HBO? Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't know her.
WBD executives have officially announced that its streaming platform will be known simply as "Max" starting in May. The reason for the change is that the company is trying to attract the broadest possible audience, and HBO's reputation for adult-oriented material (be it "The Sopranos" or the long-running "Real Sex") was a bit of a stumbling block.
Don't Miss: Netflix Is About to Make Major Changes That Will Affect Your Favorite Movies
Additionally, new CEO David Zaslav has announced that WBD will be giving audiences all the brand they could possibly want, including a "Big Bang Theory" spin-off, another "Game of Thrones" prequel, more "True Detective" and even a TV series based around "Harry Potter."
Twitter is thus far nonplussed.
From running away from one of the most prestigious names in television, to milking the Harry Potter brand (which already had many, many movies and which has arguably been tarnished by creator J.K. Rowling's anti-trans views) discerning fans are baffled by the company's decisions.
Critics and TV aficionados have long worried that Zaslav has been destroying one of the most cherished brands in media, and that his quest to maximize profits by swiftly cancelling low-rated series and focusing on established intellectual property means an end to the days of HBO as a place where risk-taking television lives.
Perhaps that's premature, of course. HBO will continue to live on as a hub inside of Max, and the company has signaled that the brand will still produce sort of high-brow programming viewers crave, including an adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Sympathizer," staring Robert Downey Jr., as well as the Kate Winslet-staring miniseries "The Palace," about an authoritarian regime that begins to unravel.
But Twitter is nonetheless signaling its dismay, and getting off some sick jokes in the process.
Seriously, it was just kind of standing there.
Comparing WBD to Elon Musk's Twitter? Ouch.
RIP HBO Max. You will be missed.
Did we really need more Harry Potter?
While WBD might want to gloss over Rowling's statements, Twitter hasn't forgotten.
Did anyone want more "Big Bang Theory"?
Just what is going on?
