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The executives behind HBO Max gave their first real preview of the new streaming service on Tuesday, announcing its $14.99 subscription cost and its May 2020 launch window. They also unveiled HBO Max’s slate of original programming. Some shows, like Kaley Cuoco‘s The Flight Attendant and the Gossip Girl sequel series, had been announced previously, but WarnerMedia made a couple of surprise announcements, including a Green Lantern TV series from Arrowverse mastermind Greg Berlanti.
Below you can find a list of all the HBO Max originals — 38 in 2020, with an additional 12 being added for 2021. The new HBO Max series include talent like Ansel Elgort, Anna Kendrick, and more. And the list of original shows is impressive, even without including Jordan Peele‘s Lovecraft Country and The Undoing, from David E. Kelley and Nicole Kidman, which are coming to HBO proper in 2020 and will automatically be added to HBO Max, not to mention the rest of the streamer’s extensive library that includes Friends and The Big Bang Theory.
HBO Max: Launch dates, prices, movies and shows to expect
Here are the HBO Max original series:
HBO Max Original Scripted Series
Anna Kendrick, Lupita Nyong’o, and Ansel Elgort
Americanah: Twitter dreams come true with this series created by Danai Guiria and starring Lupita Nyong’o (who will also executive produce). The 10-episode limited series is based on the novel of the same name by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Circe: Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are behind an eight-episode adaptation of Madeline Miller’s Circe, “an epic fantasy based on the recent bestseller about one of the most evocative goddesses in Ancient Greece.”
College Girls: This new comedy from Mindy Kaling follows three 18-year old college freshman roommates attending the fictional Evermore College. “A bundle of contradictions and hormones, these sexually active college girls are equal parts lovable and infuriating,” according to the official HBO Max description.
DC Superhero High: Ever wonder what Batman was like in high school? Elizabeth Banks‘ half-hour comedy shows teens trying to figure out the day-to-day pressures of high school, unknowing that they will grow up to be some of DC’s most iconic heroes.
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Dune: The Sisterhood: Denis Villeneuve will accompany his star-studded film adaptation of Dune with a companion series on HBO Max, titled Dune: The Sisterhood. The series will center on on the women of Bene Gesserit as they navigate the political framework of The Imperium to make way for the planet Arrakis.
The Flight Attendant: Kaley Cuoco’s first live-action TV role following The Big Bang Theory is an intercontinental murder mystery based on Chris Bohjalian’s best-selling 2018 novel. Cuoco plays Cassie, a flight attendant who wakes up next to a dead body after a layover in Dubai. As the FBI begins to question the events of the layover, Cassie must consider whether she actually is a killer.
Grease: Rydell High:Get out your T-Bird and Pink Lady jackets, because Grease is back, baby! The musical series will take place in the ’50s, just like the original musical, and will explore “the peer pressures of high school, the horrors of puberty, and the rollercoaster of life in Middle America with a modern sensibility.”
The Green Lantern: Greg Berlanti is taking his DC Empire to space. The super producer promises that Green Lantern will be the biggest DC show his team has ever created, though other details about the superhero show were scarce at the time of the announcement.
Love Life: Anna Kendrick will star in her first-ever TV show — a comedy anthology series where Kendrick falls in and out of love. The series is executive-produced by Paul Feig.
Made for Love:Cristin Milioti and Ray Romano star in this “tragicomedy” based on Alice Nutting’s novel of the same name. Maniac‘s Patrick Somerville is writing, with S.J. Clarkson set to direct.
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Raised by Wolves: Ridley Scott will executive-produce the sci-fi series from Aaron Guzikowski about two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet. As the growing colony of humans almost falls apart due to religious differences, the androids realize how dangerous and difficult their task really is.
Rap Sh*t:Issa Rae‘s next comedy follows a group of female rappers from outside of Miami trying to make it to the next level of their careers.
Station Eleven:Patrick Somerville’s second HBO Max project is a take on the 2014 post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven. Atlanta director Hiro Murai will helm the series.
Strange Adventures: Strange Adventures is a DC hero anthology series that will tell one-hour “morality tales” featuring characters across the DC Comics library. The series will be executive-produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schecter, and Gotham‘s John Stephens.
Tokyo Vice:Ansel Elgort will try to end corruption in the eponymous police department in this new series based on Jake Adelstein’s 2010 memoir of the same name. Miami Vice‘s Michael Mann is set to direct the pilot episode.
XOXO Gossip Girl: Set after the events of the 2007 CW series, the Gossip Girl sequel will follow a new set of Upper East Siders, the scandals that unfold in their inner circle, and the trials and tribulations of private school life.
HBO Max Original Unscripted Series
Ellen DeGeneres
HBO Max recruited Ellen DeGeneres, the Queer Eye producers, and more creatives to develop a lineup of exciting new unscripted series coming to the service over the next year.
