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On Wednesday, May 27 a new streaming services launches called HBO Max. The latest service is from WarnerMedia, and while “HBO” is in the title, it’s far more than just programming from the cable network. In fact, it includes content from Warner Bros., Crunchyroll, DC, TNT, and more. But what is HBO Max, how much will it cost, and what does it include?

HBO Max is one of the big streaming service launches in 2020, right alongside NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which already had a soft launch and will be available nationally in July. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max will have some tough competition going up against streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. However, it’s huge back catalog should give it a good head start.

One of the more confusing things about HBO Max, for some people, is its difference between the already established HBO Go and HBO Now.

What’s the difference?

• HBO Go-A service available to cable subscribers, streaming HBO content to internet-connected devices.
• HBO Now-The same thing as HBO Go except it’s a standalone streaming service, not attached to your cable provider.
• HBO Max-WarnerMedia’s platform. While it does offer HBO content, it also includes original programming and content from a variety of other networks and movie studios.

Those who subscribe to HBO Max prior to launch will also get access to HBO Now, and current HBO Now subscribers will get access to HBO Max at launch. If you access HBO Now through a third-party apps Apple, Google Play, Samsung, Verizon Fios internet, Optimum, Consolidated Communications and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, you will also get immediate access.

Pricing:

Unlike Peacock, Netflix, and Hulu, there is not a tiered pricing system for HBO Max. The service will cost $15 a month, which is $1 less than Netflix’s premium tier. Currently, you can get it for $12 a month for the first year, if you sign up before the service launches. This is for an ad-free experience as well. Both Peacock and Hulu have cheaper tiers, but you’ll have to watch advertisements.

At this time, there is no listing as to what platforms the service will be on. There will be a full rundown once that information has been made public. Currently, the HBO Max site states the service will be available on “many popular devices: phones, tablets, Mac and PC browsers, streaming media players, smart TVs and game consoles.”

Available content:

HBO Max is more than just HBO. It contains television and movies from many different places under the WarnerMedia property banner. There will be over 10,000 hours of curated content, and celebrities–like Zac Efron–will offer up suggestions for what to watch on the service in personal curation videos.

Additionally, HBO Max has partnered with Crunchyroll to offer up some high-quality anime content on the streaming service. 17 titles will be available at launch, including Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Berserk, Rurouni Kenshin, and more. Also, the full Studio Ghibli animated library will be available including Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.

Here are some of the properties you’ll be able to find on HBO Max. Many of these are in the Max Hubs section of the app.

• Warner Bros.
• New Line Cinema
• HBO
• Crunchyroll
• Studio Ghibli
• DC
• Looney Tunes
• TNT
• TBS
• truTV
• The CW
• CNN
• Turner Classic Movies
• Cartoon Network
• Adult Swim
• Crunchyroll
• Rooster Teeth

Originals at launch:

HBO Max is offering a decent amount of original content at launch, but there isn’t a lot of hype surrounding its original content–even though Elmo’s late night talk show looks delightful. Six originals have been announced for launch–five series and one documentary–and below, you’ll find the full list. You can find more details about the original series here.

• Craftopia
• Legendary
• Love Life
• Looney Tunes
• The Not Too Late Show With Elmo
• On the Record

Additionally, there are more notable originals planned like the Green Lantern series, an Adventure Time continuation, DC’s Strange Adventures, and Season 2 of the DC Universe series Doom Patrol, which will arrive on June 25. HBO Max has released the upcoming slate of original programming as well. And there is a lot in the works for the streaming service.

Future original programming:

Summer 2020-

• Esme & Roy (Animated series)
• The Fungies (Comedy anthology series)
• Karma (Kid’s competition series)
• Tig N’ Seek (Animated series)
• Doom Patrol Season 2 (Live-action superhero series)
• Expecting Amy (Amy Schumer documentary)
• The House of Mo (Non-fiction series)
• Search Party (Comedy series)

Fall 2020-

• The Monster at the End of this Story (Sesame Street animated special)
• Sesame Street
• Unpregnant (Film)
• Equal (Docuseries)
• The Event (Unscripted docuseries)
• The Flight Attendant (Thriller series)
• Friends Reunion Special (Unscripted special)
• Full Bloom (Competition series)
• Hot Dog (Comedy competition series)
• Let Them All Talk (Film)
• Raised By Wolves (Sci-fi series)
• John Early (Stand-up comedy)
• Superintelligence (Film)
• White House Card (True Crime drama series)

