Universal extends their theatrical windows to five weekends, will extend even further to seven weekends in 2027
The 45-day pledge
Besides AI, the major concern for the film world at the moment is whether upcoming movies will go to theaters at all. And if they do, will they have a long enough run so people have to wait for it to come to streaming? This was one of the biggest talking points when it seemed likely that Netflix was going to acquire Warner Bros. At the time, Ted Sarandos assured people that Netflix would stick to the 45-day theatrical window before dropping movies on streaming. Now that Paramount will be merging with Warner Bros., one of the first pieces of information that David Ellison divulged was that he will also commit to the 45-day theatrical window.
Universal steps it up
One studio that hasn’t been questioned as much about their movies streaming is Universal Pictures. According to Variety, Universal has announced a rather exciting game plan amid all the theatrical vs. streaming talk — the studio has extended their theatrical windows to five weekends for 2026. Before the COVID pandemic shortened windows to 45-days, the industry standard held strong for a 90-day run in cinemas. Universal was the company that championed an extreme shortening of windows to 17 days or three weekends around the time of the pandemic.
Not only has the studio decided to pivot in the opposite direction for the year, but they also plan to go further for next year. Universal also revealed that they would extend their theatrical runs to seven weekends in 2027. One has to wonder if Christopher Nolan setting up shop at the studio had any influence as one of the more outspoken supporters of the cinema experience.
NBCUniversal Entertainment chair Donna Langley said to the New York Times, “Our windowing strategy has always been designed to evolve with the marketplace, but we firmly believe in the primacy of theatrical exclusivity and working closely with our exhibition partners to support a healthy, sustainable theatrical ecosystem.”
Can Universal also keep up with Warner/Paramount?
Along with the new strategy, now you have to wonder if Universal also plans to compete with Paramount/Warner’s plan to release 30 movies in total a year. When announcing the plan to merge HBO Max and Paramount+, Ellison also vowed to release 15 films into theaters from Warner Bros., along with 15 films from Paramount each year. He would explain, “As we have said consistently, we are committed to delivering a broad pipeline of high-quality storytelling, including 15 theatrical films per year per studio, for a total of at least 30 films annually. We really believe that movies should be seen in theaters.”
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