HBO Max

Max pivots back to HBO Max as WBD rethinks ability to compete with Netflix

Discovery Plus, HBO Max, max, streaming, Tech, warner bros. discovery / DJ Henderson / May 14, 2025

Today, Zaslav and company are doing an about-face, with the CEO saying that WBD is “bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate” the streaming service’s “growth in the years ahead.”

WBD’s announcement added that “returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering.”

“It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach—leaning heavily on consumer data and insights—to best position itself for success,” the media conglomerate claimed.

“Not everything for everyone”

The announcement is a result of WBD rethinking its streaming strategy as leadership acknowledges that it failed to sell Max as an essential streaming service.

Last month, executives admitted that Max is viewed as more of an add-on service, per The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Executives said at the time that they no longer want to try to push their streaming service as something for every member of the household.

“What people want from us in a world where they’ve got Netflix and Amazon [Prime Video] are those things that differentiate us,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, told WSJ.

The strategy pivot since has included moving further away from children’s programming and some Discovery content, like shows from the Food Network and HGTV. There have also been reports of WBD exploring splitting Discovery from Max.

“We’re not fighting for the more-is-better game,” JB Perrette, WBD’s streaming president and CEO, told WSJ. “We’ll let others deal with the volume.”

In today’s announcement, Perrette doubled down on those sentiments:

We will continue to focus on what makes us unique—not everything for everyone in a household, but something distinct and great for adults and families. It’s really not subjective, not even controversial—our programming just hits different.

Max pivots back to HBO Max as WBD rethinks ability to compete with Netflix Read More »

The Justice League is not impressed in Peacemaker S2 teaser

culture, DC Universe, DCEU, DCU, HBO Max, James Gunn, John Cena, Peacemaker, streaming television, Trailers, TV trailers / Mike M. / May 12, 2025

Cena, Brooks, Holland, Agee, and Stroma are all back for S2, along with Nhut Lee as Judomaster and Eagly, of course. Robert Patrick is also listed in the S2 cast, reprising his role as Chris’ father, Auggie; since Chris killed him in S1, one assumes Auggie will appear in flashbacks, hallucinations, or perhaps an alternate universe. (This is a soft reboot, after all.) New cast members include Frank Grillo as Rick Flagg Sr. (Grillo voiced the role in the animated Creature Commandos), now head of A.R.G.U.S. and out to avenge his son’s death; Tim Meadows as A.R.G.U.S. agent Langston Fleury; and Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux.

Set to “Oh Lord” by Foxy Shazam, the teaser opens with Leota driving Chris to a job interview, assuring him, “They’re gonna be doing backflips to get you to join.” It turns out to be an interview with Justice League members Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders (Isabel Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), but they are not really into the interviewing process or taking note of Chris’ marksmanship and combat skills. They even diss poor Chris while accidentally keeping the microphone turned on: “This guy sucks.” (All three reprise their roles from Superman and are listed as S2 cast members, but it’s unclear how frequently they will appear.)

The other team members aren’t faring much better. They saved the world from the butterflies; you’d think people would treat them with a bit more respect, if not as outright heroes. Leota is “living in the worst level of Grand Theft Auto,” per John Economos; Emilia Harcourt has anger management issues and is diagnosed with “a particularly severe form of toxic masculinity”; and Vigilante is working in the food service industry. There’s not much detail as to the plot, apart from Chris going on the run from A.R.G.U.S., but the final scene shows Chris walking through a door and encountering another version of himself. So things are definitely about to get interesting.

The second season of Peacemaker will premiere on Max on August 21, 2025.

The Justice League is not impressed in Peacemaker S2 teaser Read More »

The Sisterhood faces a powerful foe in Dune: Prophecy trailer

culture, Dune: Prophecy, Entertainment, HBO, HBO Max, streaming television, Trailers / Shannon Garcia / October 17, 2024

Dune: Prophecy will premiere on HBO and Max on November 17, 2024.

New York Comic-Con kicked off today and among the highlights was an HBO panel devoted to the platform’s forthcoming new series, Dune: Prophecy—including the release of a two-and-a-half-minute trailer.

As previously reported, the series was announced in 2019, with director Denis Villeneuve serving as an executive producer and Alison Schapker (Alias, Fringe, Altered Carbon) serving as showrunner. It’s a prequel series inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, exploring the origins of the Bene Gesserit. The first season will have six episodes, and it’s unclear how closely the series will adhere to the source material. Per the official premise:

Set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.

