(Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. is expanding a deal with Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, adding rights to stream live-action films to an agreement for animated pictures from the studio’s DreamWorks Animation and Illumination divisions.
Starting in 2027, the live-action films from Universal Pictures and Focus Features, which include franchises such as Fast & Furious and Jurassic Park, will appear on the Netflix streaming platform “no later than eight months following theatrical release,” the companies said in a statement Tuesday. After a home debut on Comcast’s Peacock streaming service, the company’s movies will be exclusively available on Netflix for 10 months before returning to Peacock.
As part of the deal, Netflix also has the option to license older titles from Universal’s library. More entertainment companies — such as Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which recently licensed its films based on DC Comics superheroes to Netflix — are seeking to monetize their movie and television libraries by farming out the titles to competitors instead of keeping them exclusive to their own streaming platforms.
Previously, Universal’s live-action films were exclusively licensed to Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video service in the US after first appearing on Peacock as part of an agreement the companies struck in 2021.
“With this expanded partnership, we’re providing an optimal experience for today’s consumer with a direct-to-consumer strategy that is advantageous to both NBCUniversal and Netflix,” Peter Levinsohn, NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman of distribution said in the statement.
(Updates with earlier Amazon Prime Video deal in fourth paragraph.)
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