HBO Max, the upcoming HBO-anchored streaming service full of further shows and movies, launches Wednesday. And Its arrival brings a posh matrix of solutions to one easy query: How a lot will it price? 

Like rivals Netflix, Disney Plus and Peacock, HBO Max can have a sprawling catalog of hit shows and movies, plus a big-budget slate of unique originals full of stars. However HBO Max is the costliest of the bunch at $15 a month. 

Should you do not already pay for HBO and preorder at this time, you may get a $three low cost on the subscription each month for a yr. However in the event you’re already paying for HBO in some kind now, the quantity you may have to pay for Max, or whether or not you may have to pay something further in any respect… nicely, it is difficult.

To entice you to open your pockets for yet one more streaming service, HBO Max has padded itself with extra content material than you may discover on both the common HBO channel or HBO Now, its current streaming service. AT&T, which owns HBO as a part of its WarnerMedia TV-and-film division, has been pouring billions of {dollars} into the HBO Max service itself, in costly offers to stream common reruns akin to Mates and The Huge Bang Idea, and in budgets for unique programming. (A deep dive into the shows and movies on Max are on the finish of this text.)

The most recent high-profile unique HBO Max has introduced is the fabled “Snyder reduce” of the 2017 film Justice League. This alternate edit of the DC film by director Zack Snyder will stream on the service in 2021. Past that, HBO Max can have so-called Max Originals, new shows and movies made only for HBO Max. At launch, the service can have six, together with an anthology sequence referred to as Love Life starring Anna Kendrick that follows one character by means of a brand new romantic relationship every episode. HBO Max will add 11 extra originals over the summer season, together with the Aug. 6 premiere of Seth Rogen’s comedy movie An American Pickle. 

Like most issues on this planet, HBO Max’s originals have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Folks throughout the nation are streaming far more as they’re confined to their properties, however the novel coronavirus and its respiratory illness, COVID-19, have additionally shut down tv productions globally. HBO Max hasn’t commented a lot on the influence of the virus on content material, however indicators of disruption have began to floor. A Mates reunion particular is delayed, for one. 

HBO Max’s $15-a-month worth matches the price of HBO Now and for HBO’s conventional channel while you get it by means of most pay-TV suppliers. (By comparability, Disney Plus is $7 a month, Netflix’s least expensive tier is $9, and Peacock will also have a free restricted tier with advertisements.)

For model new HBO clients, pricing is simple. You simply join, and pay the $15 month-to-month price. Should you preorder on the HBO Max web site by means of Tuesday, you may unlock that low cost slicing $three off the month-to-month worth for the primary yr — $12 a month for the primary 12 months.

However in the event you already pay for HBO elsewhere, the questions of whether or not you get a free improve to HBO Max has no easy reply. Some individuals who have already got a daily HBO subscription or HBO Now will get Max for no further price — however not everybody.

To ensure that you to get the automated improve to Max, HBO wants to strike a take care of the corporate that is already billing you for HBO, whether or not it is a cable-TV firm like Constitution or a digital supplier like Apple. HBO Max has been ramping up these offers, and there is a rising record of suppliers which can be letting their HBO clients improve to Max. (See the complete record under.)

However HBO Max does not have offers with each supplier. Comcast, for instance, is the largest cable firm within the nation, and HBO Max hasn’t introduced a take care of Comcast and its Xfinity providers but.  Should you’re in that boat, you might be compelled to pay twice — one invoice for normal HBO and one other for HBO Max — or be compelled to cancel your present HBO subscription to re-sign up for Max. 

Yep, it is difficult. Under are the finer particulars about HBO Max’s price, reductions, app and its shows and movies.

How a lot will HBO Max price?

HBO Max might be $15 a month at launch. A preorder low cost gives a $12 month-to-month price for the primary yr in the event you join by means of Tuesday at HBOMax.com.

Someday throughout the first yr, the service will broaden to embody one other tier that carries promoting. The corporate hasn’t specified the value, launch date or catalog limitations on this tier, however it could presumably be cheaper and even free. 

HBO’s present standalone streaming service, HBO Now, additionally prices $15 a month. Although HBO Now will proceed to function, HBO Max will primarily exchange it. 

