Oppenheimer Streaming Release: Will It Come Out on Netflix or Peacock?

Christopher Nolan's latest film, Oppenheimer, has been a big box office success, but when will it eventually leave theaters and begin streaming?

Starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the biographical thriller has earned a whopping $788.3 million worldwide, the top-grossing R-rated film of the 2020s.

Bouncing back from Tenet's $365.3 million global haul in 2020, Nolan's latest success will keep Oppenheimer off streaming for a significant amount of time.

Where Will Oppenheimer Stream?

Making the move from Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan decided to work with Universal for Oppenheimer.

Due to Universal distributing the film, it will stream first on Peacock, the company's marquee on-demand streaming service.

However, it will not be on Peacock for very long, it will eventually land on Amazon Prime Video. 

Back in 2021, Universal and Prime Video struck a deal that would give the streamer exclusive rights to its upcoming live-action films.

As reported by Deadline, Prime Video streams Universal’s films during the middle ten-month period of the 18-month pay-one window. This means months 5-14, the first four (and last four) months the film will be on Peacock.

The pay-one window is the time when a film streams directly after playing in theaters.

For those curious why some Universal films stream on Netflix, that is due to the animation-only deal that got re-upped in 2021. This puts Dreamworks and Illumination's films on Netflix after a 4-month period on Peacock.

When Will Oppenheimer Start Streaming?

Since launching in 2020, Peacock has hosted an assortment of popular films that have been released over the past few years, including Jurassic World Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

In 2023, Universal hasn't been aggressive with its theater-to-streaming turnaround, trending towards a 120-day gap.

Here's a look at Universal's major theatrical-to-streaming windows:

• The Bad Guys: April 22, 2022 - July 1, 2022 (70 days)
• Jurassic World Dominion: June 10, 2022 - September 2, 2022 (84 days)
• Minions: The Rise of Gru: July 1, 2022 - September 23, 2022 (84 days)
• Nope: July 22, 2022 - November 18, 2022 (119 days)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: December 21, 2022 - March 10, 2023 (80 days)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie: April 5, 2023 - August 3, 2023 (120 days)
• Fast X: May 19, 2023 - September 15, 2023 (119 days)

After Nolan negotiated terms with Universal before creating Oppenheimer, they agreed to a theatrical release period spanning from 90 to 120 days and a 20% share of the film's initial earnings, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on the massive box office success, it's more than likely that the exclusive window in theaters will hit the 120-day mark. 

That means that the soonest Oppenheimer could be streaming on Peacock is November 18. 

However, it's a safe bet to assume that Oppenheimer doesn't hit Peacock until a bit later, as it stands out compared to previous 2023 Universal films, especially due to Nolan leading the charge.

An extended window, around 150 days could be more realistic for the record-setting film to begin streaming. This would equate to Oppenheimer beginning to stream on Peacock on December 18.

This would put Oppenheimer on Prime Video during May 2024, before returning to Peacock in 2025.

Oppenheimer is now playing in theaters.