K.T Simpson
Watch out Netflix, HBO Max is waiting in the wings! A new streaming platform is being built by WarnerMedia and is set to launch in May 2020, with a whole bunch of new shows and entire libraries – for example all of “South Park” and “Friends”.
Here’s the key news from the HBO Max presentation!
Big news is the prequel series based on the “Game of Thrones” companion book “Fire & Blood”, titled “House of the Dragon”. Set 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” the series tells the story of House Targaryen. Per Twitter, Miguel Sapochnik (who directed 6 “Game of Thrones” eps) will direct the pilot and additional episodes. Ryan Condal will write the series. HBO has given the show a 10-episode order.
#HouseOfTheDragon, a #GameofThrones prequel is coming to @HBO.
The series is co-created by @GRRMSpeaking and Ryan Condal. Miguel Sapochnik will partner with Condal as showrunner and will direct the pilot and additional episodes. Condal will be writing the series. pic.twitter.com/9ttMzElgXm
— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) October 29, 2019
DC will bring two shows to the table in “Green Lantern” and “Strange Adventures”. Greg Berlanti was on hand to tease “Green Lantern”, stating “in what promises to be our biggest DC show ever made, we will be going to space with a Green Lantern television series, but I can’t reveal any more about that just yet.”
Super mysterious!
“Strange Adventures” is a bit like “The Twilight Zone” for superheroes, and the one-hour anthology series will explore “close-ended morality tales” about the intersecting lives of normal humans and super-powered beings – according to Berlanti.
Berlanti and Sarah Schechter and showrunner/writer John Stephens serve as executive producers. Charlie Huston is a co-executive producer; Brigitte Hales is a producer; and Selwyn Seyfu Hinds is a consulting producer.
So what else was announced?
Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves” has found a home at HBO Max. The show is a serialized sci-fi series and centres on two androids who have to deal with raising human children on a mysterious planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.
Among the other news is a “Gremlins” animated series, “Love Life” – a 10 episode rom-com starring Anna Kendrick, “Rydell High” – a “Grease spinoff”, and a “Gossip Girl” spinoff set 8-years after the last season finale.
A MAMMOTH LIST:
“Friends”: All 236 episodes of the show.
“The Big Bang Theory”: All 279 episodes.
“The West Wing”: The classic Martin Sheen-fronted political drama is moving from Netflix to HBO Max, with all of its more than 150 episodes streaming upon launch.
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”: The sitcom created by Andy Borowitz and Susan Borowitz, which aired for six seasons on NBC from 1990-96, is another popular sitcom coming to HBO Max. The show revolved around Will Smith as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy aunt and uncle in their Bel-Air mansion after getting into a fight in his hometown.
“South Park”: All 23 seasons of the animated satire will stream exclusively on HBO Max in June 2020, followed by three brand new seasons which will debut on HBO Max 24 hours after each episode premieres on Comedy Central.
“Rick and Morty”: All three seasons of the Adult Swim animated comedy will be available on HBO Max from launch, with new seasons continuing to premiere on Adult Swim before moving to HBO Max.
“Pretty Little Liars”: all seven seasons
HBO Max will be the exclusive streaming home for CW dramas produced by Warner Bros. starting with the fall 2019 season, including the DC Entertainment series “Batwoman,” and “Katy Keene” (a spinoff of “Riverdale”). Note, however, that CW shows going forward will be available on HBO Max beginning 30 days prior to the TV premiere of the next seasons of those shows.
Studio Ghibli: The entire Studio Ghibli library will be available on a U.S. streaming platform for the first time, after WarnerMedia struck a historic deal with the revered Japanese animation studio.
“Sesame Streeet”: The iconic kids show’s 50-year library, as well as five new seasons of the show, are coming to the streamer.
BBC Shows: Programs such as “Doctor Who,” “Luther,” “Top Gear,” and the original version of “The Office,” will be on the platform, with future seasons set to stream after initially airing on BBC America.
DC Movies: A vast array of the DC movies collection will be available from launch, including the new Joaquin Phoenix picture “Joker.”
“Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”: All the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” features will be on HBO Max.
Original Series and Movies
“Dune: The Sisterhood”: An adaptation of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson’s book based in the world created by Frank Herbert’s book Dune, from director Denis Villeneuve.
“Tokyo Vice”: Based on Jake Adelstein’s nonfiction account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat starring Ansel Elgort.
“The Flight Attendant”: A one-hour thriller series based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian, which will star Kaley Cuoco, who is also executive producing alongside Greg Berlanti.
“Love Life”: A 10-episode half-hour romantic comedy anthology starring “Pitch Perfect” star Anna Kendrick, who will also executive produce alongside Paul Feig, produced by Lionsgate.
“Station Eleven”: A post-apocalyptic limited series based on Emily St. John Mandel’s bestseller, adapted by Patrick Somerville and directed by Hiro Murai.
“Made for Love”: A 10-episode, half-hour, straight-to-series adaptation based on the tragicomic novel of the same name by Alissa Nutting, also from Somerville and directed by S.J. Clarkson.
“Gremlins”: An animated series from Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment based on the original movie.
“Crime Farm”: A drama series executive produced by Nicole Kidman, a psychosexual love story that follows a couple who are forensic homicide experts — whose marriage thrives on their investigations into the depravity of the world’s most notorious criminals. Kidman will executive produce alongside Per Saari under their Blossom Films banner; Warner Horizon Scripted Television is the studio.