HBO Now subscribers are welcome to persist with that service, however they’re going to primarily be paying the identical quantity for much less programming. HBO Max can have all the identical shows and movies on HBO Now plus an enormous catalog of licensed programming and unique originals. 

In contrast with rival streaming providers launching earlier than HBO Max, that pricing might really feel steep to many customers. Disney Plus is $7 a month, and Apple TV Plus is $5. Each are providing offers that may reduce the value additional or are offering alternatives for prolonged free intervals lasting up to a yr. Apple, for instance, is giving freely a yr’s subscription to anybody who’s bought an Apple system since early September. And Disney arrange a take care of Verizon so any of the provider’s cell subscribers get a yr free. 

When will HBO Max launch?

HBO Max will launch Wednesday within the US. 

After that, HBO Max’s first worldwide expansions will prioritize Latin America and Europe. Latin America will get HBO Max in 2021, the corporate has mentioned. 

HBO Max’s US timing will put it close to the tip of a parade of streaming service launches. Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched in November. April introduced Quibi, a mobile-only streaming service that options quick, episodic originals. Additionally in April, NBCUniversal’s Peacock launched a “sneak peek” at its service on Comcast. Peacock’s nationwide launch is ready for July 15 (although that date could also be pushed up).

What gadgets can stream HBO Max?

HBO Max might be obtainable on all kinds of gadgets, together with telephones, tablets, the net, related TVs and sport consoles. 

The service has confirmed assist for the next gadgets and platforms:

• Most Apple gadgets that may stream video will assist HBO Max — iPhone, iPad, iPod Contact, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. Nonetheless, clients with second- and third-generation Apple TV fashions will want to stream HBO Max content material from their iPhone or iPad to their TV with AirPlay.
• Google’s Android working system for telephones and tablets can have an app. Android TV gadgets, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in gadgets will assist HBO Max too. 
• Sony’s PlayStation four programs might be in a position to obtain the HBO Max app through the PlayStation Retailer. 
• Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming consoles may even have the ability to get the HBO Max app through the Microsoft Retailer.
• Choose Samsung internet-connected sensible TVs — fashions from 2016 by means of 2020 — might be in a position to obtain and buy HBO Max straight.

However one common system might not get HBO Max, no less than initially. Earlier in Might, AT&T incoming CEO John Stankey mentioned that Amazon’s Hearth TV merchandise might not have an HBO Max app. “I am happy to say we’re going to be in nearly all app shops, or perhaps one exception. It seems like we will not be within the Amazon Hearth app retailer when all of that is mentioned and completed,” he mentioned.

The place can I get HBO Max? 

The only approach to get HBO Max is to join it straight at hbomax.com. 

Via Apple, HBO Max might be an iOS app for iPhone and iPad, which can permit you to join and pay by means of an in-app buy. Apple may even combine HBO Max into its personal TV app, which permits you to congregate sure streaming channels to watch them in a single place. 

Via Google, HBO Max can have an app for Android telephones and tablets within the Google Play retailer, and you may have the ability to join contained in the app with an in-app buy. You will additionally have the ability to stream HBO Max on Android TV, Chromebook and Google Chromecast. Should you already subscribe to HBO Now by means of Google Play, you may routinely have the ability to log in to HBO Max at launch at no extra cost, and you may proceed to be billed by means of Google. And YouTube TV, the streaming pay-TV service operated by Google’s YouTube, may even carry HBO Max. 

Folks with Samsung Sensible TVs that assist the HBO Max app may even have the ability to join straight there. 

How do I get Max if I have already got HBO? What is going to it price?

Issues get extra difficult if you have already got HBO and need to know what the launch of HBO Max means for you. Some individuals who have already got an current subscription to HBO might be in a position to unlock HBO Max at no further price, however not everybody. 

This is some excellent news for anybody who’s an HBO Now subscriber by means of Apple or Google: You barely have to do something to unlock HBO Max. Your HBO Now app ought to routinely get replaced by the HBO Max app through a software program replace on gadgets that assist HBO Max. In these instances, while you open the brand new HBO Max app, you simply want to agree to the HBO Max Phrases of Use and Privateness Coverage and select to “Entry All of HBO Max,” and you are set, in accordance to an HBO Now assist web page.

