HBO Max: release date, prices, shows and movies to expect

HBO Max, the streaming service anchored by HBO is finally announced launch on May 27, has a lot in common with its competitors in broadcast wars like Disney plus and Peacock, not to mention Netflix. Like those, HBO Max will have an extensive catalog of hit shows and movies, plus a huge roster of exclusive originals full of stars.

One of the key differences: HBO Max is the most expensive.

AT&T WarnerMedia’s HBO Max is spending billions of dollars on the service, its original programming budgets and expensive offers to stream popular reruns like Friends and The Big Bang Theory.

When HBO Max announced its official release date last week, it also released a new teaser video for the service with the first (very brief) glimpses of the originals to air exclusively on the service. A snippet featured actress Anna Kendrick in Love Life, an anthology series produced by Kendrick and Paul Feig that follows one character per season through a new romantic relationship in each episode. Another appeared to be from The Flight Attendant, a dramatic series in which a flight attendant wakes up in a hotel room with a dead man.

At launch, the service will air six called Max Originals, including Love Life; the documentary On the Record, which is probably best known for being controversial enough to Oprah Winfrey and Apple withdrew; an underground ballroom dance competition series called Legendary; Craftopia, hosted by YouTuber LaurDIY; new Looney Tunes cartoons; and Sesame Workshop’s The Not Not Too Late Show with Elmo. (The flight attendant will arrive later this year, HBO Max said. See more in the shows and movies section below.)

Going forward, WarnerMedia’s gigantic deal with director and producer J.J. Abrams will produce at least three series for HBO Max: a show set in the Justice League Dark universe; Overlook, a thriller based on Stephen King’s The Shining and set in the Overlook Hotel; and a criminal spectacle from the 70s called Duster. And WarnerMedia also has great franchises and brands to pull out – the DC universe and Game of Thrones in particular. HBO Max is even doing an unscripted Special gathering of friends with the original cast

But the Max Originals blackboard has certainly been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

People across the country are confined to their homes and transmitting much more, but the virus and its respiratory illness, COVID-19, have closed television productions worldwide. The new services launched this year are especially affected because they just don’t have as much original programming finished yet. Peacock has said that most of his original productions are on hold, and that he will only have a handful of originals available for their national release in July.

HBO Max hasn’t commented much on the impact of the virus yet, but it will surely be in the same boat. That special gathering of friends, for example? It’s overdue (Although Friends stars are raffling tickets for the recording, once it’s finally safe to shoot again.)

HBO Max will cost $ 15 per month when it launches in the United States on May 27. That compares to $ 7 a month for Disney Plus, and Peacock will offer a free limited tier with advertising. Some people who already have an HBO subscription will get Max included free – anyone who already pays for HBO through AT&T (HBO’s parent company), AT&T DirecTV’s satellite service, or Charter and its Spectrum services. Apple and YouTube TV They’re going to offer HBO Max directly through their platforms, but it’s unclear if that means any kind of special treatment.

But not all HBO clients get the automatic update.

Last week AT&T released a complex breakdown of all its HBO Max Promotions. As planned, some will get it at no additional cost, while others qualify for a full one-month, three-month, or one-year trial. (It’s confusing.)

And for everyone, HBO Max will add a tier with advertising that is cheaper, or even free, sometime in the first year of service. But the company has not provided any firm details.

HBO Max will be the last participant to arrive in the approximately six-month period known as the streaming wars, when the tech and entertainment giants are launching their own video streaming subscriptions to take on Netflix. With more than 167 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix has dominated the transition to TV broadcast.

How much will HBO Max cost?

HBO Max will be $ 15 a month at launch.

Within the first year, the service will expand to include another tier that includes advertising. The company hasn’t specified the price, release date, or catalog limitations at this level, but it would presumably be cheaper or free.

HBO’s current independent streaming service, HBO Now, also costs $ 15 a month. Although HBO Now will continue to operate, HBO Max will essentially replace it. HBO Now subscribers can stick with that service, but they will essentially pay the same amount for less content. HBO Max will have the same shows and movies on HBO Now, plus a large catalog of licensed programming and exclusive originals.