Future-

• Adventure Time: BMO
• Adventure Time: Obsidian
• Adventure Time: Wizard City
• Adventure Time: Together Again
• Aquaman: King of Atlantis (Animated series)
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime (Live action family special)
• Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (Animated series)
• Jelly Stone (Animated series)
• Little Ellen (Animated series)
• Mecha Builders (Animated Sesame Street spin-off)
• 15 Minutes of Shame (Documentary)
• Brad & Gary Go To… (Non-fiction series)
• College Girls (Comedy series)
• DC Super Hero High (Docuseries)
• Generation Hustle (Drama series)
• Gossip Girl (Drama series)
• Grease: Rydell High (Musical series)
• Green Lantern (Superhero series)
• Strange Adventures (Superhero series)
• Tooned Out (Comedy series)
• 12 Dates of Christmas (Unscripted series)
• Americanah (Drama series)
• The Big Shot With Bethenny (Unscripted series)
• Birth, Wedding, Funeral (Docuseries)
• Bobbie Sue (Film)
• The Boondocks (Animated series)
• Bourdain (Documentary)
• Boys (Period drama series)
• Charm City Kings (Film)
• Circe (Drama series)
• Crime Farm (Drama series)
• Dune: The Sisterhood (Drama series)
• Duster (Drama series)
• Ellen’s Home Design Challenge (Competition series)
• First Dates Hotel (Unscripted series)
• Gen: Lock (Animated series)
• Generation (Dramedy series)
• The Greatest Space (Non-fiction series)
• Heaven’s Gate (Docuseries)
• Justice League Dark (Superhero series)
• Overlook (Horror-thriller series)
• Persona (Documentary)
• The Prince (Animated series)
• Rap Sh*t (Comedy series)
• Santa Inc. (Animated comedy series)
• The Scoop (Documentary)
• Tracy Morgan (Stand-up comedy)
• Rose Matafeo (Stand-up comedy)
• Ahir Shah (Stand-up comedy)
• Stand-up Specials Presented By Conan O’Brien (Stand-up comedy)
• Starstruck (Comedy series)
• Station Eleven (Drama series)
• Tokyo Vice (Drama series)
• The Unthinkable Earth (Anthology series)

While there is a lot in the works, HBO Max is offering subscribers to rewatch many of their favorite shows, including HBO’s vast back catalog of TV shows like Sopranos to NBC favorites like Friends as well. HBO Max launches on May 27.

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The Avatar sequels are set to resume filming in New Zealand very soon. Producer Jon Landau made the announcement on Twitter, saying he’s headed back to New Zealand for the week beginning May 25 to start filming again after the production was shut down due to COVID-19.

To celebrate the news, Landau released a new image of two marine vessels that will be seen in the movie, the Matador and the Picador.

Production on the Avatar sequels stopped in mid-March, so the shutdown lasted around two months. The New Zealand government recently paved the way for productions to begin again, and it seems Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series may follow Avatar, though it hasn’t been announced yet. Work has continued on the digital effects for the Avatar sequels at Weta Digital throughout the shutdown.

Directed by James Cameron, Avatar 2 is slated for release in 2021, and three more sequels are scheduled for 2023, 2025, and 2027. However, whether or not the two latter films release depends on the box office performance of the first sequel.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang will reprise their roles from the first movie, and will be joined by Kate Winslet, Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, and Jemaine Clement.

Ubisoft is developing a new Avatar game from The Division studio Ubisoft Massive and a new Ubisoft studio called Ubisoft Stockholm. Ubisoft has hired Battlefield veteran Patrick Bach to lead the team, which is on a hiring spree.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on one major Hollywood studio is coming into focus. Lionsgate, which produces the John Wick and Hunger Games films, has reported a $50.5 million charge during the January-March quarter due to the global pandemic and the “related economic disruption.”

The charge is made up of losses due to the costs of stopping the production of Lionsgate’s numerous movie and TV productions, among other things.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement, “Our Lionsgate family has risen to the challenge of these unprecedented times with resilience, dedication, and collaboration.”

Looking to the future, Feltheimer said Lionsgate continues to work closely with its development partners to plan restarting production and releasing movies in theatres again.

“The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and measures to prevent its spread, and the resulting unprecedented economic uncertainty, are affecting our business in a number of ways,” Lionsgate said in its news release. “The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict.”

At the same time, Lionsgate mentioned that its Starz network enjoyed an increase in viewership “across all platforms” in the US and globally due to the fact that people are staying home. Lionsgate cautioned, however, that the spike in viewers might slow down in the future when governments change their rules about social-distancing.

Lionsgate mentioned that it adapted to the crisis by releasing some of its theatrical films on streaming platforms, working on post-production remotely, and continuing to developer shows with virtual writers’ rooms. “These changes in the way we operate may be helpful to partially offset some of the negative impacts from the pandemic. However, the impact of these changes and the COVID-19 global pandemic are uncertain and cannot be predicted,” Lionsgate said.

In regards to the $50.5 million charge, this includes $46 million from impairments related to the aforementioned issues and $4.2 million in marketing and distribution expenses related to movies and events that were canceled or postponed. The remaining $300,000 includes “restructuring and other costs” related to the transition to a work-from-home environment for its employees.

