WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO Max becomes available in May, but it’s already generating plenty of buzz with an impressive library of licensed television shows and movies, as well as a long list of original projects from high-profile creators.
There are a lot of streaming options already out there, so we’ve put together a list of everything coming to HBO Max that’s been announced so far in order to help you decide whether to add the service to your streaming lineup.
Recent and classic TV shows
WarnerMedia has been busy negotiating streaming deals for some of the most popular shows from recent years to supplement its own slate of in-house offerings on HBO Max. Some of the shows available on the service include:
Friends
After leaving Netflix, Friends now heads to HBO Max. Netflix previously paid $100 million to stream it for a single year, so that offers some indication of how popular the ’90s sitcom remains for streaming audiences. WarnerMedia is also trying to put together a Friends reunion for HBO Max that will take the form of an “unscripted” panel-style discussion between the Friends cast and crew.
The Big Bang Theory & South Park
HBO Max will be the only place where you can stream both The Big Bang Theory and South Park, two shows that reportedly cost WarnerMedia more than $1.5 billion collectively to nab exclusively for the service.
Doctor Who
Fans of the long-running (technically, the longest-running) sci-fi series Doctor Who will be interested to know that HBO Max will be the show’s exclusive online home, with all 11 seasons of the modern Doctor Who series available at launch. Future seasons of the show will also stream exclusively on HBO Max, arriving on the service sometime after they debut on BBC America.
HBO originals
HBO’s wildly popular (and award-winning, in many cases) original series — including Veep, Game of Thrones, Chernobyl, and Barry — will also be available to stream via HBO Max, along with future HBO shows in the works. That includes upcoming projects from J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon, who are both developing shows for the network.
DC Comics shows
One of the big questions surrounding HBO Max when it was first announced involved the future of the DC Universe streaming service, which offers several original shows based on DC Comics characters, in addition to the library of Warner Bros. superhero movies and digital comics. WarnerMedia has confirmed that the critically praised Doom Patrol series will indeed stream on both HBO Max and DC Universe, but has yet to weigh in on the availability of other DC Universe shows.
HBO Max will also be the exclusive home for the various, live-action Arrow-verse series currently airing on The CW, such as The Flash and Supergirl, as well as the upcoming Batwoman series. The service will also offer at least two new, original series featuring DC Comics characters to be produced by Arrow-verse chief Greg Berlanti: A Green Lantern series and the Strange Adventures anthology series.
Other licensed series
Among the other licensed series HBO Max has lined up to be available on its service at launch are the following:
- Adam Ruins Everything
- Adventure Time
- The Alienist
- American Dynasties: The Kennedys
- Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- At Home with Amy Sedaris
- The Bachelor
- The Bachelorette
- The Boondocks
- The Carbonaro Effect
- The Closer
- CNN Decade Series (The 2000s, The Nineties, etc.)
- Conan Travel Specials
- Dexter’s Laboratory
- Ellen’s Game of Games
- Falling Skies
- The Flintstones
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
- Gossip Girl
- The Honourable Woman
- Impractical Jokers
- The Jetsons
- Little Big Shots
- Looney Tunes
- Mad TV
- Miracle Workers
- The OC
- The Office (British version)
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Pretty Little Liars
- Pride and Prejudice
- Primal
- Rick & Morty
- Rizzoli & Isles
- Robot Chicken
- Samurai Jack
- Sesame Street
- The Smurfs
- Steven Universe
- This Is Life with Lisa Ling
- Top Gear / BBC
- United Shades of America with Kamau Bell
- The West Wing
- Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Original series
Among the new, original series confirmed for HBO Max are the revival series Grease: Rydell High; the Cristin Milioti-led comedy series Made for Love; the limited series Station Eleven, starring Mackenzie Davis; Dune: The Sisterhood, a spinoff series inspired by the upcoming adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune; an animated prequel to Gremlins; and an adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s historical novel The Last of the Mohicans developed by Cary Fukunaga and Watchmen director Nicole Kassell.
A Gossip Girl reboot is also in development for HBO Max, along with the murder mystery series The Flight Attendant, which will be produced by and star The Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco. Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort will star in the series Tokyo Vice, while Paul Feig and Anna Kendrick are developing the romantic comedy Love Life.
J.J. Abrams signed a $250 million production deal with WarnerMedia to produce new content for the company, which likely means he’ll be developing original content for HBO Max.
What about movies?
Although its focus appears to be on TV projects, the service will have a well-stocked library of classic and original movies, too.
Studio Ghibli
All 21 of Studio Ghibli’s animated features will stream exclusively on HBO Max. That includes family-friendly favorite My Neighbor Totoro, the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, among other films.
Licensed films
HBO Max will have a long list of recent and classic films available for subscribers at launch, including many of the films produced by Warner Bros. Pictures — including every DC Comics superhero movie made in the last decade — and both The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies.
The current list of launch-day movies includes the following:
- 13 Going on 30
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Austin Powers
- The Bodyguard
- Casablanca
- Chariots of Fire
- Citizen Kane
- The Color Purple
- The Conjuring
- Dangerous Liaisons
- The Dark Knight
- The Departed
- DC Films – All live action movies from the past decade
- Gremlins
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch
- Hairspray
- Happy Feet
- The Hobbit Trilogy
- The Iron Giant
- Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2
- The Last Samurai
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Magic Mike
- March of the Penguins
- The Matrix Trilogy
- Million Dollar Baby
- Miss Congeniality
- Mona Lisa Smile
- Ocean’s Eleven
- The Right Stuff
- Risky Business
- Scooby-Doo
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Shining
- Space Jam
- Spirited Away and the entire Ghibli Film Collection
- Watchmen
- Wonder Woman
- When Harry Met Sally
- The Wizard of Oz
Original films
HBO Max will debut four young-adult films produced by Berlanti, the producer behind The CW’s popular superhero shows, as well as two (or more) original movies produced by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine. Let Them All Talk, a Steven Soderbergh-directed movie starring Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, and Candice Bergen, will also be an HBO Max exclusive.
Other stuff
The media conglomerate that is WarnerMedia encompasses a lot of potential sources for HBO Max content, including the premium cable networks HBO and Cinemax, as well as movie studios New Line and Warner Bros. Pictures. On top of all that, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and Looney Tunes all fall under AT&T’s WarnerMedia banner now.
HBO Max will launch nationwide in May 2020.
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