HBO Max launch date revealed

Library programming such as Friends will be available

WarnerMedia will launch its much-anticipated HBO Max streaming service in the US on May 27, it has announced today.

The global shutdown of production hasn’t delayed the debut of the streamer, which will offer in excess of 10,000 hours of content from across the WarnerMedia catalogue at launch.

Among the launch titles will be all 236 episodes of Friends, which disappeared from Netflix in the US at the beginning of the year, and all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory, which cost a fee reportedly as high as US$1bn as part of the arms race between streamers for library content last year.

Among the originals still scheduled to premiere at launch are Anna Kendrick-fronted comedy Love Life, Russell Simmons expose On The Record, unscripted competition series Legendary and Craftopia, new Looney Tunes Cartoons and The Not Too Late Show With Elmo.

The service is being pitched at US$15 a month and also boasts films from the Warner Bros library. It follows the global roll-out of rival streamer Disney+ over the past few months.

WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said: “Our number-one goal is having extraordinary content for everyone in the family, and the HBO Max programming mix we are so excited to unveil on May 27 will bear that out.

“Even in the midst of this unprecedented pandemic, the all-star teams behind every aspect of HBO Max will deliver a platform and a robust slate of content that is varied, of the highest quality and second to none.

“I’m knocked out by the breadth and depth of our new offering, from the Max originals, our Warner Bros library and acquisition titles from around the world and, of course, the entirety of HBO.”

HBO Max brings HBO content together with programming from Warner Bros, New Line, DC Entertainment, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth and Looney Tunes.

It will also feature new programming from US network The CW, including Batwoman and Katy Keene, plus original movies from Greg Berlanti and Reese Witherspoon and hits from Warner Bros Television’s library, such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Pretty Little Liars.