“Circe”: A series is based on the Madeline Miller book of the same name which is described as a modern take on the world of Greek mythology told from the powerful feminist perspective of the goddess Circe, who transforms from an awkward nymph to a formidable witch, able to challenge gods, titans, and monsters alike.
“Americanah”: Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira are teaming up to adapt Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel, which tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a young, beautiful, self-assured woman raised in Nigeria, who as a teenager falls in love with her classmate Obinze.
“Adventure Time”: Four all-new one-hour specials set in the world of “Adventure Time” are coming to the streamer, the first two in 2020.
“Rydell High”: A “Grease” spinoff series set in and around the world of Rydell High, the school which Danny and Sandy attended in the original movie.
“Anna K”: A series adaptation of Jenny Lee’s YA novel which is a modern-day, empowering, multicultural retelling of Leo Tolstoy’s classic “Anna Karenina.”
“Gossip Girl”: A sequel series to the iconic CW show is in the works. Set eight years after the original’s finale, it will follow a new generation of New York private school teens who are introduced to the social surveillance of the Gossip Girl site.
“Rules of Magic”: A prequel to “Practical Magic,” the project is set in 1960s New York City and follows three troubled siblings — Franny, Jet and Vincent Owens — who wrestle with “abnormalities” that have kept them isolated.
“Red Bird Lane”: A YA morality and psychological horror series about eight strangers who arrive at an isolated house—all for different reasons—and quickly realize that something sinister and terrifying awaits them.
“The Boondocks”: HBO Max ordered a two-season revival from original series creator Aaron McGruder.
“Gen:Lock”: The Rooster Teeth animated show was recently for a second season, which will appear on HBO Max.
“Generation”: The Lena Dunham-produced series follows a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality tests deeply entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community.
“Starstruck”: The six episode comedy series from comedian Rose Matafeo will follow twenty-something Rose, a millennial in London, juggling two dead-end jobs and navigating the awkward morning-after when she discovers the complications of accidentally sleeping with a movie star.
“Search Party”: The TBS comedy series is moving over to WarnerMedia’s nascent streaming service for its upcoming third season.
“Let Them All Talk”: Steven Soderbergh’s next film, which will star Meryl Streep as a celebrated author who takes a journey with old friends to have some fun and heal old wounds, is one of the original features coming to HBO Max.
Ellen DeGeneres Projects: HBO Max ordered three projects from the wildly popular daytime host to series, namely the design competition show “Ellen’s Home Design Challenge,” dating show “First Dates Hotel,” and 2D animated children’s series “Little Ellen,” as well as putting a docu-series from her titled “Finding Einstein” into development.
“Raised By Wolves”: RidleyScott’s serialized sci-fi series will now launch on HBO Max, as opposed to TNT where it was originally set up.
Greg Berlanti Projects: The prolific Berlanti will produce an initial four movies in the young-adult genre for HBO Max.
Reese Witherspoon Projects: The actor’s Hello Sunshine banner will produce at least two films for the service.
“College Girls” (working title): The latest series from Mindy Kaling is a 13-episode half-hour, single-camera comedy following three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore College in Vermont.
“Superintelligence”: Melissa McCarthy stars in this comedy about an ordinary woman who discovers the world’s first superintelligence has chosen to observe her and her life as part of a plan to take over everything.
“UNpregnant”: An adaptation of the YA novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan about a college-bound 17-year-old who discovers she is pregnant and embarks on a 900-mile road trip with her ex-best friend to the nearest clinic that does not require parental consent for minors to get an abortion.
“Bobbie Sue”: A film which stars Gina Rodriguez as a scrappy, headstrong lawyer who realizes she’s been hired by a fancy law firm for the optics rather than her expertise.
HBO Programming
Stephen King’s “The Outsider”: a dark mystery starring Ben Mendelsohn, produced and directed by Jason Bateman.
“Lovecraft Country”: A horror series based on a novel by Matt Ruff, written and executive produced by Misha Green, and executive produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams.
“The Nevers”: Joss Whedon’s new science-fiction series starring Laura Donnelly.
“The Gilded Age:” Set in the opulent world of 1885 New York from “Downton Abbey’s” Julian Fellowes.
“Avenue 5”: Satire set aboard a space-bound cruise ship from Armando Iannucci (“Veep”), starring Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad.
“The Undoing”: A psychological thriller from David E. Kelley, directed by Susanne Bier starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
“The Plot Against America”: Reimagined history based on Phillip Roth’s novel written and executive produced by David Simon and Ed Burns, starring Winona Ryder and John Turturro.
“Perry Mason”: The classic legal drama for a new generation, executive produced by Robert Downey, Jr. and Susan Downey, with Matthew Rhys in the title role.
“I Know This Much Is True”: A family drama starring Mark Ruffalo playing twin brothers, one of whom has schizophrenia, based on the best-selling novel by Wally Lamb, written and directed by Derek Cianfrance.
“Run”: The series, starring and executive produced by “Fleabag” creator Phoebe Waller Bridge, follows Ruby, a woman living a humdrum existence who one day gets a text inviting her to fulfill a youthful pact promising true love and self-reinvention, by stepping out of her life to take a journey with her oldest flame.
“Mare of Easttown”: Kate Winslet will star in and executive produce the limited series, playing a small-town Pennsylvania detective whose life crumbles around her as she investigates a local murder.