Some HBO Max distributors will unlock an HBO Max improve at no further price for his or her present HBO and HBO Now clients, thanks to offers HBO Max has struck with them. You qualify for the HBO Max improve at no further price in the event you already pay for HBO by means of: 

• AT&T (HBO’s mum or dad firm) and DirecTV, U-verse, AT&T TV Now, AT&T TV and AT&T wi-fi customers who can add HBO with sure limitless plans
• Constitution and its Spectrum providers
• YouTube TV or Google
• Apple
• Hulu
• Altice USA and its Optimum and Suddenlink providers
• Verizon and its Fios providers
• Cox Communications
• The NCTC group of impartial cable and broadband firms — that features WOW!, Atlantic Broadband, RCN, Grande Communications & Wave, MCTV and others. (Examine in case your pay-TV supplier is an NCTC member.)

Nonetheless, it is unclear if HBO Max will strike extra offers with different pay-TV suppliers, whether or not that is conventional suppliers like Comcast or Dish Community, or internet-based ones like Amazon Prime Video Channels and The Roku Channel. 

AT&T can be providing a sophisticated matrix of promos for HBO Max. Some clients will get Max at no further price, whereas others qualify for a one-month, three-month or one-year free trial. Your finest shot at determining whether or not you qualify is to test your account or the myAT&T app, however CNET additionally lists AT&T’s qualification phrases for its HBO Max promos. 

Shows and movies: What can I watch?

The catalog is everywhere in the map. 

HBO Max will embody all of the shows and movies on HBO, plus a number of high-profile licensed content material, like Mates, The Huge Bang Idea, Rick & Morty and South Park. It will layer unique unique programming on prime of that. At launch, HBO Max mentioned it will have 10,00Zero hours of content material. 

Initially, HBO Max deliberate to have 31 originals in its first yr and amp that up to 50 originals within the second yr. However these plans could also be adjusted due to disruptions from the coronavirus. 

The only a part of the catalog to perceive is HBO itself. HBO Max will embody every little thing on common HBO, so meaning all of the theatrical movies that come and go from the channel; new episodes from all HBO sequence, like Westworld and Final Week Tonight With John Oliver; and the previous seasons of these applications in addition to the complete HBO again catalog, like Recreation of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep and The Wire; plus any of the HBO unique movies, documentaries and specials. 

Movies might be an important a part of the catalog. And any film that is obtainable to watch on the standard HBO community may even be obtainable to stream on HBO Max. Highlights of the HBO Max movie catalog will embody (however not essentially be obtainable at launch):

• The so-called Snyder reduce of Justice League, slated to arrive on HBO Max in 2021
• The total units of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies.
• The Lego movies.
• DC movies like Joker, Marvel Lady, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman and each Batman and Superman film of the final 40 years.
• Studio Ghibli anime movies which have by no means been launched for streaming within the US earlier than.
• Anime alternatives like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and different prime titles from anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll, which can be owned by AT&T. 
• Traditional movies like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, The Shining, Singin’ within the Rain, 2001: A Area Odyssey, The Goonies, Blade Runner: The Closing Minimize, the Nightmare on Elm Road franchise and many others.
• Newer hits like Loopy Wealthy Asians and A Star Is Born.

In the end, HBO Max can have greater than 18,000 movies, the corporate has mentioned. 

On prime of that, AT&T has been licensing exterior hit shows to beef up HBO Max’s catalog. Essentially the most most eye-popping offers have been:

• A reported $425 million deal for all episodes of ’90s hit Mates, which exited Netflix to begin streaming on HBO Max at launch
• A reported $500 million deal to stream The Huge Bang Idea

It is also secured offers for previous seasons of Rick and Morty; 11 of the newest seasons of Physician Who, plus one other three to come; CW dramas like Fairly Little Liars, Batwoman, and Riverdale spinoff Katy Keene in addition to extra upcoming CW sequence; The Recent Prince of Bel-Air; The West Wing; and British sequence like Luther and Ricky Gervais’ unique The Workplace, amongst many others. 

Animated satire South Park is not going to solely contribute its full again catalog to HBO Max but in addition stream new episodes. The most recent episodes of South Park will stream on HBO Max 24 hours after they air on Comedy Central for the following three seasons.

