HBO Max is becoming Max — what Warner Bros. Discovery calls “the one to watch for every mood and every moment.” And when the rebranded streaming service combining content from HBO Max and Discovery+ relaunches on May 23rd, there will be plenty to watch: Max will be the destination for HBO Originals, Max Originals, Warner Bros. films, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, kids content, and programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle, and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more.
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Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday introduced its newly “enhanced” streaming service and announced a slew of HBO and Max Originals — including a “faithful adaptation” of author J.K. Rowling’s books in the first-ever Harry Potter scripted television series, new Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, and a series based on The Conjuring Universe of films — and revealed first looks at previously announced originals like The Batman spin-off series The Penguin, the Max Original kids series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, and the upcoming True Detective: Night Country.
Below, see everything announced during Wednesday’s presentation and take a peek at what will stream on Max:
Max Original Harry Potter TV Series
In the television adaptation of author J.K. Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter saga, “The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books willbecome a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love andcare this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a newcast 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.”
HBO Original Game of Thrones Prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight
HBO has given a series order to Game of Thrones spin-off prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, a new drama written and executive produced by George R.R. Martin and Ira Parker. Knight follows House of the Dragon as the second Thrones prequel to air on HBO and stream on Max.
A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroeswandered Westeros: a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan theTall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryenline still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon hasnot yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, anddangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.
Max Original The Penguin
Colin Farrell reprises his role as Gotham City gangster Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot in The Batman spin-off series set in the world filmmaker Matt Reeves established in his 2022 feature film. The DC drama from Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios is currently in production for a 2024 premiere on Max and stars Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo andDeirdre O’Connell, with Clancy Brown and Michael Zegen recurring.
Max Original Comedy Series: The Big Bang Theory Spin-Off
The untitled Big Bang Theory Project from Chuck Lorre is the second series derived from the world of The Big Bang Theory following the prequel series Young Sheldon. Plot details remain under wraps, but Lorre will executive produce and develop the Big Bang Theory spin-off for Max, joining all 12 seasons of the original hit comedy on the service.
Max Original Drama Series Set in The Conjuring Universe
James Wan and Peter Safran will executive produce a new drama series based on the films in New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring Universe, which spawned the horror films The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It; Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, and Annabelle Comes Home; The Curse of La Llorona; and The Nun and the upcoming The Nun 2. Plot details are under wraps: according to Max, the Conjuring television series will “continue the story established in the feature films.”
Fixer Upper: The Hotel
Magnolia Network’s Fixer Upper: The Hotel is an all-new installment in the Fixer Upper franchise, which follows Chip and Joanna Gaines as they bring the former Grand Karem Shrine building back to life and turn it into the premiere hotel destination in Waco complete with four floors of 33 bespoke guest rooms, a restaurant, ballroom event space and a rooftop terrace.
Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty: The Anime
Adult Swim dives into the anime multiverse with Rick and Morty: The Anime, a 10-episode adventure debuting on Adult Swim and Max. While the new series from director Takashi Sano (Tower of God) and Telecom Animation Film (Lupin the IIIrd Series, Shenmue the Animation) will adapt themes and events of the main series, Rick and Morty: The Anime will stand on its own as an original work.
“The multiverse-straddling exploits of Rick and the gang pose challenges to the family bond, but they always rise to the occasion,” Sano said. “It’s such a life-affirming sight, and Jerry is no exception.” He added, “I am honored to have been given an opportunity to tell a new story about this amazing family. I hope you enjoy their adventures!”
Cartoon Network’s Tiny Toons Looniversity
Max and Cartoon Network return to Acme Acres with a series order for Tiny Toons Looniversity, an all-new half-hour animated comedy series featuring characters from Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Television’s Tiny Toon Adventures.
