HBO Max, the new service streaming from WarnerMedia, will arrive in Spain on October 26. The platform, which will replace HBO Spain, seeks to bring together all the universes of this entertainment giant for the first time in one place. It will do so through five major brands: the films and series from the Warner Bros. centennial archive, the HBO catalog, the DC heroes, Cartoon Network animation and the US and international self-created series, called Max Originals. Although its price in Spain is yet to be defined, “it will be competitive,” Christina Sulebakk, general director of HBO Max in Europe, explained to EL PAÍS.
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Spanish users will be, along with those from the Nordic countries, the first in Europe to have access to the new platform, as it will be launched in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as Andorra, also this October 26. In 2022, Portugal and territories of central and eastern Europe will follow.
In addition to some of the star content of HBO Spain, such as the saga Harry Potter, the Serie Game of Thrones and the comedies Friends and The Big Bang Theory, these HBO Max themed containers will expand their catalog to address an even larger audience. Among the categories that are going to be promoted is adult animation, incorporating the content of one of its American brands, Adult Swim, as well as TCM’s classic and independent cinema and will even extend its bet on entertainment genres such as reality shows. .
The change will also mean a technological improvement in the app and the service website, which until now have been one of HBO Spain’s weak points
“But, to enter Spain, it is important to offer local content,” Sulebakk pointed out this Tuesday in a telematic conversation from Copenhagen (Denmark). Several self-produced bets are already in development. Among the Max Originals already approved are Garcia, thriller science fiction that adapts the homonymous comic by Santiago García and Luis Bustos; Come on Juan, sequel to Vote Juan and Come on Juan with Javier Cámara as a corrupt politician who tends to revolving doors; and Everything else, drama about a group of thirty-somethings created by Abril Zamora. They are also in production Dolores: The truth about the Wanninkhof case, a docuserie about Dolores Vázquez; and No novelty, comedy with Arturo Valls and Carlos Areces as two undercover policemen in an operation in which nothing happens, adaptation of Australian fiction No activity.
Among the main differences with respect to HBO Spain, Sulebakk has announced that the change will also entail a technological improvement in the application and the service’s website, which have been one of the weak points of the service in our country so far. Its successor will adopt the model already used by users in the United States, where it was launched in 2020, and Latin America, where it arrived in May 2021. HBO Spain customers will simply have to change their technological tool to make the leap to HBO Max. . Vodafone will also maintain the agreement it has with the platform, so those users who access it through the telephone company will continue to be subscribers.
Beginning January 1, 2022, HBO Max will also be the next distribution window for Warner’s theatrical releases. Thus, titles such as Dune O The Matrix: Resurrections, fourth installment of the saga, will arrive directly at the service of streaming after having passed through the rooms. In no case will they do it simultaneously, as has happened in the United States in recent months due to the coronavirus crisis.
Given such amount of content available to the viewer, HBO Max seeks not to depend only on algorithms to recommend titles to users, Sulebakk points out, and will also have recommendations and selection of content made by humans “that will ensure that local flavor” that HBO Max tries offer in Spain.
The platform costs in the United States between 10 and 15 dollars (between 8.5 and 12.7 euros), depending on whether it contains advertising or not. In October, the company will clarify whether the Spanish model will follow the same price pattern.
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