Warner Bros. Discovery has been quietly picking up content from HBO Max, including several Warner Bros. movies. which were transmitted exclusively to the service, in what appears to be an effort to reduce costs.
In recent weeks, at least six Warner Bros. pulled from HBO Max: “Moonshot,” a sci-fi rom-com starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse; the artificial intelligence dystopia comedy “Superintelligence,” starring Melissa McCarthy; Robert Zemeckis’ 2020 remake of “The Witches,” starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci and Chris Rock; the comedy “An American Pickle,” starring Seth Rogen as an immigrant who wakes up after 100 years in a pickle; Doug Liman’s “Locked Down” Heist Picture With Anne Hathaway & Chiwetel Ejiofor; and the drama “Charm City Kings” by director Angel Manuel Soto.
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All six films were labeled as “Max Originals”. Reddit users noted the deletions in a discussion about Warner Bros.’ decision. to scrap plans to release “Batgirl” — in theaters, on HBO Max or through any other platform.
Meanwhile, SpringHill’s SpringHill reboot of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s comedy classic “House Party” was scheduled to premiere July 28 on HBO Max, but was pulled from the release schedule.
Of course, streaming platforms are constantly adding and removing content. What is unusual is that Warner Bros. Discovery did not announce the removal of the six WB streaming exclusives from HBO Max. (The films are available to rent or buy through third-party VOD services.) It’s also worth noting that “Moonshot” was pulled from HBO Max just about three months after its March 31 debut.
The removal of Warner Bros. films. by HBO Max could be part of WBD’s decision to obtain streaming content payment obligations for underperforming titles on its books. In the case of an unreleased film like the “House Party” remake, the media conglomerate could count it as a tax break, as it is expected to do with “Batgirl” and “Scoob: Holiday Haunt” ( the latter). of which it was a sequel to the animated “Scoob!”).
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The representatives of Warner Bros. Discovery did not respond to questions about the removal of movies from HBO Max. The company plans to report second-quarter 2022 results on Thursday (Aug. 4) after the market closes. Warner Bros. Discovery took on a whopping $43 billion in debt through the WarnerMedia deal; the combined company had a debt-to-equity ratio of about 4.6 times after the deal closed.
Like other streaming services, HBO Max publishes monthly updates about titles being added and removed; for example, it announced that the original eight “Harry Potter” films will be released on HBO Max at the end of August, while it will also add a large amount of content that includes 28 films from A24, such as “Room” and “Ex Machina”. But none of the original Warner Bros. films. removed from HBO Max was included in recent updates.
At the moment, several exclusive movies from Warner Bros. for HBO Max are still in service. Among them are the 2022 remake of “Father of the Bride” starring Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan; “Let Them All Talk” by Steven Soderbergh starring Meryl Streep and “Kimi” starring Zoë Kravitz; and “The Fallout,” “No Sudden Move,” “Unpregnant” and “8-Bit Christmas.”
In December 2021, before David Zaslav’s Discovery closed WarnerMedia’s deal with AT&T, WarnerMedia launched a campaign promoting major releases coming to HBO Max in 2022, including “House Party,” “Scoob: Holiday Haunt” and “Moon Shot”. The campaign clip that was originally shared on YouTube has since been made private. You can still see him on Twitter:
Pictured Above: Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor in “Moonshot”
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