HBO Max removes 36 titles, including Aquaman: King of Atlantis and about 200 episodes of Sesame Street.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery was officially formed, with new CEO David Zaslav now in charge of the media conglomerate. Since then, many changes have been made which have left many in the industry perplexed. In particular, the cancellation of nearly finished films like bat girl and Scoob! Holiday destination for tax deductions and the removal of many original content from HBO Max.
Now even more HBO Max titles are being pulled. Variety has confirmed that approximately 36 titles, including 20 original series made exclusively for the service, will be removed. The service will also remove approximately 200 episodes of sesame street. Titles include the following in alphabetical order:
2 Christmas Dates, About Last Night, Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Close Enough, Detention Adventure, Dodo, Ellen’s Next Great Designer, Elliott From Earth, Esme & Roy, The Fungies!, Generation Hustle, Genera +ion, Infinity Train, Little Ellen, Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart, Messy Goes to Okido, Mia’s Magic Playground, Mighty Magiswords, My Dinner with Herve, My Mom, Your Dad, Odo, OK KO! – Let’s Be Heroes, The Ollie & Moon Show, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness, Select Sesame Street Specials, Make It Big, Make It Small, Share, Squish, Summer Camp Island, The Not-Too -Late Show with Elmo, The Runaway Bunny – Special, Theodosia, Tig n’ Seek, Uncle Grandpa, Victor and Valentino, and Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs.
A spokesperson for HBO Max told Variety the following statement regarding the removal of certain titles from the platform:
“As we strive to bring our catalogs of content together on one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and Discovery+. This will include removing some content from both platforms.
Variety also reports that removing less-watched projects from HBO Max will help Warner Bros. Discovery to save money on residual payment.
In response to the deletion of 36 titles which include Aquaman: King of Atlantis and infinite train among others, Levon Jihanian, artistic director of Tig and Seekexpressed dismay at the series’ removal from HBO Max:
Julia Pott, creator of summer camp island also didn’t mince words in response to HBO Max:
Although David Zaslav and senior Warner Bros. Discovery may argue that removing some underperforming titles from HBO Max will help the company save money, it sure seems to be hurting its relationships with many creatives, especially those involved in animation. Future developments will certainly be interesting to follow when further decisions are made.
Here’s the official HBO Max description of Aquaman: King of Atlantis:
The series begins with Aquaman’s first day on the job as King of Atlantis and he has a LOT of catching up to do. Luckily, he has his two royal advisers to back him up – Vulko, the scholar, and Mera, the water-controlling warrior princess. Between facing unscrupulous surface dwellers, ancient evils from beyond time, and his own half-brother who wants to overthrow him, Aquaman will have to rise to the challenge and prove to his subjects, and to him. -even, that he is the ideal man for the trident!
James Wan serves as an executive producer with Victor Courtright and Mary Harplen-Gras on board as showrunners for the HBO Max series.
Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming Aquaman projects and the future of HBO Max, and be sure to subscribe to the Heroic Hollywood YouTube channel for more video content!
Source: Variety
