Warner Bros' 2021 films will release simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max

AppleInsider

Warner Bros. will release 17 films, including "The Matrix 4" and "Dune" to its streaming service for a full month alongside theatrical releases.

Wonder Woman 1984 | Image Credit: Warner Media

In response to ongoing concerns about the growing coronavirus case numbers, Warner Bros are giving movie fans to see blockbusters at home. The movies will be released to HBO Max, Warner Media's own streaming service.

The studio already had planned on doing the same with "Wonder Woman 1984" on December 25 as COVID-19 cases continue to spike around the globe.

The Hollywood Reporter points out that it is likely that theater owners were not consulted and anticipates that there may be blowback as theaters struggle to comply with COVID-19 regulations and reduced theater attendance.

Sources claim that Warner Bros. also didn't inform partners, such as Legendary -- who produced the upcoming "Godzilla vs. Kong" -- that their films were included in this plan.

However, Warner Bros. stresses that this move is fully in response to the pandemic and plans on returning to regular theatrical releases in the future.

"We're living in unprecedented times which call for creative solutions, including this new initiative for the Warner Bros. Pictures Group," said Ann Sarnoff, Chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios. "No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do. We know new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will likely operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021."

"With this unique one-year plan, we can support our partners in exhibition with a steady pipeline of world-class films, while also giving moviegoers who may not have access to theaters or aren't quite ready to go back to the movies the chance to see our amazing 2021 films."

The movies will be released on HBO Max in the U.S. only. They will arrive on the service the same day they release in theaters and be available for 31 days. The movies will release in theaters worldwide.



Movies on the 2021 slate include:

• "The Little Things"


• "Judas and the Black Messiah"


• "Tom & Jerry"


• "Godzilla vs. Kong"


• "Mortal Kombat"


• "Those Who Wish Me Dead"


• "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"


• "In The Heights"


• "Space Jam: A New Legacy"


• "The Suicide Squad"


• "Reminiscence"


• "Malignant"


• "Dune"


• "The Many Saints of Newark"


• "King Richard"


• "Cry Macho"


• "Matrix 4"

HBO Max isn't the only streaming service to gain the rights to movies during the pandemic. Apple obtained exclusive streaming rights for Tom Hanks' "Greyhound," which went live on the service in July, and saw viewer numbers equal to a summer box office smash.

22july2013

What I'm burning to learn is when will the CBS channel an Apple TV+ start including the movies from Paramount Pictures that they previously promised? What's the hold-up? COVID is keeping us all indoors and CBS is blowing the opportunity.

SpamSandwich

I predict a record number of 4K TVs will soon be sold.

urahara

22july2013 said:

What I'm burning to learn is when will the CBS channel an Apple TV+ start including the movies from Paramount Pictures that they previously promised? What's the hold-up? COVID is keeping us all indoors and CBS is blowing the opportunity.

Most likely they can’t agree on the fees. 

entropys

Looking at that list the only thing the cinema owners should be upset about is Dune.

urahara

22july2013 said:

What I'm burning to learn is when will the CBS channel an Apple TV+ start including the movies from Paramount Pictures that they previously promised? What's the hold-up? COVID is keeping us all indoors and CBS is blowing the opportunity.

Most likely they can’t agree on the fees. 

urahara

Not available on Apple TV+?
The problem with those services is that there are too many. And often some movies are available only on one of them. 

Just recently I wanted to buy a movie on Apple TV+, they had it there but I had to subscribe to some SkyTicket - other provider. 

I was ready to buy it on Apple TV+.  But they did it difficult for me. Torrent rules...
They have to figure out how  to offer movies on more platforms in multiple languages. If they make it easier to get it on torrent than on official distribution channels, 

alphafox

Nice, now I don’t need to wait months to find a good quality pirated copy!

22july2013

urahara said:

Not available on Apple TV+?
The problem with those services is that there are too many. And often some movies are available only on one of them. 

Just recently I wanted to buy a movie on Apple TV+, they had it there but I had to subscribe to some SkyTicket - other provider. 