You can read the full Lionsgate earnings release here.

Some of the movies that Lionsgate delayed due to the pandemic include the Saw spin-off Spiral, from Chris Rock, and the mystery-thriller Antebellum starring Janelle Monae.

Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.

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During this time of great uncertainty and stress, The Office star John Krasinski launched a YouTube series called “Some Good News,” which aimed to shine a light on the good in the world. Now, Krasinski has sold the show and he’s stepping away from hosting it.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Krasinski has sold Some Good News to GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS. There was said to be a “massive bidding war” to buy the show.

New episodes of Some Good News will premiere on CBS All Access (which is being rebranded this year), and then come to other ViacomCBS platforms later on. Krasinski is leaving his post as host, but he will remain onboard as an executive producer and he will make occasional appearances.

“Could not be more excited and proud to be partnering with CBS/Viacom to be able to bring Some Good News to so many more people!” Krasinski said in a statement. “From the first episode, our goal was to create a news show dedicated entirely to good news. Never did I expect to be joining the ranks of such a historic news organization as CBS.”

Up until now, Krasinski has been funding Some Good News out of his own pocket, though he has worked with corporate sponsors as well. For example, Krasinski–who hails from Boston, Massachusetts–partnered with the Boston Red Sox to give away baseball tickets.

According to THR, Krasinski did not always intend to sell Some Good News, though the report does not say why he changed his mind. The eighth episode of Some Good News aired on May 17, and in it, Krasinski alluded to the sale, saying he was planning to take a break.

Some Good News featured some incredibly heartwarming and special episodes, including a mini Office reunion with Steve Carell and Jenna Fischer and a Hamilton performance featuring the original cast.

You can also check out GameSpot’s feel-good news show, Good News Gaming. You can watch the latest episode embedded above, and keep checking back with GameSpot for more.

Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming world.

Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, Tenet, has received a new trailer that debuted first in the battle royale game Fortnite (to a torrent of plungers aimed at the virtual screen, unsurprisingly) and is now available everywhere online. Take a look.

The trailer sets up a currently nameless protagonist, played by John David Washington, who can apparently “invert” time (thus the stylized title “TENET” flipped upside down). We don’t exactly get to see how or to what extent he can do this–or if he’s alone in these powers, but there are some critical clues to be found. Namely, we get to see him fire a gun in reverse (“you’re not shooting the bullets, you’re catching them”) and, later, a car crash happening and then un-happening. Basically, it’s exactly what you might expect from a Nolan movie at this point.

Also in the trailer are regular Nolan collaborator Michael Caine, who probably (emphasis on probably) isn’t going to be a dimension-hopping Alfred Pennyworth, but the jury’s still out on that one. Robert Pattinson, who seems to be playing some sort of James Bond Q archetype (or maybe a dimension-hopping Bruce Wayne just to really mess with your grip on reality), also features. He ends the trailer on a comedic note explaining that he’d really like to crash a plane.

Interestingly, the trailer is not dated–though the “coming to theaters” title card seems to want to assure viewers that this movie will definitely herald some sort of return-to-normalcy for moviegoers. As of right now, no delays have been announced, which means Tenet is still scheduled to arrive on July 17, 2020. Theaters in Hong Kong have seemingly committed to this date by airing Nolan’s Batman trilogy as they begin cautiously reopening, but thus far with reopening plans still completely uncertain in other parts of the world, it’s probably a good idea not to count too many chickens before they hatch. Or un-hatch. Or hatch in reverse. Whatever the case may be.

Starting June 1, GameSpot will be hosting Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts with the help of our friends from around the gaming, TV, and movie worlds.

And speaking of things you should be watching, consider listening to GameSpot’s weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.

Fortnite has held another live event that required players put their guns down and watch a video together. This time around it’s just a simple trailer premiere–one for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, Tenet.

In the video above, David Ahmadi captures the new trailer, so if you happen to have missed the live premiere–either because you don’t have Fortnite or you forgot to log-in or you just couldn’t be bothered–then you can watch it here.

This is not the first time that Fortnite has been the center stage for showcasing a piece of media. An exclusive scene from Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker premiered in Fortnite in December 2019 and both DJ Marshmello and Travis Scott have held concerts in Epic Games’ battle royale.

In GameSpot’s Fortnite review, Michael Higham wrote: “While there are several moving parts in the game’s ecosystem, Fortnite’s biggest accomplishment is in how it seamlessly merges a number of simple mechanics to create a distinguishable battle royale game. What looks to be a straightforward building system steadily escalates to an elaborate display of tactical prowess. As the saying goes: It’s easy to learn, hard to master. Although a few shortcomings in the map design eventually surface and fatigue in looting can set in, Fortnite rarely fails at challenging you in unexpected ways, resulting in something more than just another typical last-person-standing shooter.”