In the CN series, Babs, Buster Bunny and the rest of the gang follow their comedic ambitions all the way to Acme Looniversity, the esteemed institution of higher hijinx learning, where young dreamers become professional toons. Here they form long-lasting friendships with one another and perfect their cartoony craft while studying under the greatest cartoon characters in history, the Looney Tunes.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai
Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, Matthew Rhys, and more star in this animated prequel series to the Gremlins film franchise.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai takes viewers back to 1920s Shanghai where the Wing family first meets the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 Gremlins film) accepts the dangerous task to take Gizmo home and embarks on a journey through the Chinese countryside. Sam and Gizmo are joined by a teenage street thief named Elle, and together, they encounter—and sometimes battle—colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. Along their quest, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
Max Original Peter & the Wolf from Bono
Maxand Cartoon Network present an animated rendition of the classic talePeter & The Wolf, featuring music and narration by Gavin Friday andartwork based on original illustrations by Bono. The animated short film”transforms Sergei Prokofiev’s much-loved symphony into an enchantingand contemporary visual masterpiece that touches on themes of growingup, loss, courage, transformation, and our relationship with nature.”
True Detective: Night Country
HBO’s anthology crime drama series returns with True Detective: Night Country, starring Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, Isabella Star Lablanc, Aka Niviâna, Anna Lambe, and Joel D. Montgrand with Christopher Eccleston, and John Hawkes.
When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men whooperate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. Tosolve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro(Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, anddig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.
HBO Original Limited Series The Regime
Staring Oscar winner Kate Winslet, The Regime tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel. Winslet leads a cast that includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, MarthaPlimpton and Hugh Grant.
HBO Original Drama The Sympathizer
Robert Downey Jr. executive produces and stars in the original limited series featuring a cast that includes Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Ky Duyen, and Sandra Oh. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Sympathizer is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.
Max Original SmartLess: On The Road
Following Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes during the North American tour of their hit podcast SmartLess, the six-part docuseries provides fly-on-the-wall, intimate access of the three friends and beloved actors as they travel through Boston, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles, giving viewers a sneak peek into the minds, conversations, and bonds behind one of the country’s most popular podcasts.
Discovery Channel’s Survive the Raft
From Discovery Channel comes Survive the Raft, a new series where survival epic meets social experiment. The nine-episode series explores what happens when strangers from all walks of life come together to live and work at sea as it follows nine diverse contestants who set sail on the Acali II for twenty-one days to test whether personal interest will sabotage the team’s chance to win a fortune together.
The stakes are high: with each successful mission, the team earns money towards a communal cash pot that will be divided equally by those who make it to the end. Every week, participants are tasked with completing physical and intellectual challenges designed to disrupt and divide the group. At the end of each episode, the crew of the Acali II are given the option to continue as a group, or swap one of their own for a new participant. Will the good for all outweigh the good for one?
Investigation Discovery’s Lost Women of Highway 20
Starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, the true crime series will examine the story of the crimes that happened on a desolate stretch of an Oregon highway.
TLC’s Love & Translation
“Embarking on an exciting adventure to find love, three American men and twelve international women are traveling from across the world to live on a remote paradise island together in TLC’s newest relationship series,” reads a logline for Love & Translation. “Here’s the twist: none of the women speak English and none of the men speak other languages. Without being able to speak to one another and without the use of translators, the singles need to count on their senses to help develop their connection and determine the power of their chemistry and attraction. Based on what they learn about each other, the men will take the women on dates and find out how love translates when the same language isn’t spoken – will they find true love or just a hot romance?”
HGTV’s Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge
The four-part competition series brings one of the world’s most iconic toys to life when HGTV taps into the zeitgeist of Mattel’s Barbie. Inspired by the upcoming live-action Barbie movie, the new series hosted by Ashley Graham featureseight teams of HGTV superstars as they transform a Southern Californiahome into a real-life Barbie Dreamhouse. In the end, one passionateBarbie fan will get the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime stay in ahome created for dreamers.
HBO Max relaunches as Max on May 23rd.
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