HBO Max Might Have Outsmarted Streaming Wars

Almost exactly one year ago, Warner Bros. made a rather startling announcement: In 2021, all of the movies on its slate would be released on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters. Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, Dune, The Matrix Resurrections—all of them. Cinephiles all but revolted. Dune director Denis Villeneuve published a letter in Variety calling HBO Max’s launch a “failure” and the decision by Warner Bros. parent company AT&T to “sacrifice” the 2021 lineup to the streaming service “a desperate attempt to grab the audience’s attention.” In many ways, Villenueve was right—it was a move intended to boost subscriber numbers in a market slowly becoming saturated with streaming services. But also, it worked. Read Full Article »