With COVID-19 cases increasing again nationwide, Warner Bros. made a surprising announcement on Friday that it will be releasing all of its 2021 movies on HBO Max the same day as each hits theaters. The films will be available at no extra cost to subscribers and will be on the streaming platform for only 31 days. Even though their announcement received backlash from theatre chains, cine-goers were quite happy about the new development.
HBO Max executives dismissed the notion that this dramatic change in HBO Max's proposition to streaming customers would affect the service's ongoing talks with Roku. More than seven months since launch, HBO Max and Roku haven't reached a deal, which means Roku customers still can't access Max's app. Roku's streaming devices are some of the country's most popular gadgets to stream video on TVs.
'Wonder Woman 1984', 'Mortal Kombat', 'The Little Things', 'Tom & Jerry', 'Godzilla vs. Kong', 'The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It', 'In The Heights', 'Space Jam: A New Legacy', 'Reminiscence', 'The Suicide Squad', 'Dune', 'King Richard', 'Matrix 4', 'Cry Macho', 'Judas and the Black Messiah', 'Malignant' and 'Those Who Wish Me Dead' will be releasing next year.
Excited to announce that #WW84 will be the first film on HBO Max available in 4K Ultra HD, HDR 10, Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos! Can’t wait. IN THEATERS on Dec. 25th and exclusively streaming in the US on @hbomax. PLEASE find the biggest and highest quality screen you can!! pic.twitter.com/wNREvcTUjB
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) December 1, 2020
"I don't think today's announcement changes anything dramatic" in HBO Max's ongoing talks with Roku to reach a distribution deal, Andy Forssell, HBO Max's top tech executive, said in an interview Thursday. "We already both had really strong imperatives to find a way to work together. So we have to go do that, and we'll get it done."
Warner Bros. is calling the approach a "hybrid model" and says the strategy is a response to the pandemic, particularly in the US. All films will be available in 4K Ultra HD and HDR on HBO Max. Once the films leave Max, they'll follow the regular route from theaters to home viewing, like online rental and purchase, DVD and Blu-ray and eventually TV and streaming again.
(Source: Twitter)