Compared to rival streaming services that launched before HBO Max, that price may seem high to many consumers. Disney Plus costs $ 7 a month, and Apple TV Plus is $ 5. Both offer deals that can further reduce the price or provide opportunities for extended free periods that last up to a year. Apple, for example, gives away a one-year subscription to anyone who has purchased an Apple device since early September. And Disney struck a deal with Verizon for any one of the company’s mobile subscribers to get one year free.

Where can I get HBO Max? And how do I get Max if I already have HBO?

The easiest way to get HBO Max is to register directly, eventually, at hbomax.com. HBO Max will also be offered through Apple: You can sign up for HBO Max on the service’s iOS app through an in-app purchase, and Apple will also integrate HBO Max into its own TV app, which allows you to congregate certain channels of broadcast to see them in one place. YouTubeTV, the pay TV streaming service operated by YouTube, will also be compatible with HBO Max.

But it becomes more complicated if you already have HBO. Some people who already have an HBO subscription will be able to unlock HBO Max at no additional cost, but not all.

HBO Now subscribers can upgrade to HBO Max for free, and HBO subscribers through AT&T can also get it for free (i.e.HBO customers through DirecTV, U-verse, AT&T TV Now, AT&T TV and AT&T wireless users who can add HBO with certain Unlimited Plans.) And through an April agreement with Charter, all current Charter HBO subscribers, including subscribers in their Spectrum Silver and Gold video packages, will automatically receive access to HBO Max at no additional charge.

But it’s unclear if you can include HBO Max if you get your HBO through another pay TV provider, be it a traditional provider like Comcast or Dish Network, or an internet-based one like Hulu, Amazon Prime Video Channels, Apple TV Channels and the Roku channel. When AT&T announced HBO Max in a three-hour presentation in October, the company said it was still in talks with other pay-TV providers to offer HBO Max to its traditional HBO subscribers. Since then, only the Charter association has emerged.

AT&T also offers a complicated array of promotions for HBO Max. Some customers will get it at no additional cost, while others qualify for a full one-month, three-month, or one-year trial. Your best option to determine if you qualify is to verify your account or the myAT & T app, but CNET also lists the AT&T qualification terms for your HBO Max Promotions.

When will HBO Max be released?

HBO Max will launch on May 27 in the United States.

After that, HBO Max’s first international expansions will prioritize Latin America and Europe. Latin America will get HBO Max in 2021, the company said.

HBO Max’s time in the USA USA It will put you near the end of the broadcast services launch parade. After Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched in November, April brought Quibi, a mobile streaming service from Hollywood giant Jeffrey Katzenberg, that focuses on short, episodic originals that can only be seen on phones. Also in April, Peacock released a “teaser” to his service at Comcast; Peacock’s national launch is scheduled for July 15 (although that date may be delayed).

What devices can HBO Max stream?

HBO said the Max service will be available on a “wide range of devices,” including phones, tablets, the Internet, connected TVs and game consoles.

Only recently has the company begun specifying the exact support for the device.

He said Monday that HBO Max will have an app for most Apple devices that can stream video: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K, and Apple TV HD. However, customers with second and third generation Apple TV models will need to stream HBO Max content from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay.

Movies and shows: what can I see on HBO Max?

The HBO Max catalog is all over the map.

HBO Max will include all of the shows and movies on HBO, plus a selection of high-profile licensed content such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick & Morty, and South Park. And it will overlap exclusive original programming Besides that. At launch, HBO Max said it will have 10,000 hours of content to stream.

HBO Max originally planned to have 31 originals in its first year and amplify up to 50 originals in the second year. But those timelines may need to be adjusted due to disruptions of the coronavirus.

The simplest part of the catalog to understand is HBO. HBO Max will include everything on normal HBO, which means all theatrical movies coming and going from the channel; new episodes from all HBO series like Westworld, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Sesame Street, etc. and the past seasons of those shows, as well as the entire HBO catalog, such as Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep, The Wire, etc. In addition to any of the original HBO movies, documentaries, and specials.

