Why Universal Committed to Keeping Movies in Theaters Longer

"Effective immediately, the NBCUniversal-owned studio will keep all of its feature releases exclusive to movie theaters for a minimum of five weekends; in 2027, that exclusive window for multiplexes will be extended to seven weeks. Since 2020, Universal has promised theater owners an exclusive window of only three weekends, which meant that some movies would be available for digital rental as soon as 18 days after they opened on the big screen."

"Most people who stream movies watch them via a subscription service such as NBCU-owned Peacock, which gets first dibs on all Universal movies. And as Peacock subscribers know all too well, Universal has already been making fans wait longer to watch new movies on the service. The aforementioned Bad Guys 2 didn't show up on the streamer until roughly 16 weeks after the movie hit theaters; Jurassic World: Rebirth and How to Train Your Dragon (2025) took 17 weeks to get there."

"But it's not just mega-blockbusters and summer releases which got held back from Peacock: The last Downton didn't debut on the service until eight weeks after its theatrical opening, while Oscar-nominated Hamnet, from Universal's Focus label, took about 14 weeks to travel from movie houses to Peacock. In other words, pretty much every major Universal movie is already taking much longer to reach streaming platforms."

Universal Pictures is extending its theatrical exclusivity window from three weeks to five weeks effective immediately, with plans to increase it to seven weeks by 2027. While the studio frames this as crucial for cinema's future and theater chain health, the practical impact is limited. Most viewers access Universal films through Peacock subscription service rather than purchasing digital rentals. Peacock already enforces lengthy delays, with major releases waiting 14-17 weeks before appearing on the platform. Films like Bad Guys 2 and Jurassic World: Rebirth waited approximately 16-17 weeks for streaming availability. Even prestige titles like Hamnet waited 14 weeks. Consequently, the new theatrical window extension represents a modest change compared to existing Peacock delays that viewers already experience.

Read at Vulture