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HBO Max is the premium community’s streaming service changing HBO Now and HBO Go, that includes all the channel’s programming plus an amped-up library of additional exhibits, motion pictures and originals. (You nonetheless haven’t got an app for the HBO Max on Roku, although). In an unprecedented transfer, HBO Max will stream all of Warner Bros. 2021 new motion pictures — plus with Wonder Woman 1984 on Dec. 25 — no further cost the identical day every film is launched in US theaters.
The downsides: HBO Max has killed off its weeklong free trial. That means if you’d like to stream Wonder Woman, Matrix 4 or Dune, you both have to pay $15 for not less than one month of the service, otherwise you want to determine in case your common HBO subscription features a free improve to a Max account.
Making Wonder Woman 1984 and Warner Bros.’ different huge new flicks accessible on HBO Max is bound to be a boon for curiosity in the service. Since its launch in late May, HBO Max has been grappling with a bumpy rollout: Even although tens of millions of individuals can improve to Max at no further value as a result of they already subscribe to common HBO, solely a fraction of these folks have bothered downloading and signing up for the app. In HBO Max’s first 5 months, it is ramped up to 8.6 million accounts; Disney Plus, by comparability, hit 50 million subscribers in the identical period of time.
Why has Max struggled? For one, HBO Max initially failed to get its app on the hottest streaming gadgets, and AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit, which operates HBO and its streaming enterprise, performed musical chairs with all the apps that HBO operates, complicated some would-be Max clients.
But after months of absence, the service lastly scored help for its HBO Max app to stream on Amazon gadgets like Fire TV, “Firestick” and Fire tablets. Amazon’s Fire streaming gadgets are neck and neck with Roku as the hottest platform to stream video on televisions — collectively, Amazon and Roku characterize greater than 70% of streaming gadgets in the US, in accordance to Parks Associates.
HBO Max, nonetheless, nonetheless lacks an app on Roku. HBO has a special streaming app on Roku, merely known as HBO, which is proscribed to programming on the common community. And most Roku 4K machine clients with Apple gadgets like iPhones and iPads are actually ready to “cast” HBO Max from their handheld gadgets to their TVs by way of Apple’s AirPlay 2. But the expanded catalog of Max is not accessible on Roku with a easy one-click HBO Max app.
Also hurting HBO Max’s traction: It’s expensive. HBO Max is one in every of the costliest amongst its rivals, comparable in value to Netflix‘s hottest plan however with a smaller catalog, more-limited options and much less identify recognition. New subscribers can join Max and pay $15 a month. That matches the value HBO already costs for its common channel on most pay-TV suppliers, HBO Now. Some (however not all) present HBO clients can get HBO Max at no added value. It additionally competes with new rivals like Disney Plus, Peacock and Apple TV Plus, however all three are a lot inexpensive.
Still, to entice you to give it a attempt on different platforms, HBO Max has padded itself with extra content material than you may discover on the common HBO channel. For the identical value, HBO Max doubles the quantity of programming. AT&T, which owns HBO as a part of its WarnerMedia TV and movie division, has been pouring billions of {dollars} into its budgets for authentic programming and into costly offers to stream blockbuster motion pictures from DC, Studio Ghibli and the Criterion Collection, in addition to well-liked exhibits like Friends, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, Doctor Who and new episodes of Adventure Time. (There’s a deep dive into the exhibits and motion pictures on Max close to the finish of this text.)
As the coronavirus pandemic has shuttered theaters and pressured tens of millions to entertain themselves at house, HBO Max’s father or mother firm, which incorporates the movie studio Warner Bros., is now turning to the service to launch new motion pictures initially meant to premiere solely on huge screens.
Wonder Woman 1984 is the largest film but in the pandemic to be launched straight to streaming, by any studio. And no different studio has made practically as massive of a dedication to stream its motion pictures on-line “day-and-date,” when theatrical and home-viewing releases coincide.
It’s true that Universal launched its DreamWorks Animation sequel Trolls World Tour as a web-based rental in April, and Disney put out its live-action remake of Mulan on Disney Plus in September. But each these motion pictures got here with an additional value to watch them on-line. They had been accessible underneath a mannequin often known as premium video on demand, a particular early on-line launch that requires clients to pay a excessive value to unlock the title for house viewing.
