Is Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’ Available to Stream? When Will it Come to Peacock, Netflix?
The week of Thanksgiving is a big one for theatrical releases, especially for movies that want consideration for the 2023 Academy Awards. One movie that may garner such consideration is “The Fabelmans,” which comes to theaters on Friday, Nov. 25.
The movie follows young Sammy Fabelman, an aspiring filmmaker as he battles through adolescence and the trials of growing up an outsider. His parents are A typical American couple, outwardly perfect while masking the internal flaws that make them human. The film is a semi-autobiographical story about the life of legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who directed the picture.
The movie stars Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch. Critics on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes are highly enamored with the film, as it currently sits at a 93% approval rating based on nearly 150 reviews.
Watch a Trailer for ‘The Fabelmans’:
The movie is an obvious awards candidate, so you may well be wondering when you can enjoy “The Fabelmans” at home. The film is being distributed by Universal, which means that it will stream on Peacock once it leaves theaters, but no streaming date has yet been announced for the film. Will it follow the established 45-day theatrical baseline that has become the baseline standard for the industry?
There is also the question of when the film will hit Netflix. As part of its 2021 deal for Universal's animated features, the world’s largest streamer doesn’t get access to the studio’s live-action slate until four years following films’ theatrical releases, so don’t expect to see “The Fabelmans” on Netflix until at least late 2026.
There’s an outside chance the movie comes to streaming after 45 days, but probably not. Forty-five days from “The Fablemans” release would be Dec. 28, but Universal will likely want to keep the film available in theaters throughout the entire duration of the holiday season in order to capitalize on as many families looking for a film that can appeal to multiple generations. The movie will likely also want to have as substantial a theatrical run as possible in order to enhance its profile for awards season.
So, if it will likely not be coming to Peacock before the end of the year, based on recent cinema-to-streaming windows, that means that “The Fabelmans” could see a theatrical release as long as 120 days, which is how long Jordan Peele's most recent thriller “Nope” took to land on Peacock.
Although the films don’t have much in common from a plot standpoint, they do bear some similarities. Both movies were well-received by critics, and like “Nope,” “The Fabelmans” will likely not prove to be a box-office bonanza in the post-pandemic, tentpole-driven movie business.
However, if “The Fabelmans” doesn’t arrive on streaming for 120 days, that would put it on PEacock on March 23, 2023, more than a week after the 2023 Oscars ceremony on March 12. The better strategy for Universal would likely be to bring the movie to streaming after 90 days, which would land “The Fabelmans” on NBCUnversal’s streaming service Peacock in the last week of February. That would help remind viewers of its potential heading into the Academy Awards.
Our best guess is that you’ll be able to watch “The Fabelmans” on Peacock around Thursday, February 23, 90 days from its original theatrical release.
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