Emily Watson co-stars as Valya Harkonnen, leader of the Sisterhood, with Olivia Williams playing her sister, Tula Harkonnen. Mark Strong plays Emperor Javicco Corrino, while Jodhi May plays Empress Natalya, and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina plays Princess Ynez.

The cast also includes Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela, a Fremen woman who serves the royal family; Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, “a charismatic soldier with an enigmatic past”; Chris Mason as swordsman Keiran Atreides; Josh Heuston as Constantine Corrino, the illegitimate son of Javicco; Edward Davis as rising politician Harrow Harkonnen; Tabu as Sister Francesca, the Emperor’s former lover; Jihae as Reverend Mother Kasha, the Emperor’s Truthsayer; Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen; Chloe Lea as Lila; Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia; and Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline.

The Sisterhood faces a powerful foe in Dune: Prophecy trailer Read More »

Witness the rise of the Bene Gesserit in new Dune: Prophecy teaser

culture, Dune: Prophecy, Entertainment, Frank Herbert, HBO Max, streaming television, Trailers / DJ Henderson / July 20, 2024

True power begins with control —

“Our hands are poised on the levers of power but yet our grasp on it is still fragile.”

Jennifer Ouellette – Jul 18, 2024 9: 48 pm UTC

The HBO Original Series Dune: Prophecy will premiere this November.

Fans of director Denis Villeneuve’s epic two-part film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune have no doubt been curious about the upcoming HBO Max series, Dune: Prophecy. It’s a prequel series inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, exploring the origins of the Bene Gesserit. The studio just dropped a tantalizing teaser rife with political intrigue, ominous warnings, and a bit of hand-to-hand combat.

The series was first announced in 2019, with Villeneuve serving as an executive producer and Alison Schapker (Alias, Fringe, Altered Carbon) serving as showrunner. The first season will consist of six episodes, and it’s unclear how closely the series will adhere to the source material. Per the official premise:

Set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.

Emily Watson co-stars as Valya Harkonnen, leader of the Sisterhood, with Olivia Williams playing her sister, Tula Harkonnen. Mark Strong plays Emperor Javicco Corrino, described as “a man from a great line of war-time Emperors, who is called upon to govern the Imperium and manage a fragile peace,” while Jodhi May plays Empress Natalya, and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina plays Princess Ynez.

The cast also includes Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela, a Fremen woman who serves the royal family; Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, described as “a charismatic soldier with an enigmatic past”; Chris Mason as swordsman Keiran Atreides; Josh Heuston as Constantine Corrino, the illegitimate son of Javicco; Edward Davis as rising politician Harrow Harkonnen; Tabu as Sister Francesca, the Emperor’s former lover; Jihae as Reverend Mother Kasha, the Emperor’s Truthsayer; Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen; Chloe Lea as Lila; Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia; and Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline, all acolytes at the Sisterhood School.

Power = control

A short teaser was shown in May during the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation in New York City. It was heavy on the exposition, with a voiceover describing the founding of a sisterhood assigned to the Great Houses “to help them sift truth from lies.” The result was a “network of influence throughout the Imperium… but power comes with a price.” They want to place a Sister on the throne and arrange a marriage to make it possible. Not all the Sisters were on board with the plan, however, with one warning that the Sisterhood was playing god “and we will be judged for it.”

This latest teaser opens with an admonition to acolytes of the Sisterhood: “You wish to serve the Great Houses and shape the flow of power; you must first exert power over yourself.” The emperor seems to be easily wooed by the “sorceresses,” much to his empress’s chagrin, but the more influence the Sisterhood wields, the more enemies it gains. Desmond Hart also has his suspicions about the Sisterhood, probably with good reason. “Our hands are poised on the levers of power but yet our grasp on it is still fragile,” Valya tells her sister Tula, assuring her that “I am trying to protect the Imperium”—and “sacrifices must be made.”

Dune: Prophecy premieres this November on Max.

Listing image by HBO Max

Witness the rise of the Bene Gesserit in new Dune: Prophecy teaser Read More »

Choose your side in a civil war with House of the Dragon’s dueling S2 trailers

culture, Entertainment, HBO, HBO Max, house of the dragon, streaming television, Trailers / Shannon Garcia / March 21, 2024

Green vs. Black —

Is it a war for the good of the realm, or the “satisfaction of vengeance”?