And Wonder Woman is not the first time a studio has shifted a film deliberate for the huge display screen to its streaming service as an alternative. Disney has executed this with a clutch of films on Disney Plus, most notably Hamilton in July and its upcoming Pixar film Soul, too, set to drop Dec. 25. But none of these motion pictures comes shut to the $200 million funds for Wonder Woman 1984. Up till now, studios have largely been delaying their largest, costliest franchise movies till subsequent 12 months or past, hoping for a future when cinemas reopen extensively and audiences really feel snug streaming into theaters in droves.
Even earlier than Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. determined to let HBO Max launch The Witches, a reboot of the basic Roald Dahl guide and 1990 movie, simultaneous with the film’s restricted theatrical launch.
But Warner Bros. might have realized some classes from its launch of Tenet, the Christopher Nolan thriller. Another $200 million funds movie, Tenet opened in theaters in the US in September, though big cities like New York and Los Angeles nonetheless had cinemas on lockdown and theaters that had been open wanted to restrict how many individuals might fill their seats, as a security protocol. Tenet’s opening weekend field workplace return was $9.4 million domestically; that compares to opening returns for different Nolan movies like The Dark Knight Rises’ $160.9 million, The Dark Knight’s $158.4 million and Inception’s $62.Eight million.
Beyond big-screen surprises hitting HBO Max, the service’s so-called Max Originals additionally supply new, unique exhibits and motion pictures. Some of the newest: November introduced The Flight Attendant, a comedic thriller starring Kaley Cuoco, and a reunion particular of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Also in the pipeline is the fabled Snyder reduce of the 2017 film Justice League, in addition to Peacemaker. The DC spinoff collection is designed to be linked to subsequent 12 months’s theatrical film The Suicide Squad and will star John Cena reprising his function, and James Gunn writing and directing earlier than he begins work on the subsequent Guardians of the Galaxy film. Other originals which have already been launched embrace Raised by Wolves, which seems to be the hottest Max authentic to date; an Adventure Time animated hour-long particular, the first of 4; and indie movie Class Action Park, a documentary about the world’s most harmful amusement park.
One extremely anticipated authentic stays lacking. A Friends reunion particular was anticipated to perform as the service’s marquee unique on day one. But HBO Max’s authentic productions have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic too. The firm had mentioned it was aiming to movie the Friends reunion by the finish of the summer time, nevertheless it was postponed once more in August. (The newest stories are that it’s set to be filmed in March.)
HBO Max additionally has podcasts in its library linked to its programming, alongside the strains of final 12 months’s podcast companion to the miniseries Chernobyl. Raised by Wolves, an authentic sci-fi drama directed by Ridley Scott, has a podcast accessible now on Max, for instance.
Below are the finer particulars about HBO Max’s value, reductions, app and its exhibits and motion pictures.
What gadgets stream HBO Max’s app?
HBO Max is offered on a wide range of gadgets, nevertheless it’s lacking an app for Roku.
- Most Apple gadgets that may stream video help HBO Max — iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. However, clients with second- and third-generation Apple TV fashions will want to stream HBO Max content material from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay.
- Google’s Android working system for telephones and tablets have an app for Android TV gadgets, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in gadgets will help HBO Max too.
- Sony’s PlayStation 4 techniques can obtain the HBO Max app by way of the PlayStation Store.
- Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming consoles have the HBO Max app by way of the Microsoft Store.
- Select Samsung internet-connected good TVs — fashions from 2016 by way of 2020 — can obtain and buy HBO Max straight.
- Amazon Fire TV gadgets and Fire tablets have help for HBO Max’s app
But Roku gadgets nonetheless do not help HBO Max. Roku is one in every of the hottest strains of streaming gadgets in the US, with greater than 46 million lively accounts.
People with 4K Roku gadgets received a brand new workaround to stream HBO Max itself in November. Most Roku 4K streamers and TVs up to date with help for Apple’s AirPlay 2, which implies iPhones and iPads with the HBO Max app can “cast” to Roku-connected TV screens. That can unlock the expanded HBO Max catalog for some Roku clients, even with no deal.
HBO Max executives have mentioned they’ve an app prepared for Roku, however the firm should attain a take care of the distributor first. Generally, Roku has mentioned it is targeted on mutually optimistic distribution agreements with all new companies, with out a lot elaboration. But seven months have handed since HBO Max launched — and nonetheless no deal.
What do I do if I beforehand used HBO Go or Now on Roku or Fire TV?
