Where did Peacock’s best movies go? Movies leaving and if you should should keep your subscription
Updated: Jul 29, 2020
Where did Peacock's Best Movies Go? Movies Leaving and if You Should Keep Your Subscription
Summary (Read less, watch more)
NBCUniversal's new streaming service, Peacock, is already losing many of its notable titles after launching only a few short weeks ago. Some films are heading to other services while others are disappearing entirely for the time being.
Considering this, we offer insight into whether you should keep or cancel your Peacock subscription. We believe the most critical factor is how bothered you are by ads.
Only a few weeks after launch Peacock loses major titles
If NBCUniversal were to relaunch Peacock TV with only the content streaming today, the promotional video would look nearly unrecognizable. This is because over the last couple of weeks Peacock has removed most of their most relevant content.
If it was Spielberg's practical Dinosaurs (Jurassic Park) or Keanu Reeves' CGI enhanced stunt work (The Matrix) that persuaded you to subscribe, you are surely disappointed.
Below is a full list of the titles that have left the service and, when applicable, where you can find them now:
Evan Almighty
Fast & Furious
Dead Silence
In Good Company
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Wrong
The Story of Us
All That Heaven Allows
Creature From the Black Lagoon
Frailty
Idlewild
Joe
The Blair Witch Project
Blair Witch 2
Blood Ties
Cesar Chavez
Children of Men
Drive Angry
Jonah Hex
Jurassic Park (Now on Netflix)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park: (Now on Netflix)
Jurassic Park III (Now on Netflix)
Parenthood
Shrek
Spawn
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
Where did they go?
The streaming landscape is marked by films continually coming and going, which makes this news mostly unsurprising. For example, The Blair Witch Project is a Lionsgate property, and Warner Media owns The Matrix franchise. Most of these titles are likely to appear on another service sooner or later (fingers crossed The Matrix lands on HBO Max soon.)
Curiously, not all the films NBCUniversal removed suffer from rights issues. Many of the most popular films leaving are Universal properties, including the Jurassic Park franchise, The Mummy franchise, Children of Men, and several others. This means, theoretically, NBCUniversal should be able to do what they want with their titles, and they may end up back on the service before too long.
The practice of cycling titles on and off a service is known as "windowing" and is utilized by most of the streaming giants as a way of keeping subscribers' attention long term. If there is new content (and a risk of losing current content), every month, subscribers are likely to keep their subscriptions year-round instead of canceling after binging everything in a couple of weeks. For windowing to work with Peacock, however, they need to add new films that are as appealing as the films leaving.
Should you keep paying for Peacock?
It is a good question and will depend entirely on what you enjoy watching and your tolerance for ads. Remember, Peacock is unique when compared to Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO, and the other subscription based streaming services. Peacock has a free tier with roughly two-thirds of its titles available to watch with ads. You only need to pay for Peacock if you enjoy the following:
Peacock Originals (Premium Only): Original films and television including Brave New World, The Capture, Intelligence, Psych 2: Lassie Comes Home, and more.
Our Take: None of Peacock's original content has been exciting. Watch anything that captures your attention but do not keep paying for the service expecting more originals to justify the expense.
A curated collection of movies and TV (Premium Only): Law and Order: SVU, Yellowstone, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and more.
Our Take: There is no clear method of how Peacock decides to separate its free and premium content. It does appear, however, that most premium content is, in fact, good. Children of Men was locked behind the premium pay wall before it was removed, for example. This might matter, except there are plenty of great movies available for free. The premium content does not sell us on paying more.
Here is the question: Are you okay with advertisements?
The free version of Peacock has some great films. Their classic collection is top-notch with Universal's back catalog of horror films, Hitchcock masterworks, and much more (All Quiet on the Western Front, Frankenstein, Dracula, Vertigo, The Sting, the list goes on and on). They have some fantastic newer films too – Everything from the Bourne trilogy, to Do The Right Thing, to Phantom Thread. It is an impressive collection. And, for us, the idea of an advertisement interrupting Psycho is sacrilegious. We will either pay for Peacock Premium Plus or rent these films elsewhere when we want to watch them.
Here's our recommendation:
Peacock Free: If you don't mind ads and want to enjoy the vast collection of free movies and television, the free version of Peacock is a no brainer.
Peacock Premium ($4.99 per month or $50 per year): This tier is the hardest to justify. Pay for Premium if you are excited about the Peacock originals or want to catch a particular film you know is behind the paywall. Of course, you still must be okay with ads.
Peacock Premium Plus ($9.99 per month or $100 per year): Peacock has an impressive collection of films for the right person. If you see tons of movies and TV you want to binge but would prefer doing it uninterrupted; this tier is for you.