(UTVNEWS | COLOMBO) – A new report over at Bloomberg indicates NBCUniversal may soon pull its films from competitors like Netflix and HBO Max.
Currently, HBO Max has a contract that allows it to stream new Universal Pictures movies nine months after they hit the theaters – including franchises like “Fast & Furious” and “Jurassic World”. Netflix has a similar deal with Universal-owned Illumination Entertainment’s titles.
Both deals expire this year and when they do, it gives NBCUniversal the freedom to potentially move those films over to its Peacock service which – as of now – doesn’t really have a strategy for big new film releases.
HBO Max is currently doing day-and-date releases of all Warners’ 2021 theatrical titles and is expected to shift to a strategy in 2022 that sees films arrive on the service 45 days after their theatrical runs.
Paramount+ has already announced it will do the same 45 days after release plan. Disney+ is currently trying various strategies including Disney+ exclusive premieres and ‘Premier Access’ day-and-date releases.
Should they do it, Peacock’s service would immediately increase its value to film fans. Alternatively, NBCUniversal might use Peacock as leverage to sign more profitable versions of existing deals.