HBO Max orders third Adventure Time spin-off, acquires Aussie crime thriller

The original Adventure Time

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD)-owned HBO Max has handed a 10-episode, straight-to-series order for a new animated Adventure Time spin-off and acquired an Australian crime thriller from ITV Studios.

Adventure Time: Bubblegum & Marceline follows Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen as they journey across the farthest reaches of Ooo, encountering familiar faces and new dangers.

It marks the latest Adventure Time spin-off, following Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake and Adventure Time: Distant Lands.

The showrunner and executive producer will be Adam Muto. It will be executive produced by Fred Seibert and Sam Register and produced in partnership with Cartoon Network Studios.

Amy Gravitt, executive VP, HBO and HBO Max comedy programming, said: “We can’t wait to see where Adam’s boundless imagination takes us in this new series. It’s such a joy to go on another Adventure Time journey with our friends and partners at Cartoon Network Studios.”

Sam Register, president of Warner Bros Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, said Adventure Time remains “one of the most inventive and beloved worlds in animation.”

Aussie crime thriller The Killings at Parrish Station is set across dual timelines

In related news, HBO Max has acquired Australian crime thriller The Killings at Parrish Station from ITV Studios for the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The six-part Stan original will launch on HBO Max in the UK and Ireland on June 25. Produced by Helium Pictures in association with ITV Studios, the series follows a detective investigating a 1987 mass killing at a remote Australian research station, with the story unfolding across dual timelines. ITV Studios is handling international distribution.

The cast is led by Mia Wasikowska and includes Heather Mitchell, Xavier Samuel, Robert Taylor, Alan Dale, Emma Lung and Doris Younane.

The series was created and written by Ben Jenkins, with Tim Pye serving as writer and story producer. Yolanda Ramke and Catherine Smyth-McMullen also wrote on the project, while Daniel Nettheim directed.

Mark Fennessy executive produces for Helium Pictures, alongside Stan executive producers Donna Chang and Andy Ryan.

The acquisition was negotiated by Jemma Harvey, executive VP of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and UK sales and distribution at ITV Studios, and Sasha Breslau, VP of content acquisitions for HBO Max UK and Ireland.