A new report has suggested that HBO Max could be laying off 70% of its staff and certain scripted shows have already been cancelled, with more on the way.
In the wake of news that the Batgirl movie was canned just months before its release, a new report has suggested that more major changes are happening at HBO Max. The report says that HBO Max will be moving away from scripted content development, resulting in staff being laid off.
The Wrap reported that two sources have suggested staff cuts could be as much as 70%. HBO Max is owned by Warner Bros, who seem to have different plans for the service. They want HBO Max and Discovery+ to merge into one platform.
An insider at the company said that “Everyone in Warner Bros. Discovery is nervous at the moment, and starting to look at alternative job options in case they get the axe. Sounds like they’re not doing HBO Max scripted shows anymore with HBO taking over, so less scripted shows overall.”
The future of HBO max
The Wrap also stated that Warner Bros Discovery is expected to make “major moves to realign the company’s streaming assets” according to Wall Street. This seems to refer to the merging of HBO Max and Discovery, which was just announced.
The merge will happen in the summer of 2023. It’ll only be available in the US at first, followed by Latin America later that year. European markets that have HBO Max will receive the new service in early 2024, with more launches that year.
As well as the cancellation of Batgirl, six more HBO Max exclusive movies have been removed from the streaming service. These include Moonshot, The Witches, Locked Down, Superintelligence, An American Pickle and Charm City Kings. HBO Max or Warner Bros have not revealed the reasons behind the removal of any of these exclusive films.
Which of these cancelled HBO Max shows are you disappointed to hear about? Let us know across our socials?
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Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures