Universal Studios’ newly released movies will stream exclusively on Peacock just 45 days after debuting in theaters and will be available for users to rent or purchase, the company said on Thursday.
The new release strategy begins with Universal’s 2022 films. This will bring NBCUniversal’s nascent Peacock streaming service more quickly by reducing the traditional eight to nine-month wait between a movie’s theatrical debut and its availability on streaming services.
“This peacock is flexing its muscles on the physical front,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. “Showing that they can be terrific competitors to other platforms, offensive content goes like this.”
Comcast-owned NBCUniversal joins other major media companies in using the allure of recent movies to bolster their streaming services.
The Walt Disney Company brought “Free Guy” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” to its Disney+ service just 45 days after their theatrical debuts. AT&T’s Warner Bros. announced a similar 45-day window for its 2022 movie slate, after making this year’s movies available in theaters simultaneously and on the same day as WarnerMedia’s HBOMAX streaming service, “Day- end-date” in the release strategy.
“You have to wonder, when customers get used to the day and date from players like HBOmax, will 45 days be enough to move the needle,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson. “Frankly speaking, (Mayur) is struggling…he hasn’t launched a single buzzy show that has put him on the map yet.”
Peacock reported that it had 54 million sign-ups to its service as of July, with 20 million active accounts — with a few million more active accounts added in recent months. The service is roughly equivalent in size to ViacomCBS’s Paramount+, though dramatically smaller than Netflix and Disney+, which have 214 and 116 million subscribers, respectively.
Universal’s 2022 film slate includes “The 355”, a globe-trotting spy thriller starring Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o, “Ticket to Paradise” starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and “Marry Me” with Jennifer Lopez Who Are included. Owen Wilson.
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