news HBO Max Executives Give Update on New Shows and the Service’s Interface at TCA

WarnerMedia executives unveiled new details about HBO Max on Wednesday at the TCA 2020 Winter Press Tour, clarifying that all legacy and current HBO content will be available on the service alongside a dizzying array of television shows and films from the AT&T-owned company’s myriad brands.

WarnerMedia executives previously said HBO’s full library would be available on HBO Max during the streaming service’s initial reveal last October, but questions of current show access have dogged the service — which will co-exist alongside the similar-sounding HBO, HBO Now, and HBO Go — since then. HBO Max Chief Content Officer Kevin Riley, Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey, and Executive Vice President of Content Acquisitions Michael Quigley took the stage to clear the air and discuss some of the shows that will be exclusive to the streaming service, which will have offer an option for subscribers to filter all non-HBO content.

HBO Max’s specific May release date is still under wraps but Aubrey offered several hints on when several of its shows will premiere: Kaley Cuoco is currently shooting “Flight Attendant,” a thriller where flight attendant Cassandra Brown (Cuoco) wakes up next to a dead body in a Dubai hotel, and the series is expected to premiere in the summer. “Flight Attendant” is part of HBO Max’s initial originals slate, which also includes Anna Kendrick’s “Love Life” and Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves.”

The HBO Max executives noted that Greg Berlanti’s “Green Lantern” series is still in its early stages, but teased that it would feature supervillain Sinestro and span several decades and focus on the origin stories of two Green Lanterns on Earth before bringing the story to space.

One project that has less certainty is the rumored “Friends” reunion special, which Riley said was a “maybe.” The original “Friends” series will be available on the service at launch. While the original “Friends” series will be there for you, the “Harry Potter” film franchise won’t; WarnerMedia’s 2016 deal with NBCUniversal to give the latter rights to the films is still in effect, though Riley implied that WarnerMedia would likely seek to bring the franchise to HBO Max in the future.

Though HBO Max will debut with 10,000 hours of content, its launch won’t impact WarnerMedia’s other services. HBO Now, HBO Go, Boomerang, and DC Universe will all continue operating, and Riley did not indicate that the former two platforms would be phased out in the future — even though all content from HBO Now and HBO Go will be available on HBO Max. An HBO Max subscription will cost $14.99 per month and a cheaper AVOD option will be introduced around a year after the streaming service launches.
 
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