream each Universal film for those initial four months. The following ten months will allow Universal to license the rights for their films to other services before Peacock gets the final four months of exclusivity again. The deal will also see Universal produce films set to stream exclusively on Peacock.
The deal with Peacock goes beyond Universal itself as it also includes films from Focus Features, Illumination, and DreamWorks Animation. Films subject to the deal in 2022 include Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and the new film in the works from Jordan Peele. While the deal only looks to encompass Universal's 2022 slate of films, if it proves successful, it's likely to extend into the future.
Source: Deadline