And HBO Max can have unique new shows and movies referred to as Max Originals. For essentially the most half, unique sequence on HBO Max will drop new episodes on a weekly foundation. 

At launch Wednesday, the originals might be: 

• Love Life, the romantic comedy starring Anna Kendrick and produced by Kendrick and Paul Feig, identified for blockbuster comedies like Bridesmaids
• On the File, a controversial Me Too documentary movie about document govt Russell Simmons.
• Legendary, a contest present primarily based on underground drag balls. 
• Craftopia, a YouTuber-hosted craft sequence.
• New Looney Tunes cartoons.
• The Not Too Late Present with Elmo.

After launch, the following Max Originals which can be scheduled for launch are: 

• Karma, an unscripted youngsters journey competitors sequence — June 18.
• Doom Patrol, the second season of the DC Universe sequence — June 25.
• Esme & Roy, the second season of the preschool animated sequence from Sesame Workshop — June 25.
• Search Get together, the third season of the comedy thriller that initially aired on TBS — June 25.
• Journey Time: Distant Lands-BMO, which is the primary of 4 specials resurrecting Cartoon Community’s franchise Journey Time — June 25.
• Anticipating Amy, a three-part docuseries about comic Amy Schumer’s life on tour throughout her being pregnant — July 9.
• Shut Sufficient, an animated comedy about millennial roommates — July 9.
• The Home of Ho, a multigenerational household docusoap — July 16.
• Tig n’ Search, an animated youngsters’s sequence from Cartoon Community Studios about an 8-year-old and his gadget-building cat — July 23.
• Frayed, a scripted comedy a couple of rich Londoner who goes again to her Australian hometown — July 30.
• The Canine Home, an unscripted British animal rescue sequence — July 30.
• American Pickle, the Seth Rogen comedy that’s HBO Max’s first unique movie, a couple of 1920s immigrant who will get preserved in pickle brine for 100 years and meets his great-grandson (each characters portrayed by Rogen) in modern-day Brooklyn — Aug. 6.

Then over the course of the autumn and past, HBO Max will add different originals, together with: 

• The Flight Attendant, starring and govt produced by Kaley Cuoco primarily based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian.
• The Mates unscripted forged reunion particular.
• Sci-fi epic Raised by Wolves from director and govt producer Ridley Scott. The 10-episode sequence focuses on two androids elevating human youngsters on a mysterious planet. The present had already wrapped manufacturing in South Africa.

HBO Max initially deliberate to have 31 unique sequence in its launch yr (which totals 69 sequence when mixed with HBO content material). Then in 2021, HBO Max deliberate to broaden Max Originals to a slate of 50 shows. About half are focused at younger adults aged 16 to 34, and the remainder might be divided between extra grownup fare and youngsters and household content material exterior the HBO model. 

A few of the different highlights of the originals set for HBO Max embody: 

• New DC titles. A Inexperienced Lantern sequence that producer Greg Berlanti (a young-adult TV guru behind Riverdale and Arrow) says will journey to house and “guarantees to be our greatest DC present ever made.” Unusual Adventures, a one-hour drama anthology sequence additionally produced by Berlanti that explores the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. DC Tremendous Hero Excessive might be a half-hour comedy from Elizabeth Banks, the producer and actress identified for the Starvation Video games movies and 30 Rock, that’ll deal with a bunch of adolescent college students at a boarding faculty for “gifted” youngsters.
• Initiatives by J.J. Abrams. Abrams, identified for a parade of tv and field workplace hits, signed a megadeal with AT&T and WarnerMedia to make tasks for the corporate. On HBO Max, he’ll assist produce a present set within the Justice League Darkish universe; Overlook, a thriller primarily based on Stephen King’s The Shining and set within the Overlook Lodge; and a 1970s crime present referred to as Duster. 
• A half-hour comedy from actress-producer Issa Rae. Rae’s Rap Sh*t explores the music enterprise in Miami by means of the eyes of three girls: an upstart hip-hop duo and their hustling supervisor.
• A half-hour comedy from actress/producer Mindy Kaling. Faculty Ladies (a working title) tracks three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore Faculty in Vermont. 
• The Boondocks animated sequence is getting “two reimagined seasons” together with a 50-minute particular initially deliberate for fall 2020. 
• A brand new Jellystone animated sequence with the traditional Hanna-Barbera characters from Warner Bros. Animation. 
• A brand new animated sequence from Cartoon Community Studios referred to as The Fungies, in addition to a hybrid live-action/animated comedy, Tooned Out, from Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis.
• Comedy specials from Conan O’Brien and the group behind his TBS present. They will be growing 5 stand-up specials for HBO Max: O’Brien will host two specials that function quick units from a number of up-and-coming comics and curate hourlong units from three comedians. That slate will be part of one other one-hour particular from comic James Veitch.

