HBO Max is undergoing some changes after its parent company merged with Discovery — and some fans are worried about the fate of their favorite shows.
WarnerMedia, which is the owner of HBO Max, merged in April 2022 with Discovery (which is the owner of Discovery+), creating Warner Bros. Discovery. Observers immediately started to wonder if executives were planning to combine the streaming services or offer a bundle like Disney does with Hulu. Disney+ and ESPN+.
One month before the merger was finalized, Discovery’s chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels confirmed that the company eventually plans to combine HBO Max and Discovery+, though he didn’t offer a timeline for when that would happen.
As HBO Max began showing changes in August 2022 and the two streaming platforms began sharing content, subscribers began to question what might happen with Max Originals shows and movies. Max Originals — which include the Sex and the CitySpinoff And Just Like ThatAs well as the Gossip Girl revival, Hacks Pretty Little Liars — appear only on the streaming service and do not air on HBO’s cable channel.
Rumours continued to circulate after Warner Bros. was delisted BatgirlA feature film adaptation of the comic will star in. Leslie Grace. The movie was greenlit in 2021 and was originally meant to premiere exclusively on HBO Max, but in August 2022, the studio announced that it was shelving the movie indefinitely, meaning it won’t premiere on streaming or in theaters. (BatgirlHad already completed principal photography and was currently in post-production.
Warner Bros. also canceled the show simultaneously Scoob!: Holiday HauntThe sequel to the animated film 2020:. Scoob!Like BatgirlHoliday Haunt was completed and cost Warner Bros. $40million to make.
HBO Max quietly removed several original movies from its streaming service, including Lana Condor Cole Sprouse‘s MoonshotAnd the 2020 remake The WitchesStaring Anne Hathaway. Some observers described the move as unusual as HBO Max has been publicly announcing which series and movies will be leaving the streaming service each monthly.
According to IndieWire, those titles are “part of a long list of films and series” being pulled off HBO Max and Discovery+ as the two services gear up for their merger. “The content being targeted for removal tends to be shows and movies that are not performing on the service but have an opportunity for a partial write off,” the outlet reported.
Keep scrolling for more details about what’s happening with HBO Max.