Films will also be a crucial part of the catalog. And any movies that are available to watch on the traditional HBO network will also be available to stream on HBO Max. The highlights of the HBO Max movie catalog will include (but will not necessarily have available at launch):

• Complete sets of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix trilogies.
• Lego movies.
• DC movies like Joker, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman and all the Batman and Superman movies from the past 40 years.
• Studio Ghibli anime movies that have never been released for US broadcast before. USA
• Classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Shining, Singin ‘in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Goonies and many others.
• New hits like Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born.

Ultimately, HBO Max will have more than 18,000 movies, the company said.

In addition to that, AT&T has been licensing out of successful programs to populate the HBO Max catalog. The most striking have been:

• A reported $ 425 million deal to win the rights to all the episodes of ’90s Friends, which left Netflix to start streaming on HBO Max at launch.
• A reported $ 500 million deal to broadcast The Big Bang Theory.

It also has secured offers for past seasons of Rick and Morty; 11 of the most recent Doctor Who seasons, plus three more to come; CW dramas like Pretty Little Liars, Batwoman, and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene, as well as more CW series; The prince of Bel Air; and the west wing; Among many others.

The animated satire South Park will not only contribute its entire catalog to HBO Max, but will also air new episodes. The latest episodes of South Park will air on HBO Max 24 hours after airing on Comedy Central for the next three seasons.

And HBO Max will have exclusive original movies and shows called Max Originals. For the most part, the original series on HBO Max will release new episodes weekly.

At launch on May 27, the originals will include:

• Love Life, the comedy with Kendrick
• On the Record, the controversial documentary
• Legendary, about underground ballroom dancing
• Craftopia, the craft series hosted on YouTuber
• New Cartoons of Looney Tunes
• The show not too late with Elmo

Then during the summer and fall, HBO Max will add other originals, including:

• The stewardess, protagonist and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco based on the Chris Bohjalian novel
• The Friends Unscripted Cast Reunion Special
• New original episodes of DC Doom Patrol ownership
• A new mystery comedy season Search Party
• Waiting for Amy, a three-part documentary on the life of comedian Amy Schumer on tour creating a special standup during her pregnancy.
• Science fiction epic Raised by Wolves from director and executive producer Ridley Scott. The 10-episode series focuses on two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet. The show had already finished production in South Africa.
• Adult animated comedy Close Enough by J.G. Quintel who analyzes the surreal life of an ancient family who lives with roommates
• Adventure Time: Distant Lands-BMO, which is the first of four specials to resurrect the Cartoon Network Adventure Time franchise

HBO Max originally planned to have 31 original series in its launch year (totaling 69 series when combined with HBO content). Then in 2021 HBO Max planned to expand Max Originals to a list of 50 shows. About half is geared toward young adults ages 16-34, with the remainder divided into more adult rates and content for kids and families outside of the HBO brand.

Some of the other highlights of the originals set for HBO Max include:

• New DC titles. A secret Green Lantern series that producer Greg Berlanti (a young adult television guru behind Riverdale and Arrow) says he will travel into space and “promises to be our biggest DC show ever made.” Strange adventures, a one-hour dramatic anthology series also produced by Berlanti that explores the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. DC Super Hero High It will be a half-hour comedy by Elizabeth Banks, the producer and actress known for the Hunger Games and 30 Rock movies, which will focus on a group of teenage students at a boarding school for “gifted” children.
• J.J. projects Abrams Abrams, known for a blockbuster and television hit show, signed a megadeal with AT&T and WarnerMedia to carry out projects for the company. On HBO Max, he will help produce a show set in the Justice League Dark universe; Overlook, a thriller based on Stephen King’s The Shining and set in the Overlook Hotel; and a criminal spectacle from the 70s called Duster.
• A half-hour comedy by actress and producer Issa Rae. Rae’s Rap Sh * t Explore the music business in Miami through the eyes of three women: a hip-hop duo and their busy manager.
• A half-hour comedy by actress / producer Mindy Kaling. College girls (a provisional title) tracks three 18-year-old freshmen at Evermore College in Vermont.
• The Boondocks The animated series is receiving “two reinvented seasons” along with a 50-minute special originally planned for Fall 2020.
• A new animated Jellystone series featuring the classic Hanna-Barbera characters from Warner Bros. Animation.
• New animated series from Cartoon Network Studios called Mushrooms and Tig N’Seek as well as a live-action / animated hybrid comedy, Tooned Out, by Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis.
• Comedy specials from Conan O’Brien and the team behind his TBS show. They’ll develop five stand-up specials for HBO Max: O’Brien will present two specials featuring short sets from multiple promising comics and one-hour curators of three comedians. That list will join another one-hour special by comedian James Veitch.