The sunsetting of HBO Go and rebranding of HBO Now set up difficulties for some Roku and Amazon Fire TV customers. Anybody who beforehand streamed HBO Go on a Roku or Fire TV was all of a sudden caught with an inoperable app and wasn’t given a lot steering on how to cope.
The excellent news is these customers can unlock the newly renamed HBO app, however they want to bounce by way of some hoops first. AT&T pseudo-collapsed HBO Go and HBO Now collectively into the rebranded HBO app. While this app will not have any of the further originals, exhibits or motion pictures that you simply get with HBO Max, you may nonetheless have the ability to proceed streaming common HBO programming with it on Roku and Fire TV.
But for legacy HBO Go clients, you want to improve your HBO account for HBO Max. Once you register an electronic mail tackle and password with HBO Max, you should use your HBO Max credentials to check in to the newly rebranded HBO app on each Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
In addition, Roku famous that individuals who pay for HBO by way of Comcast, Charter or AT&T TV can stream HBO on the Comcast Xfinity Stream, Spectrum TV and AT&T TV apps too. Amazon did not reply to messages in search of remark.
What does HBO Max value?
HBO Max is $15 a month.
AT&T CEO John Stankey has mentioned HBO Max will launch a less expensive, ad-supported tier early subsequent 12 months. He did not specify the value, the exact launch date or any catalog limitations this tier might need.
Before launch, individuals who preordered the service at HBOMax.com unlocked a reduction deal that lowered the value to $13 a month for the first 12 months.
Legacy HBO Now subscribers can maintain streaming the programming from common HBO with out registering for HBO Max, however they will primarily be paying the identical quantity for much less programming.
Compared with rival streaming companies launching earlier than HBO Max, that pricing might really feel steep. Disney Plus is $7 a month, and Apple TV Plus is $5. Both are providing offers that may reduce the value additional or providing prolonged free durations to some clients. Apple, for instance, is giving freely a 12 months’s subscription to anybody who’s bought an Apple machine. And Disney set up a take care of Verizon so lots of the provider’s cell subscribers get a 12 months free.
How do I get HBO Max if I already pay for HBO? What will it value me?
Things get extra difficult if you have already got HBO and need to know what the launch of HBO Max means for you. Some individuals who have already got an current subscription to HBO are ready to unlock HBO Max at no further value, however not everybody.
Legacy HBO Now subscribers by way of Apple or Google barely wanted to do something to unlock HBO Max. The HBO Now app was mechanically changed by the HBO Max app by way of a software program replace on these cell gadgets that help HBO Max. In these instances, whenever you open the new HBO Max app, you simply want to agree to the HBO Max Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and select to “Access All of HBO Max,” and you are set, in accordance to an HBO Now help web page.
Some HBO Max distributors unlock an HBO Max improve at no further value for any present HBO and legacy HBO Now clients, thanks to offers HBO Max has struck with them. You qualify for the HBO Max improve at no further value for those who already pay for HBO by way of:
However, it is unclear if HBO Max will strike extra offers with different pay-TV suppliers, whether or not that is conventional suppliers like Dish or internet-based ones like The Roku Channel.
AT&T can also be providing a sophisticated matrix of promos for HBO Max. Some clients get Max at no further value, whereas others qualify for a one-month, three-month or one-year free trial. Your finest shot at determining whether or not you qualify is to verify your account or the myAT&T app, however CNET additionally lists AT&T’s qualification phrases for its HBO Max promos.
When will HBO Max launch elsewhere?
HBO Max launched May 27 in the US.
After that, HBO Max’s first worldwide expansions will prioritize Latin America and Europe. Latin America will get HBO Max in 2021, the firm has mentioned.
HBO Max’s US timing will put it close to the finish of a parade of streaming service launches. Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched in November 2019. April introduced Quibi, a mobile-only streaming service that options quick, episodic originals (which flamed out and fully shut down by December). Also in April, NBCUniversal’s Peacock launched a “sneak peek” at its service on Comcast earlier than launching nationally July 15.
What product options does HBO Max have?
In a long-anticipated function for anybody streaming HBO Go, HBO Max has downloads for its cell apps. Unfortunately, like most issues with HBO Max, the firm does not have a transparent reply for whether or not there are limitations on the quantity of programming you may obtain.
