The logo for NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, is displayed on a computer screen on Jan. 16, 2020, in New York. The service is ramping up its offerings with a new deal with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. The companies said Tuesday, July 6, 2021, that starting in 2022 all Universal films, including the new "Jurassic World," Jordan Peele and "Minions" movies, will become available exclusively on Peacock no later than four months after their theatrical premieres. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
By Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer
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The streaming service Peacock is ramping up its offerings with a new deal with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
The companies said Tuesday that starting in 2022 all Universal films, including the new "Jurassic World" and "Minions" movies, will become available exclusively on Peacock no later than four months after their theatrical premieres. Both companies are subsidiaries of Comcast's NBCUniversal.
The unique multi-year deal guarantees that in an 18-month window, Universal films will be available on Peacock for the first and last four months. The films can be licensed to other services in the middle 10 months.
Universal's 2022 slate incudes "Jurassic World: Dominion," "Minions: The Rise of Gru," "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" and a new original film from "Get Out's" Jordan Peele.
The studio will also start developing and producing Peacock-only content.
Cynthia Erivo attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More
