Streaming service HBO Max will be released in Europe in the second half of 2021
HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s US-released video streaming service, will be released in Europe in the second half of next year. The film company will also release all films scheduled for 2021 in the US on HBO Max, simultaneously with the US cinema releases.
The head of HBO Max Global, Andy Forssell, announced during a web conference that HBO Max will expand into Europe and Latin America from the second half of 2021. Forssell says the service will be “ very active in both regions by the end of 2021. ” HBO is going to upgrade its current HBO consumer services in Europe to HBO Max, which means there would be a doubling of the content.
Exactly when the streaming service will be released in Europe and whether all European countries will be next at the same time has not been announced. Forssell said the plan for international expansion is that the service should eventually be available in 190 countries around the world. “It’s just a matter of how quickly we can do that,” he said.
WarnerMedia has also announced that it will release all of its 17 films scheduled for 2021 in the United States on its streaming service HBO Max. The films will be released there simultaneously with their American cinema release. According to Warner Bros. This is a one-year experiment in which the films can be seen on HBO Max for a month at no extra cost, except for the HBO Max subscription fee. Then they disappear from the platform again. The films will then remain available in theaters, including those outside the US.
It concerns seventeen films, including titles such as Matrix 4, Dune and Mortal Kombat. All these films will therefore also be released on HBO Max in the US next year, with support for 4k and hdr. This step will probably not apply outside the US if HBO Max also becomes available in Europe, partly because the legal agreements about the release of the films will differ from the situation in the US.
WarnerMedia says the plan to release the films simultaneously on HBO Max and in cinemas was prompted by the impact of the global corona pandemic. The company expects that, certainly in the US, the capacity in cinemas will be limited in 2021. In addition, the US subscriber numbers of HBO Max are somewhat disappointing, something that WarnerMedia is also responding to with this plan. In addition, this step makes sense, considering the release of the movie Tenet. This film was released in cinemas in the summer, during the pandemic. Especially in the US, this led to disappointing visitor numbers and ultimately to significant losses for Warner Bros.
Image from the production of the movie Dune