Peacock to stream new Universal films like Jurassic World within 4 months of theaters
Movies like Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru will stream on Peacock with a subscription costing as little as $5 a month -- or, possibly, free. Then, they'll head to Prime Video.
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Universal films will have a new exclusive home next year.
Peacock-- the partly free, partly paywalled streaming service operated by NBCUniversal -- will stream new movies from Universal's film studios no later than four months after they first hit theaters starting next year, the company said Tuesday. That means films from Universal, Focus Features, Illumination and DreamWorks Animation (including sequels in the blockbuster Jurassic World and Minions franchises) will be available to stream much sooner than they ever would have before the COVD-19 pandemic, and they should be available to watch for as little as a $5-a-month subscription (or, possibly, free for you).
The new deal will effectively end Universal's long-running arrangement, known as a pay-one window licensing deal, with HBO and HBO Max. The deal shuffled all Universal's films to HBO first after the movies had already been available in theaters, as online rentals and in physical formats like Blu-ray. The change means movies released this year in theaters -- like current hits F9 and The Forever Purge and upcoming flicks like M. Night Shyamalan thriller Old and horror revival Halloween Kills -- are still on track to go to HBO.
But new Universal studios' movies, such as Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru, are destined to Peacock. Peacock is not only much cheaper than HBO, but the new deal will bring movies to streaming much faster than the pre-pandemic norm. HBO Max's cheapest tier is $10 a month; Peacock's cheapest paid membership is $5.
Amazon's Prime Video said Thursday that after first becoming available on Peacock, UFEG's new live-action films will arrive exclusively on Prime four months later. The company will also have rights to UFEG's animated theatrical releases through an additional window, and titles like Get Out, Love Actually, the Jurassic Park franchise and the Fast & Furious franchise will also be available for Prime subscribers.
Another Amazon-owned streaming service, IMDb TV, will also have an exclusive window for movies from UFEG's 2020-2021 theatrical slate, including F9, Sing 2 and The Invisible Man. In addition, the free streaming service will have rights to a handful of animated UFEG films, including Despicable Me 2 and Shrek 2.
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Pandemic-inspired changes to how we watch
Typically, movies licensed in a pay-one window would be available to watch on a streaming service or TV network roughly nine months after a film's theatrical release. But the last year has seen a dramatic collapse of these windows as the COVID-19 pandemic forced cinemas to close and limit attendance around the world, decimating the box office. Studios, distributors and theater chains are now in the throes of figuring how long cinemas should enjoy exclusives on new movies as public health restrictions finally begin allowing cinemas to reopen widely again. While it's too early to know what movie release cycles will be like after the pandemic, agreements so far indicate movies release cycles will never be the same.
Peacock and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group said their new deal will have an 18-month pay-one window that it will split into three segments. Titles will stream exclusively on Peacock during the first and last four-month segments. Additional distribution partners will soon announce rights to the remaining 10 months of that period.
"By showcasing content across multiple platforms throughout the pay-one window, [Universal] titles will constantly refresh across the streaming ecosystem ensuring no title or platform is oversaturated," the companies said in the release. "This approach allows multiple audiences across a variety of streaming services to experience Universal's award-winning and critically acclaimed film slate."
Peacock costs either $5 a month to watch everything in its catalog with advertising, or $10 a month to unlock the full library, without ads. Peacock also has a free tier that blocks those nonpaying members from watching certain things; in the past, Peacock has made new movies like these available only to its paying subscribers in one of the two premium tiers.
But some people can score a deal that gives them an ad-supported premium subscription free. Peacock gives Comcast X1 and Flex customers and Cox customers the paid versions of the service at a $5 discount. So if they want to watch with advertising, they pay nothing for Peacock premium; if they want to watch ad-free, they need to pay $5 a month for the ad-free version.