Jennifer Ouellette – Mar 21, 2024 5: 56 pm UTC

This short teaser for S2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon lets you choose between two full trailers.

It’s been a long wait for the second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon, in which House Targaryen descends into civil war over the heir to the Iron Throne. It’s set to premiere in June, and HBO is ramping up its marketing with a rather clever twist: not one official trailer, but two, each presenting the perspective of one side in the bloody conflict. And we get to choose which trailer we’d like to view—although if you’re like us, you’ll elect to watch both.

(Spoilers for the first season below.)

As I’ve written previously, HBO’s House of the Dragon debuted in 2022 with a solid, promising pilot episode, and the remainder of the season lived up to that initial promise. The series is set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen’s reign. The primary source material is Fire and Blood, a fictional history of the Targaryen kings written by George R.R. Martin. As book readers know, those events culminated in a civil war and the extinction of the dragons—at least until Daenerys Targaryen came along.

The first season spanned many years and made some pretty significant time jumps, which in turn required replacing the younger actors as their characters aged. The S1 finale brought Westeros to the brink of civil war. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) died, and his second wife, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), conspired with her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), to crown her eldest son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), as king instead of Viserys’ declared heir apparent, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).

This kicked off a lot of political maneuvering as both sides tried to shore up support for their chosen heir in preparation for the inevitable fight. Even though she was technically the rightful heir, Rhaenyra actually seemed to be considering House Hightower’s conditions for concession—until the arrogant Prince Aemon (Ewan Mitchell), Alicent’s younger son, went after Rhaenyra’s young son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault). Both dragonriders failed to control their dragons, and Aemon’s much bigger dragon, Vhagar, gobbled up poor Lucerys and his little dragon, Arrax, in mid-air. The season closed with Rhaenyra and her husband/uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) receiving the devastating news, effectively dashing any hope of a peaceful resolution.

Most of the S1 main cast members are returning for S2 (those whose characters survived). And we have some new faces in the mix: Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull; Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers; Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower; Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong; Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull; Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome; Kieran Bew as Hugh; Tom Bennett as Ulf; Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark; and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.

The first teaser for S2 dropped in December during CCXP23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We got the expected footage of dragons and dragonriders, a beheading, troops gathering and getting wiped out by dragon fire, and Rhaenyra and Aemon facing off with their dragons. And we also had a brief glimpse of a particularly brutal plot point in the source material that we already know closes out S2 (i.e., the “Blood and Cheese” incident, well-known to book readers).

As for the two new trailers, if your loyalties are with the claimed “rightful heir” Rhaenyra and the Blacks, this is the trailer for you:

Official Black trailer.

But perhaps you’d prefer to side with Greens, i.e., Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower and her odious offspring, Aegon Targaryen, who has laid claim to the Iron Throne as King Aegon II:

Official Green trailer.

The second season of House of the Dragon premiers on HBO on June 16, 2024.

Listing image by HBO

Choose your side in a civil war with House of the Dragon’s dueling S2 trailers Read More »

4 Media Streaming Trends We Noticed in 2022

Disney Plus, Entertainment, HBO Max, Highlights, Media Streaming, netflix / DJ Henderson / December 18, 2022

internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 905 throw err; ^ Error: Cannot find module ‘puppeteer’ Require stack: – /home/760439.cloudwaysapps.com/jxzdkzvxkw/public_html/wp-content/plugins/rss-feed-post-generator-echo/res/puppeteer/puppeteer.js at Function.Module._resolveFilename (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 902: 15) at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 746: 27) at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 974: 19) at require (internal/modules/cjs/helpers.js: 101: 18) at Object. (/home/760439.cloudwaysapps.com/jxzdkzvxkw/public_html/wp-content/plugins/rss-feed-post-generator-echo/res/puppeteer/puppeteer.js:2: 19) at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 1085: 14) at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 1114: 10) at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 950: 32) at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js: 790: 12) at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (internal/modules/run_main.js: 75: 12) code: ‘MODULE_NOT_FOUND’, requireStack: [ ‘/home/760439.cloudwaysapps.com/jxzdkzvxkw/public_html/wp-content/plugins/rss-feed-post-generator-echo/res/puppeteer/puppeteer.js’ ]

4 Media Streaming Trends We Noticed in 2022 Read More »