Ellen’s Home Design: DeGeneres adds another competition show to her resume with Ellen’s Home Design, a competition series where interior designers are “pushed to expand their creative horizons.”
First Dates Hotel: If you’re looking for a new romance reality show, First Dates Hotel from DeGeneres sends single people on tailor-made romantic experiences in Italy to hopefully find love.
Full Bloom: This floristry competition series will take root on the streaming service in 2020.
Generation Hustle: Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney digs into the millennial drive for success with a new series that explores young(ish) people’s quest for fame, money, and power.
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The Greatest Space: This competition show will pit interior designers against each other in a globe-trotting adventure where they’ll make-over an “eclectic mix of rooms” including empty ballrooms and vacant boathouses.
Legendary: The producers of Queer Eye will take audiences into the “wild world of voguing” — as seen on FX’s Pose — in this new reality competition series.
Team Coco Comedy Specials: Conan O’Brien and his team will be bringing five hour-long comedy specials to the service. Two of the five specials will be hosted by O’Brien, featuring short sets from multiple up-and-coming comics, curated by the host. The three other specials will be hour-long sets from comics also handpicked by O’Brien. In addition to those five, the host is also executive-producing a special from James Veitch.
HBO Max Original Kids and Family Programming
Zachari Levi, Sesame Street
As the parent company of Cartoon Network and Looney Tunes, WarnerMedia has an impressive collection of children’s content that will also hit a nostalgia nerve for their parents. Many of HBO Max’s original series are also aimed at children and families.
Craftopia: YouTuber Lauren Riihimaki will host a kids’ competition series in which their crafting skills will be put to the test.
The Fungies!:The new animated series will explore Fingietown with Seth, a science-loving elementary school student who loves making new discoveries and going on adventures. While Seth is on the hunt for the next great scientific discovery, he’ll constantly stir up trouble for the other inhabitants of his fun-loving town.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai: How did Gizmo and his kind become the gremlins? That’s what the prequel series will explore, with at least 10 episodes dedicated to Gizmo’s history before the iconic ’80s movies came in to play.
Jellystone:Your favorite Hanna-Barbera characters will come together in Jellystone to live, work, and stir up trouble for their neighbors. The iconic character cast includes Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Yakky Doodle, Jabberjaw, and more.
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Karma: Karma is a competition show with a dose of morality. Michelle Kare hosts the puzzle and physical feats show where “how you act impacts who wins.”
Little Ellen: The animated series from DeGeneres will follow a 7-year old version of the talk show host during her childhood adventures in New Orleans.
Looney Tunes Cartoons: The classic Looney Tunes characters will be featured in 80 new episodes, each 11 minutes long and comprised of animated shorts that vary in length and include adapted storylines for today’s audience.
Mecha Builders: The Sesame Street universe will expand on HBO Max with a new animated spin-off featuring Sesame Street characters in robot animation style.
The Not Too Late Show with Elmo: It’s a talk show for kids! Elmo will get his own talk show in the upcoming months to interview his Sesame Street friends and special guests.
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Tig N’ Seek:Eight-year-old Tiggy and his gadget-building cat, Gweeseek, search for the lost items of Wee Gee City. With Tiggy’s cheerful attitude and Gweeseek’s exceptional inventing capabilities, the duo navigate day-to-day dilemmas at the Department of Lost and Found.
Tooned Out:Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) executive-produces this live-action animated hybrid half-hour comedy about a man who starts seeing iconic cartoon characters from his childhood who help him get through a rough patch in his life.
HBO Max Pilots
The following shows haven’t officially been ordered to series on the streaming service, but are making first episodes in hopes of being expanded. The talent list includes Ava DuVernay, Riverdale‘s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, J.J. Abrams, and more. Check out what could be coming to HBO Max in the near future.
Anna K: A Love Story: If you love a modernized version of classic literature, strap in because Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are adapting Jenny Lee’s upcoming novel, Anna K: A Love Story, which updates Leo Tolstoy’s classic Anna Karenina with a modern, multicultural twist.
DMZ: Ava DuVernay joined the HBO Max family when she agreed to executive produce DMZ, a comic-book adaptation about a near future in which the United States is embroiled in a new civil war.
Drama Queen: Another one of many projects that J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot will be brining to HBO Max is Drama Queen, a half-hour comedy based on the childhood of TVLine founder and former TV Guide reporter Michael Ausiello.
Rules of Magic:Marvel’s Jessica Jones scribe Melissa Rosenberg is developing a Practical Magic prequel, based on Alice Hoffman’s novel.
The Shelley Society:Fans of creepy things should get ready for The Shelley Society from Aguirre-Sacasa, Tessa Leigh Williams, and James DeWille. The “Victorian X-Files” series has a pilot order at the streaming service and will follow a young Mary Shelley as she leads a band of “romantic outlaws” against monsters supernatural threats.
HBO Max launches in May 2020.