I was ready to buy it on Apple TV+.  But they did it difficult for me. Torrent rules...
They have to figure out how  to offer movies on more platforms in multiple languages. If they make it easier to get it on torrent than on official distribution channels, 

Perhaps you don't speak English well, so I won't be hard on you for your fragmented sentences. But it's hard to understand what you want. Are you complaining about the cost? Apple doesn't control the cost, because that's controlled by the content providers. Apple doesn't set the prices, either of the streaming channels or the individual movie prices on iTunes. And it looks like Skyticket is a German streaming service that has nothing to do with Apple TV+. What movie were you trying to watch on Apple TV+? If you explain your problem, there are some people who will try to help. But we can't help if you refuse to explain the problem.

darthw

SpamSandwich said:

I predict a record number of 4K TVs will soon be sold.

Does HBO Max stream 8n 4K anywhere? I know in Canada, where I live, it does not. 

darthw

That’s ‘in’ not ‘8n’, sorry. 

jcs2305

darthw said:

SpamSandwich said:

I predict a record number of 4K TVs will soon be sold.

Does HBO Max stream 8n 4K anywhere? I know in Canada, where I live, it does not. 

HBO Max will stream Wonder Woman 1984 in 4K HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-max-will-stream-wonder-woman-1984-in-4k-hdr-dolby-vision-and-dolby-atmos/

Looks like Max is finally stepping up and offering 4K.  I have been impatiently waiting for this. I like HBO Max the service and was surprised that they didn't have 4K offerings at launch. This is good news!

22july2013

darthw said:

That’s ‘in’ not ‘8n’, sorry. 

There is a "cogwheel" you can press after you write a post, that lets you click on an EDIT link which lets you edit your post and then click on SAVE. Sounds like you are unaware; I'm just trying to help.

22july2013

darthw said:

Does HBO Max stream in 4K anywhere? I know in Canada, where I live, it does not. 

In order to get HBO Max in Canada for $10/month, you first have to have a subscription to Crave TV which costs $10/month, and as far as I can tell, in order to get Crave TV, you have to have a cable TV supplier, which typically ranges from $70 to $130 per month depending on which package you get (and that's just the programming charge, the "Fibe" service costs $25/month on top of that.) I've been saving my money instead of wasting $175/month on TV. Over 30 years, that adds up to $63,000 I've saved.

And by the way, here's a secret. If the TV service includes a "box", then that box is "compressing" the signal between the service provider and your house. So a 4K movie isn't really a 4K movie at all because of the compression algorithms. In my opinion this is a major fraud being perpetrated on the consumer.

darthw

jcs2305 said:

darthw said:

SpamSandwich said:

I predict a record number of 4K TVs will soon be sold.

Does HBO Max stream 8n 4K anywhere? I know in Canada, where I live, it does not. 

HBO Max will stream Wonder Woman 1984 in 4K HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

https://www.cnet.com/news/hbo-max-will-stream-wonder-woman-1984-in-4k-hdr-dolby-vision-and-dolby-atmos/

Looks like Max is finally stepping up and offering 4K.  I have been impatiently waiting for this. I like HBO Max the service and was surprised that they didn't have 4K offerings at launch. This is good news!

Yes, great news!

wood1208

Many COVID vaccines on their way. Little more patience and in 2021, you can release all the movies in queue in theaters. I can't wait to watch James Bond in theater.

bsnjon

22july2013 said:

darthw said:

Does HBO Max stream in 4K anywhere? I know in Canada, where I live, it does not. 

In order to get HBO Max in Canada for $10/month, you first have to have a subscription to Crave TV which costs $10/month, and as far as I can tell, in order to get Crave TV, you have to have a cable TV supplier, which typically ranges from $70 to $130 per month depending on which package you get (and that's just the programming charge, the "Fibe" service costs $25/month on top of that.) I've been saving my money instead of wasting $175/month on TV. Over 30 years, that adds up to $63,000 I've saved.

And by the way, here's a secret. If the TV service includes a "box", then that box is "compressing" the signal between the service provider and your house. So a 4K movie isn't really a 4K movie at all because of the compression algorithms. In my opinion this is a major fraud being perpetrated on the consumer.