The service can have a smaller slate of unique movies, between 5 and 10 per yr, in accordance to the unique plan. Early highlights on the unique film slate embody: 

• A two-picture take care of Reese Witherspoon’s Hiya Sunshine. 
• A documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
• A four-picture take care of Berlanti, together with Unpregnant, about two teenage women who go on a highway journey to New Mexico after one finds out she’s pregnant, primarily based on the younger grownup novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan.
• Tremendous Intelligence, a comedy starring Melissa McCarthy a couple of lady whose romantic life is chosen for remark by synthetic intelligence.
• Bobbie Sue, a comedy function starring Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez as an up-and-coming younger lawyer who joins a stuffy Boston regulation agency.

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How does HBO Max slot in with HBO Go and HBO Now?

HBO Max might be related to HBO Go and HBO Now however with extra programming. 

Typically talking, HBO Now and HBO Go are practically the identical product. The primary distinction is who makes use of them: Anybody can join HBO Now for $15 a month, whereas HBO Go is the app for individuals who have already got an HBO subscription by means of a live-TV supplier like cable or satellite tv for pc. Each HBO Now and HBO Go stream all of the programming obtainable on WarnerMedia’s conventional HBO community. 

Individuals who have already got HBO Now can change over to HBO Max for no extra price. Their HBO Now app will routinely transition to the HBO Max app by means of a software program replace on Wednesday, and individuals who need to improve to Max simply want to settle for the phrases of service, a privateness coverage and a range confirming you need the expanded catalog. 

For HBO Go customers, it is extra difficult. HBO Go is unlocked by a pay-TV subscription, and HBO Max will not unlock for all pay-TV clients. (Pop again up to the “How do I get Max if I have already got HBO?” part for these particulars.)

How is HBO Max completely different from all the remainder of AT&T’s streaming providers?

AT&T has much more streaming providers. 

AT&T TV is comparable to a cable or satellite tv for pc pay-TV service, besides it is delivered over the web. AT&T TV contains dwell channels, DVR and video on demand that cable subscribers are acquainted with, plus the power to stream from apps like Netflix and Pandora. To look at on TVs, AT&T TV has its personal proprietary streaming field that AT&T requires you employ, and subscribers can watch every little thing on cell gadgets with an app too. Proper now, it begins at $50 a month for the most affordable tier’s first yr; the value jumps to $93 a month within the second yr. 

AT&T TV Now, alternatively, is a live-TV streaming service alongside the strains of Sling TV or YouTube TV.  Should you had been acquainted with DirecTV Now, AT&T TV Now could be simply the renamed model of that service. Relatively than requiring a particular field, it lets subscribers stream dwell channels to Rokus, Apple TVs, Hearth TVs and extra, and the channels can be found on a cell app as nicely. It additionally has a cloud DVR. Companies like this are typically referred to as skinny-bundle streaming providers, however AT&T TV Now’s least expensive bundle is not significantly skinny — $55 a month for greater than 45 dwell channels (not together with HBO). Nonetheless, it is not fairly as sturdy as AT&T TV, which is supposed to replicate the large cable packages of conventional TV. 

Lastly, AT&T Watch TV is nearer to a conventional skinny bundle. It gives greater than 35 dwell channels, together with AT&T-owned TBS, TNT and CNN. AT&T Watch TV is a free perk included with sure limitless AT&T wi-fi knowledge plans, however anybody can join it for $15 a month. It was designed as a mobile-first service, however you may stream AT&T Watch TV to televisions with a couple of bins, together with Apple TV and Amazon Hearth TV, however others aren’t supported, like Roku bins.

Easy, proper?