“We don’t have a crisp answer for you on how many downloads will be allowed but it’s going to be a very comfortable number for most people,” Andy Forssell, the product chief of HBO Max, mentioned. “The limit will probably be how much space you have in your device versus our limit, and that will liberalize over time.”
HBO Max permits you to stream to three completely different gadgets concurrently. By comparability, Disney Plus permits 4 simultaneous streams, and Netflix permits between one and 4 relying on how a lot you pay every month.
You may create up to 5 profiles to maintain suggestions separate for various members of the family, and it additionally has child accounts which might be unlocked by coming into a PIN. These parental controls enable mothers and dads to set the maturity ranges of the programming every youngsters’ profile can entry, primarily based on scores like PG and TV-14.
For HBO Now members, HBO Max mechanically replaces the HBO Now cell app by way of a software program replace.
But there is a draw back to the transition from HBO Now and HBO Go to HBO Max: HBO Max will not protect any of your watch historical past for those who change from an current HBO streaming account. So your personalised suggestions begin with a clear slate, and HBO Max will not know, for instance, for those who’ve already watched each episode of Game of Thrones thrice or for those who’re midway by way of the film Joker and need to decide again up the place you left off.
Another lacking ingredient: HBO Max does not supply 4K decision nor excessive dynamic vary picture high quality for many of its catalog. The exception is all the theatrical motion pictures that Warner Bros. is releasing on HBO Max the identical day as cinemas; all these movies will probably be accessible in 4K Ultra HD and HDR.
Where can I join HBO Max?
The easiest way to get HBO Max is to join it straight at hbomax.com.
Through Apple, HBO Max will probably be an iOS app for iPhone and iPad, which is able to enable you to enroll and pay by way of an in-app buy. Apple may also combine HBO Max into its personal TV app, which permits you to congregate sure streaming channels to watch them in a single place.
Through Google, HBO Max can have an app for Android telephones and tablets in the Google Play retailer, and you may have the ability to enroll inside the app with an in-app buy. You’ll additionally have the ability to stream HBO Max on Android TV, Chromebook and Google Chromecast. If you already subscribe to HBO Now by way of Google Play, you may mechanically have the ability to log in to HBO Max at launch at no further cost, and you may proceed to be billed by way of Google. And YouTube TV, the streaming pay-TV service operated by Google’s YouTube, may also carry HBO Max.
People with Samsung Smart TVs that help the HBO Max app may also have the ability to enroll straight there.
Shows and movies: What can I watch?
Generally, HBO Max includes all the shows and movies on HBO, plus a selection of high-profile licensed content, like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick & Morty and South Park. It’ll layer exclusive original programming on top of that. HBO Max said it will have 30 originals in year one and 60 in year two.
Now that the service is live, an easy way to see what’s available without signing up is a third-party catalog search service like Reelgood. The following section summarizes what HBO Max has and what’s coming.
Most notably, Wonder Woman 1984 will stream on HBO Max for one month starting Dec. 25, coinciding with the movie’s theatrical release in the US. And all of Warner Bros. 2021 movies will be released on Max next year the same way. They’ll be included in HBO Max’s catalog at no extra cost.
The simplest part of the catalog to understand is HBO itself. HBO Max includes everything on regular HBO, so that means all the theatrical movies that come and go from the channel; new episodes from all HBO series, like Perry Mason and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver; and the past seasons of those programs as well as the full HBO back catalog, like Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep and The Wire; plus all of the HBO original films, documentaries and specials.
Movies are a crucial part of the catalog. And any movie that’s available to watch on the traditional HBO network will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Highlights of the HBO Max film catalog will include (but may come and go as licensing changes):
- The so-called Snyder cut of Justice League, slated to arrive on HBO Max in 2021.
- DC films like Joker, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman and every Batman and Superman movie of the last 40 years.
- Studio Ghibli anime films that have never been released for streaming in the US before.
- Anime selections like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and other top titles from anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll, which is also owned by AT&T.
- Classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, Singin’ in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner: The Final Cut and many others.
- Newer hits like The Invisible Man, Jojo Rabbit and Ford v Ferrari.
On top of that, AT&T has been licensing outside hit shows to beef up HBO Max’s catalog. The most eye-popping deals have been:
- A reported $425 million deal for all episodes of ’90s hit Friends, which exited Netflix to start streaming on HBO Max at launch.
- A reported $500 million deal to stream The Big Bang Theory.
