by Thinus Ferreira
On Wednesday night WarnerBros. Discovery made the expected announcement that it's renaming its HBO Max video streaming service to just Max, together with new TV show announcements like another Game of Thrones prequel series and a Harry Potter TV drama series which will last a decade, with Max that might finally be launching in South Africa sometime in 2024 as part of "new markets".
At a glitzy "Streaming Product Press Event" WarnerBros. Discovery held on Wednesday night inside Stage 14 on its Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Los Angeles for journalists and investors and streamed globally for media, WBD CEO David Zaslav announced that HBO Max is being shortened to just Max from 23 May.
HBO Max - now just Max - as well as the company's discovery+ streamer from the merged WBD are not yet available in South Africa.
Max will however likely - like Paramount+ which is also not yet available in South Africa - eventually join the flurry of existing streamers like MultiChoice and NBCUniversal's Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, BritBox, eMedia's eVOD, VIU, TruthTV, WOW Presents Plus and MarqueeTV.
JB Perrette, president and CEO of global streaming and games for WarnerBros. Discovery, said that HBO Max will be changing to Max in the United States first, followed by Latin America later this year and Europe next year.
South Africa might get Max sometime in 2024, with Perrette who said that WBD will look to expand and launch Max into "new markets" around the world next year.
"From the biggest superheroes to real-life champions; from culture-shaping dramas to taste-shaping entertainment; from fantastical realms to the realest of worlds, Max will offer an unrivalled range of choice,” said JB Perrette.
"This new brand signals an important change from two narrower products, HBO Max and discovery+, to our broader content offering and consumer proposition. While each product offered something for some people, Max will have a broad array of quality choices for everybody."
Perrette said that in the global streaming war where services chased subscribers and have a "subscriber growth at all cost mentality", consumers are overwhelmed by content and content choices.
"We suddenly find ourselves in the fog of what many people have dubbed, the era of peak confusion," Perrette said. "The result is that consumers are overloaded. So, in this era of peak confusion, we're trying to simplify and improve the experience for consumers focusing on quality not just quantity."
David Zaslav said that "Max is the one to watch because we have the largest TV library in the world, thousands of shows Including shows that are loved everywhere like Friends, ER and The Big Bang Theory. And we have a number of the biggest quality makers of content that will feed and grow Max in the years ahead. They're ours."
Similar to how Disney+ has various content verticals known as tiles, Max will house HBO originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, kids content, and Discovery content across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC and ID. The relaunched Max will roll out roughly 40 new titles monthly.
During the press event, WBD made announcements about new TV shows which will be made for Max.
It's not yet clear whether these might remain exclusive to Max, or might become available through international distribution like some HBO content have been for MultiChoice's linear M-Net (DStv 101) channel and Showmax, until such time as Max launches in South Africa.
The new Max series are:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
This second HBO prequel series of Game of Thrones is based on George R.R. Martin's Dun and Egg books and will be based on the series of fantasy novellas which follows the story of Ser Duncan the Tall known as Dunk and the young Aegon V Targaryen known as Egg. It is set 90 years before the events transpiring in the book A Song of Ice and Fire.
HBO released an official logline for the series, saying "A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends."
George R.R. Martin will be the writer and executive producer along with Ira Parker who was a co-executive producer on the first season of House of the Dragon which just started filming its second season in the United Kingdom. Ryan Condal and Vince Gerardis will also be co-executive producers.
Harry Potter TV drama series
WBD announced it is turning J.K. Rowling's entire 7-book Harry Potter series, already made into a film franchise, into a TV drama series, which will be rolled out over the course of a decade, with a new cast and with each book being a season.
J.K. Rowling will be an executive producer, with David Heyman who produced all eight films, in negotiations to become co-executive producer, with the production looking for a writer and a showrunner.
The series will be produced by Warner Bros. Television in association with Brontë Film and TV, with Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts as co-executive producers.
In the press release, WBD says "The stories from each of Rowling's Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for".
"The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years."
"Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally."
Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO & Max content, says "We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way".
According to Bloys the budget for the Harry Potter series will be "on the scale or higher" than Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon and "whatever it takes to make a quality show".
"Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years."
J.K. Rowling says "Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series".
WBD says the "Max Original series will be available on Max in the United States and globally once produced".
Another Big Bang Theory spinoff series
Casey Bloys announced that a new Big Bang Theory spinoff series is being developed by Chuck Lorre who created The Big Bang Theory and the first spinoff Young Sheldon.
A The Conjuring TV series
Also announced at the event is that New Line Cinema's The Conjuring film franchise is being turned into a TV drama series.
According to Warner Bros. Discovery, The Conjuring TV series will continue the story and world established within the six existing films with a 7th - The Nun 2 - which will be released in September.
The TV series is produced by Atomic Monsters Productions, Warner Bros. Television and Safran Company, with Peter Safran as executive producer. James Wan who served as producer and director on several of the films is in negotiations to be co-executive producer.
