Warner Bros. Discovery sent out a new list of titles leaving HBO Max this week, including many animated shows produced exclusively for the streaming platform. Some of them are not on DVD and Blu-ray, meaning that when they disappear from HBO Max, the work of hundreds of dedicated artists will suddenly be unavailable completely. This is the first time Warner Bros. Discovery gave a warning about original content leaving, as early departures weren't even noticed until fans couldn't find them.
The statement Wednesday night included an explanation for the departures but didn't give a specific date for when that will happen. "As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and discovery+. That will include the removal of some content from both platforms," the statement read. Warner Bros. Discovery also said they were bringing their "content catalogs together" with moves like a CNN hub on Discovery+ and Magnolia Netowork content on HBO Max. A combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streaming platform is set to launch by the summer of 2023.
There are still plenty of questions though. Creators don't know if already completed seasons of their work will ever see the light of day. The list didn't specify which Sesame Street specials are really leaving. Warner Bros. Discovery also didn't offer an explanation for pulling their own original content. (It's been reported that pulling little-watched content could save the company money or serve as a tax write-off. Another theory is that this just helps HBO Max's catalog look less overwhelming to users searching for things to watch.)
Scroll on for the full list of shows leaving HBO Max this week.
Two HBO originals are on the list. My Dinner With Herveis a biopic starring Peter Dinklage as Fantasy Island actor Herve Villechaize. The other is Share, a coming-of-age movie written and directed by Pippa Bianco that earned positive reviews after it was screened at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Before Wednesday's announcement, HBO Max disappearances were happening without notice. It wasn't until social media users wrote about short-lived HBO shows Vinyl, The Brink, Here and Now, Camping, and Mrs. Fletcherbeing unavailable that their departures were noticed. Six Warner Bros. movies made for HBO Max – The Witches, Moonshot, An American Pickle, Superintelligence, Locked Down, and Charm City Kings – have also disappeared. A House Partyremake was scheduled for release on July 28, but it never was.