It’s also secured deals for past seasons of Rick and Morty; 11 of the most recent seasons of Doctor Who, plus another three to come; CW dramas like Pretty Little Liars, Batwoman, and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene as well as more upcoming CW series; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; The West Wing; and British series like Luther and Ricky Gervais’ original The Office, among many others.
Animated satire South Park will not only contribute its full back catalog to HBO Max but also stream new episodes. The latest episodes of South Park will stream on HBO Max 24 hours after they air on Comedy Central for the next three seasons.
And HBO Max will have exclusive new shows and movies called Max Originals. For the most part, original series on HBO Max will drop new episodes on a weekly basis. Some of the originals have included:
- Love Life, a romantic comedy starring Anna Kendrick and produced by Kendrick and Paul Feig, who is known for blockbuster comedies like Bridesmaids.
- Doom Patrol, the second season of the DC Universe series.
- Adventure Time: Distant Lands-BMO, which is the first of four specials resurrecting Cartoon Network’s franchise Adventure Time.
- Expecting Amy, a three-part docuseries about comedian Amy Schumer’s life on tour during her pregnancy.
- American Pickle, the Seth Rogen comedy that is HBO Max’s first original film, about a 1920s immigrant who gets preserved in pickle brine for 100 years and meets his great-grandson (both characters portrayed by Rogen) in modern-day Brooklyn.
- Class Action Park, the indie doc about the world’s most dangerous theme park.
- Raised by Wolves, the sci-fi epic from director and executive producer Ridley Scott; the 10-episode series focuses on two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet.
Then over the course of the fall and beyond, HBO Max is adding other originals, including:
- The Witches, the new movie based on the classic book starring Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway.
- The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian.
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion Special, getting the series’ remaining cast members together for a family reunion on set in the Banks’ home.
- Superintelligence, a movie starring Melissa McCarthy about an all-power artificial intelligence that chooses to study the most average person on Earth.
- The Friends unscripted cast reunion special.
- A reboot of Pretty Little Liars.
Of HBO Max’s originals, about half are targeted at young adults aged 16 to 34, and the rest will be divided between more adult fare and kids and family content outside the HBO brand.
Some of the other highlights of the originals in the pipeline for HBO Max include:
- New DC titles. A Green Lantern series that producer Greg Berlanti (a young-adult TV guru behind Riverdale and Arrow) says will travel to space and “promises to be our biggest DC show ever made.” Strange Adventures, a one-hour drama anthology series also produced by Berlanti that explores the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. DC Super Hero High will be a half-hour comedy from Elizabeth Banks, the producer and actress known for the Hunger Games films and 30 Rock, that’ll focus on a group of adolescent students at a boarding school for “gifted” kids.
- Projects by J.J. Abrams. Abrams, known for a parade of television and box office hits, signed a megadeal with AT&T and WarnerMedia to make projects for the company. On HBO Max, he’ll 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 1970s crime show called Duster.
- A half-hour comedy from actress-producer Issa Rae. Rae’s Rap Sh*t explores the music business in Miami through the eyes of three women: an upstart hip-hop duo and their hustling manager.
- A half-hour comedy from actress/producer Mindy Kaling. College Girls (a working title) tracks three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore College in Vermont.
- The Boondocks animated series is getting “two reimagined seasons” along with a 50-minute special originally planned for fall 2020.
- A new Jellystone animated series with the classic Hanna-Barbera characters from Warner Bros. Animation.
- Comedy specials from Conan O’Brien and the team behind his TBS show. They’ll be developing five stand-up specials for HBO Max: O’Brien will host two specials that feature short sets from multiple up-and-coming comics and curate hourlong sets from three comedians. That slate will join another one-hour special from comedian James Veitch.
The service will have a smaller slate of original films, between five and 10 per year, according to the original plan. Early highlights on the original movie slate include:
- A two-picture deal with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
- A documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
- A four-picture deal with Berlanti, including Unpregnant, a September release about two teenage girls who go on a road trip to New Mexico after one finds out she’s pregnant, based on the young adult novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan.
- Super Intelligence, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy about a woman whose romantic life is selected for observation by artificial intelligence.
- Bobbie Sue, a comedy feature starring Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez as an up-and-coming young lawyer who joins a stuffy Boston law firm.
(This story has not been edited by Newslivenation employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)