The service will have a smaller list of original films, between five and 10 per year according to the original plan. The first highlights of the original movie list include:

• A two-picture deal with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
• A documentary on Anthony Bourdain.
• A four-image contract with Berlanti, which includes Unpregnant, about two teenagers traveling to New Mexico after discovering that she is pregnant, according to Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan’s young adult novel.
• Super Intelligence, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy about a woman whose romantic life is selected for observation by artificial intelligence.
• Bobbie Sue, a comedy starring Gina Rodríguez from Jane the Virgin as a promising young lawyer who joins a Boston law firm.

CNET has a list of All shows and movies for HBO Max up to this point.

How does HBO Max fit with HBO Go and HBO Now?

HBO Max will be similar to HBO Go and HBO now but with additional programming.

Generally speaking, HBO Now and HBO Go are almost the same product. The main difference is who uses them: anyone can sign up for HBO Now for $ 15 a month, while HBO Go is the app for people who already have an HBO subscription through a live TV provider like cable or satellite. Both HBO Now and HBO Go broadcast all of the programming available on WarnerMedia’s traditional HBO network.

People who already have HBO Now can switch to HBO Max at no additional cost. For HBO Go users, it’s more complicated. HBO Go is unlocked by a pay TV subscription, and HBO Max will not be unlocked by all pay TV customers. For now, only people who pay for HBO through an AT&T, DirecTV or Charter service can get HBO Max included with their current subscription. (Return to our “How much will HBO Max cost?” For full details.) Unless WarnerMedia can come to more deals, everyone else currently paying for HBO will still have to pay an additional $ 15 a month if they want HBO Max too.

How is HBO Max different from all other AT&T streaming services?

Yes, AT&T has even more streaming services.

AT&T TV is similar to a cable or satellite pay television service, except that it is delivered over the Internet. AT&T TV It includes live channels, DVRs, and video on demand that cable subscribers are familiar with, plus the ability to stream from apps like Netflix and Pandora. To watch on TVs, AT&T TV has its own proprietary streaming box that AT&T requires you to use, and subscribers can also watch everything on mobile devices with an app. Right now, it starts at $ 50 a month for the first year of the cheapest tier; the price jumps to $ 93 per month in the second year.

AT&T TV nowOn the other hand, it is a live TV streaming service following the lines of Sling TV or YouTube TV. If you were familiar with DirecTV Now, AT&T TV Now is just the renowned version of that service. Rather than requiring a specific box, it allows subscribers to stream live channels to Rokus, Apple TV, Fire TV, and more, and the channels are also available in a mobile app. It also has a cloud DVR. Services like this are sometimes called thin packet streaming services, but AT & T TV Now’s cheapest bundle isn’t particularly slim – $ 55 a month for over 45 live channels (not including HBO). Still, it’s not as robust as AT&T TV, which is meant to replicate the giant cable bundles of traditional television.

Finally, AT&T Watch TV is closer to a traditional skinny package. It offers more than 35 live channels, including AT&T-owned TBS, TNT and CNN. AT&T Watch TV is a free benefit included with certain AT&T unlimited wireless data plans, but anyone can subscribe for $ 15 a month. It was designed as a mobile service first, but you can stream AT&T Watch TV to TVs with some boxes, including Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, but others are not supported, like Roku boxes.

Simple truth?