Many HBO properties are on CraveTV but not all. You can signup for CrabeTV just like you would for Netflix. There is an Apple TV app or you can watch in your browser etc. 

Beats

Sounds better than that Mulan crap Disney pulled.

22july2013

bsnjon said:

You can signup for CrabeTV just like you would for Netflix.

I double checked. Starting in April 2017 we are able to get Crave TV without any existing cable TV subscription. So I was wrong about that. But you still need a Crave subscription before you can get an HBO subscription in Canada. And I doubt that the HBO Canada channels are the same as the HBO US channels. For comparison, the CBS streaming service in Canada seems to get only about 50% of the programs that US people are currently getting. And another factor that's important to me is that I don't want a separate app to deal with - I want any streaming service I pay for to be inside the Apple TV+ app. At this time I'm paying for two such services inside the Apple TV+ app. I can't understand why there are companies like Netflix who insist on using their own app exclusively on Apple TV hardware. Why do they refuse to sell their service to customers who want to stay within Apple's software ecosystem? I'll bet it's because they want your identifying details like name and email address so they can collect tons of information about you personally. No thanks.

amoonra

22july2013 said:

urahara said:

Not available on Apple TV+?
The problem with those services is that there are too many. And often some movies are available only on one of them. 

Just recently I wanted to buy a movie on Apple TV+, they had it there but I had to subscribe to some SkyTicket - other provider. 

I was ready to buy it on Apple TV+.  But they did it difficult for me. Torrent rules...
They have to figure out how  to offer movies on more platforms in multiple languages. If they make it easier to get it on torrent than on official distribution channels, 

Perhaps you don't speak English well, so I won't be hard on you for your fragmented sentences. But it's hard to understand what you want. Are you complaining about the cost? Apple doesn't control the cost, because that's controlled by the content providers. Apple doesn't set the prices, either of the streaming channels or the individual movie prices on iTunes. And it looks like Skyticket is a German streaming service that has nothing to do with Apple TV+. What movie were you trying to watch on Apple TV+? If you explain your problem, there are some people who will try to help. But we can't help if you refuse to explain the problem.

I think he wrote it pretry clearly... wanted to buy movie - had to subscribe to some servuce judt for that... To be fair TV app is damn mess, like whenever I go to the app I wonder what they smoke in Apple that they allow to release such a shitty “user friendly” - looking for TV+ takes way to mich time, it is nearly hidden somewhere (OK, I am using only Mac / ipad app) and for many ppl it is just confusing, my GF started to using app and it took her some time to realize that everything that is shows isn’t part of the tv+ (I dont blame them, but 1 banner at the top or even separate app) would be much better way than just mixing everything together...

rcomeau

22july2013 said:

urahara said:

Not available on Apple TV+?
The problem with those services is that there are too many. And often some movies are available only on one of them. 

Just recently I wanted to buy a movie on Apple TV+, they had it there but I had to subscribe to some SkyTicket - other provider. 

I was ready to buy it on Apple TV+.  But they did it difficult for me. Torrent rules...
They have to figure out how  to offer movies on more platforms in multiple languages. If they make it easier to get it on torrent than on official distribution channels, 

Perhaps you don't speak English well, so I won't be hard on you for your fragmented sentences. But it's hard to understand what you want. Are you complaining about the cost? Apple doesn't control the cost, because that's controlled by the content providers. Apple doesn't set the prices, either of the streaming channels or the individual movie prices on iTunes. And it looks like Skyticket is a German streaming service that has nothing to do with Apple TV+. What movie were you trying to watch on Apple TV+? If you explain your problem, there are some people who will try to help. But we can't help if you refuse to explain the problem.

I think his point is that AppleTV+ collects (aggregates) movies and TV shoes available through various channels on AppleTV. On the surface, it looks like you have access to a variety of content but find that you really have to have subscriptions to multiple services. I am frustrated that it is turning out to be the same problem we had with cable. To watch one show I like, I have to subscribe to a channel and pay for a bunch of crap I don't want. Internet streaming had the promise of being able to pay for the shows I like and only the shows I like (iTunes started well). Now one needs to have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, CBS All access, AppleTV+ etc, each one having one thing of value and a ton of unwanted stuff. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.