With just a few months to go until yet another streaming service makes its debut, HBO Max shared its first trailer on Friday to showcase all of the content that will be available when it launches in May. Unsurprisingly, Friends is the first thing we see when the trailer begins, as HBO won the bidding war for the show’s streaming rights. Ever since Friends left Netflix on January 1st, there has been nowhere to legally stream it, but that will change soon.
Speaking of Friends, the entire main cast is expected to reconvene for an unscripted reunion special to celebrate the launch of the service. According to a recent report, the six actors are each receiving between $3 million and $4 million to appear in the special. But HBO Max is more than just Friends, as the video above shows.
Some of the other shows highlighted include The Big Bang Theory, South Park, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as HBO’s originals like Game of Thrones, Euphoria, and Watchmen. HBO Max will also feature a deep lineup of blockbuster movies, such as Wonder Woman, Joker, The Lego Movie, The Matrix, and The Wizard of Oz. Netflix may never be beaten when it comes to the sheer size of its library, but the quality can be somewhat questionable, which is one area where HBO might be able to have an advantage at launch and for years to come.
That said, it’s interesting that the first real trailer for HBO Max doesn’t feature a single piece of original content made specifically for the service. We know that there will be a number of original properties in the months to come, including a Green Lantern series, a crime drama based on the book Tokyo Vice, and a reboot of Gossip Girl. And yet, we don’t even get a glimpse of any of these in the ad. Instead, HBO wants to focus on licensed content.
HBO Max launches in May 2020 for $14.99/month. If you subscribe to HBO through AT&T or pay for HBO Now, you’ll get HBO Max for free. An ad-supported tier is expected to arrive sometime next year.
