HBO Max is set to launch in the UK this spring, five years after the platform first debuted in the United States.
From March 26, the streaming service will officially roll out across the UK, bringing together content from HBO, Warner Bros Pictures, Warner Bros Television, DC Studios and Max Originals under one roof.
The launch slate will include the critically acclaimed hospital drama The Pitt, which has yet to secure a UK broadcaster despite multiple Emmy wins.
The full first season will be available to stream immediately, with episodes from the second season released weekly.
Later in the year, the platform will also become home to several of HBO’s most anticipated 2026 titles, including the return of Euphoria, House of the Dragon and The Comeback, alongside the long-awaited Harry Potter television series and new DC Studios drama Lanterns.
A wide range of recent films will also be available, from Oscar-nominated titles One Battle After Another and Sinners to big-budget releases such as Superman and A Minecraft Movie.
Subscribers will also gain access to an extensive back catalogue of HBO and Warner Bros favourites, with Friends, Succession, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones set to stream exclusively on the platform in the UK.
HBO Max’s UK and Ireland platform will offer four different subscription plans starting at £4.99 per month, with viewers able to access the complete HBO Max entertainment line-up, including recently released movies, from £5.99 per month.
An additional sports add-on will also be available, priced at £30.99, as TNT Sports migrates to the platform.
At present, the majority of HBO programming in the UK is available through Sky and NOW, which will lose exclusivity following the platform’s launch.
Speaking in London on Monday, JB Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, described the forthcoming Harry Potter series, due to land on the service in 2027, as “the streaming event of the decade”.
He went further, calling it “the biggest streaming event in the history of HBO Max and arguably in streaming, period. It’s number one, two and three in many ways.”
Addressing press to confirm the UK and Ireland launch of HBO Max, he added: “We can’t wait for this global streaming event.”
The new adaptation, which is currently in production, will star child actor Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, with John Lithgow cast as Albus Dumbledore.
Perrette said the HBO brand had become synonymous with prestige programming.
“Nothing says quality like those three letters,” he told the audience. “We’re a complementary and distinct service to the more volume-driven or basic cable-like streamers in the market.
“More is not better. Better is better. And our content slate over the next 24 months is the strongest and most targeted for our audiences in our history.”
The Harry Potter series will reimagine all seven of J.K. Rowling’s novels, which have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, with each season adapting one book.
Succession writer Francesca Gardiner is attached as showrunner, while Mark Mylod, best known for his work on Game of Thrones, will direct several episodes.
