Summary
The upcomingHarry Pottertelevision series, theITprequel seriesWelcome to Derry, and other series will be consideredHBOoriginals instead of Max originals. HBO’s streaming service,HBO Max, was rebranded as Max in May 2023. Series made exclusively for the streaming platform, includingThe Flight Attendant,Our Flag Means Death,Hacks, andPeacemaker,were branded as HBO Max originals beforeshifting to Max originals.
According toVariety, most of Max’s big-budget projects related to massive IPs, including upcoming series forHarry Potter,IT, and DC, arenow HBO originals instead of Max originals. The change won’t become official until 2025, meaning that the 2024 releases of DC’sThe Penguinseries starring Colin Farrell and the prequelDune: Prophecyseries will still be called Max originals. HBO originals will be available to watch on the linear network and on the streaming platform. Read HBO and Max content CEO Casey Bloys' explanation for the change below:
We felt like we had to delineate between an HBO show and a Max show. The idea of using Warner Bros. IP as a delineation for Max felt right. At least that gives you a clear lane. But as we started producing those shows, we were using the same methods, the same kind of thinking, as how we would approach HBO shows. In a lot of cases, the same talent that has worked on HBO shows.
What we ended up with is shows at this scope and scale that look great, and great narratives and talent we’ve worked with. The idea of the delineation kind of started to feel unnecessary. Like, why are we doing this? Let’s just call them what they are: HBO shows.
For a show that feels big and cinematic, they already are going to make the assumption that it feels like an HBO show. This is just leaning into that.
The HBO Label Never Should’ve Been Removed In The First Place
Bringing back the HBO label can help communicate that the new content features the prestige and high quality of HBO’s past triumphs, along with widening viewership opportunities by making the content available to watch on HBO and on Max.
Under the direction of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, many questionable decisions have been made where HBO is concerned, one of which was the removal of the HBO name from the streaming service and its original content. With a rich history of programming, includingThe Sopranos,The Wire, andGame of Thrones, along with exclusive streaming hits ranging fromPeacemakertoHacks,the HBO name brings a connotation of entertainment prestige and high quality. This was taken away with the rebranding of HBO Max to the generic name of Max.
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The original programming delineation explained by Bloys seems topartially correct this error with the return to HBO originals. Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery have been open about their plans to expand on their popular IPs with new content, such asHarry Potter,The Lord of the Rings, DC,Game of Thrones,Dune, andIT. Bringing back the HBO label can help communicate that the new content features the prestige and high quality of HBO’s past triumphs, along with widening viewership opportunities by making the content available to watch on HBO and on Max.
In addition to the return of the HBO label, Bloys spoke about maintaining Sunday and Thursday nights as to whenthe HBO originalswould release new episodes. With these series available not only on the streamer but on theHBOnetwork, and maintaining a weekly schedule of when new episodes are released, the plan seems to follow the structure of network television, another sign ofthe streaming model essentially becoming the television model that it replaced.
