HBO Maxrecently revealed the list of titles that are set to leave the service in August. Among them wereThe Sorcerer’s Stone,The Chamber of Secrets,The Prisoner of Azkaban,The Goblet of Fire,The Order of the Phoenix,The Half-Blood PrinceandThe Deathly Hallowsparts 1 and 2. The movies will be available until August 25. It has not yet been made clear at this time if they will be heading to another service, but that is a strong possibility. Especially considering a previous deal that was put in place.
The reason it was so surprising thatHBO Max launched with the Harry Potter moviesis that Warner Bros. inked a deal with NBCUniversal in 2016 that granted the company TV and digital rights to the series. As it just so happens, NBCUniversal recently launched Peacock, its majorstreaming servicethat is meant to compete with the likes of Netflix. Though not confirmed, the movies may end up on Peacock after they leave HBO Max. That would serve as both a major boost to Peacock, as well as a blow to HBO Max. Deals like this were made long before every major media company decided to get into the streaming business for themselves, which has created a host of rights issues.
Created by author J.K. Rowling,Harry Potterhas gone on to become one of the most successful franchises in history. The movie adaptations of the original books grossed $7.7 billion at the global box office. They also inspired theFantastic Beastsspin-off series.Fantastic Beasts 3is currently in the works. It appears thatFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwalswill remain on HBO Max, for now at least.
J.K. Rowling, meanwhile, has come under fire in recent works for controversial comments she has made in regards to the trans community. It remains to be seen if that will affect Rowling’s relationship with Warner Bros, as she has been heavily involved in theFantastic Beastsmovies. Rowling has penned or co-written all of the screenplays for the spin-off series thus far.
