Peacock will receive a much more constant stream of new movies starting in 2022. In the next year, Universal’s films will be streamed on Peacock no later than four months after their theatrical release, the two companies announced on Tuesday.
The new deal is a departure from the current setup where Universal’s films go straight to HBO after they hit theaters. From 2022, however, Universal’s films will be broadcast on the in-house streaming service Peacock. Both Universal and Peacock are owned by Comcast, which makes this a natural partnership for the two companies.
Deals like this one typically last 18 months for each new movie, and this new Universal and Peacock agreement is no different. The difference, however, is how the deal is structured. Peacock will have exclusive rights to new Universal movies for the first four months and the last four months of their 18 month streaming window. In the intervening 10 months, however, Universal can make arrangements with other netw orks to stream or show the films as well. Universal has not yet announced what other companies it will be working with.
This new deal is in some ways similar to Universal’s current arrangement, with most of its films going to HBO, while Illumination titles like Despicable Me and Minions go to Netflix.
This new agreement begins in 2022, which means it will encompass several huge Universal properties, including Jurassic World: Dominion, Jordan Peele’s next film, as well as several films from DreamWorks Animation and Illumination.
