Peacock Announces ‘Violent Night’ Streaming Date; David Harbour Santa Claus Action-Thriller Coming This Weekend
The holidays may be over, but don’t try telling this Santa Claus to come back next year. NBCUniversal has announced that “Violent Night” will arrive on streaming this weekend, as the no-holds-barred Christmas action flick will debut on Peacock on Friday, Jan. 20.
The film stars “Stranger Things” beefcake David Harbour as Santa. When a little girl’s Christmas wish is that Santa frees her and her wealthy family from a group of mercenaries that have kidnapped them, he doesn’t hesitate to cross this item off of his list. Santa turns all of his powerful Christmas magic toward putting the mercenaries on blast… literally.
The release date of Jan. 20 means the film will have been in theaters and available to rent or purchase digitally for 49 days before its streaming debut. That brings it to Peacock the same week that The Streamable predicted it would be available to stream from home.
If you’d rather watch the film on Netflix, you’ll be waiting a bit longer. Universal has a deal in place with the world's largest streamer to send animated content directly to Netflix, but live action movies have to wait four years before Netflix gets them. That means “Violent Night” won’t head there until at least 2027.
“Violent Night” provides yet another data point in NBCU’s theatrical release strategy, showing once again how flexible the company is willing to be with its movies. “Nope,” the newest thriller from director Jordan Peele, was in theaters for 120 days before heading to streaming. On the other side of the theatrical spectrum, “Halloween Ends” got a day-and-date release on Peacock to celebrate the Spooky Season.
Overall, the film “Violent Night” falls in line with most of the other titles in Universal’s recent history of theatrical releases. The Idris Elba creature-thriller “Beast” saw a 50-day window between its theatrical and streaming releases, and much like “Violent Night” turned a profit, but was not a record-breaker for its studio like “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Avatar: The Way of Water” were for Paramount and Disney respectively in 2022.
If you’re not quite over the holidays, but feel that they could use a little more bloodshed and a few more explosions, “Violent Night” is the film for you; starting Friday, Jan. 20, you’ll be able to stream it on Peacock.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.