HBO and Max content CEO Casey Bloys announced that major Warner Bros. IP projects, including the upcoming Harry Potter TV show and the It prequel Welcome to Derry, will now be HBO originals instead of Max series. This change, reported by Deadline, marks a strategic shift for big-budget productions.
In addition to Harry Potter and Welcome to Derry, the newly announced Green Lantern series adaptation, Lanterns will also be rebranded as an HBO original. This decision reverses the previous plan to place all Warner Bros. IP series under the Max brand, introduced when Bloys assumed oversight of Max in 2020.
“We felt like we had to delineate between an HBO show and a Max show,” Bloys told Variety. “Using Warner Bros. IP as a delineation for Max felt right initially. But as we started producing those shows, we used the same methods and talent as HBO shows.”
For example, the Lanterns series features writers Chris Mundy (True Detective) and Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers and Watchmen). DC Studios co-head Peter Safran described Lanterns as a “huge HBO-quality event.” Bloys added, “Shows at this scope and scale have great narratives and talent we’ve worked with. The idea of the delineation started to feel unnecessary. Let’s just call them HBO shows.”
This change applies to shows launching in 2025. Upcoming series like The Penguin and Dune: Prophecy, set to premiere later this year, may remain Max originals due to existing international licensing agreements.