There are some interesting, somewhat odd things happening over at Warner Bros. Discovery, huh? Obviously, we have yesterday’s news that “Batgirl” and the new “Scoob!” films are both being shelved even though they were seemingly close to being finished. Then you have just the sheer number of series and projects that have been canceled, ostensibly due to the recenter merger between WB and Discovery. And now, it appears there are “Max Originals” films disappearing from HBO Max.
According to a report on Variety (via some sleuths on social media, apparently), there are a number of films that were seemingly HBO Max “Originals” that are now no longer on HBO Max. No, that isn’t a normal thing. Sure, it’s common to see streaming services lose and gain films and TV shows due to rights issues and licensing agreements. But typically, those moves don’t have anything to do with films that are given the “exclusive” treatment. Exclusive films are ones that are supposed to stay on the streamer and add to its growing library, right? Well, apparently, not always.
So, what films have mysteriously disappeared from HBO Max recently?
- “Superintelligence” (starring Melissa McCarthy)
- “An American Pickle” (starring Seth Rogen)
- “Moonshot” (starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse)
- “The Witches” (starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer)
- “Locked Down” (starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor)
- “Charm City Kings” (starring Jahi Di’Allo Winston and Teyonah Parris)
Clearly, this is all tied into cost-cutting strategies from WBD, as the studio tries to figure out how to right the ship, so to speak. However, there are some truly weird choices here. First, “Moonshot” was only released a few months ago and is seemingly still considered a new film. Then you have some major star power represented in a few of these “Max Originals” (Rogen, Hathaway, McCarthy, etc…), which would make them appear to be worthy exclusives to keep on HBO Max, right?
It truly feels like we’re getting pieces to a much bigger puzzle without really knowing what the final product is supposed to look like. Are these former HBO Max exclusive titles going to be licensed out to other streamers to turn a profit? Are they just disappearing forever as part of a slow dismantling of HBO Max before the imminent merger between the streamer and Discovery+?
Combine these questions with yesterday’s “Batgirl” news and you have a lot of confused fans trying to figure out what’s going on. Hopefully, WBD will have answers soon enough.
