Wall Street Shrugs Off Max As WBD Shares Dip 6%

quarterly earnings report.Imax reported quarterly revenue of $86.9 million and earnings of $5.1 million or 4 cents per share on a diluted basis and 16 cents per share on an adjusted basis. That beat Wall Street projections of $77.5 million in revenue and adjusted EPS of 15 cents per share, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

McKinley Franklin editor Amazon has acquired the animated film “Merry Little Batman” after it was previously scrapped at HBO Max. “Merry Little Batman” has been picked up alongside the spinoff series, “Bat-Family.” The acquisitions follow the previously announced two-season order for “Batman: Caped Crusader,” which was similarly axed at HBO Max in 2022. “We are excited to partner with Amazon to begin an all-new animated chapter of ‘Batman.’ From the cinematic noir storytelling of ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ to the comedic adventures of ‘Merry Little Batman’ and ‘Bat-Family,’ these new projects ensure that there will be an animated Batman story ready to excite fans of all ages,” said Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav came to Las Vegas to put all of his chips on movie theaters. The executive made an appearance at CinemaCon, the annual convention of theatrical exhibitors, to reassure the crowd that the Warner Bros. Pictures Group was not interested in releasing its premium movies directly to streaming platform Max. “At Warner Bros., at DC Studios, we believe that everything is possible. This business could be bigger and stronger than its ever been,” Zaslav said on stage at Caesar’s Palace on Tuesday. “We believe in full windowing of the motion pictures. We do not want to do direct-to-streaming movies. We’re in no rush to bring the movie to Max.”

John Oliver greeted the Last Week Tonight viewers by taking a swing at “business daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery after announcing the rebranding of HBO Max to Max.

Harry Potter book series by is being adapted for television. about an HP series since January 2021, but it looks like it's finally happening.

A new generation of wizards! HBO announced that a new Harry Potter series was officially in the works.

While Harry Potter and Game of Thrones may have scored the biggest headlines at this morning’s newly rebranded Max launch event, one of the more understated nuggets was the handful of unscripted originals coming to the service.

Despite author J.K. Rowling coming under fire during the pandemic over her comments on transgender issues, Warner Bros has boldly stood by the Harry Potter and Wizarding World architect, in particular this morning, when it was made official that Warner Bros Discovery has greenlit a Harry Potter Max streaming series.

Warner Bros. Discovery disappointed the children’s TV industry last year when it pulled a number of shows from HBO Max, signaling an exit from this part of the business.

Although an introductory video at Wednesday’s Warner Bros Discovery streaming event included clips of NBA star LeBron James and CNN host Anderson Cooper, the rest of the presentation was strikingly sports- and news-free.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Warner Bros. Discovery shares were down 6% at the close of trading Wednesday, on the heels of the company’s expansive presentation of its plans to overhaul the HBO Max streamer. WB Discovery shares have been battered over the past year as the company dealt with post-merger cost-cutting and management realignment. On Wednesday, the stock fell 5.8% to $14.05 on what was a down day overall for the market and a down day for most of WB Discovery’s media rivals, including Disney (down 2.5%), Paramount Global (3.3%) and Netflix (down 2%). The Dow Jones index fell a modest 38.2 points while the Nasdaq dropped 102 points, or 1%. The hourlong WB Discovery presentation was held during trading hours, at 10 a.m. PT on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Wall Street’s verdict on WB Discovery’s plans is still not in, but the immediate reaction of investors indicates that the company still has a long road ahead in sorting out its profit centers in the age of streaming.

At its Max streaming event, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed a new era is coming for Harry Potter fans. The company announced a TV series based on all seven books about the boy wizard written by J.K. Rowling. See below for the most current answers to the most important questions about the project.

Max streaming service, the CEO says that his company is hoping for the best but prepared for the worst as a potential writers strike in Hollywood looms ever closer. “Everybody needs to feel fully valued from start to finish. I think our objective, that everybody gets fairly compensated for the work that they do,” Zaslav said at a press conference Wednesday on the Warner Bros.

The Wizarding World is getting a fresh take.

is coming to TV. On Wednesday, Max, formerly known as HBO Max, announced that it's ordered a scripted series based off of J.K.

“This is our time. This is our chance,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said today in his livestream intro for the company’s unveiling of Max, its rebranded streaming service that goes live May 23. “This is our rendezvous with destiny.”

JK Rowling may be exec producing the new Harry Potter series for Max but Warner Bros. Discovery is now starting the search for a writer/showrunner.

“We’re optimistic that we can that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties,” said Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav today of  negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios and risk of a strike by the scribes.

As expected, a Max Original Harry Potter series was made official today at the Warner Bros. Discovery presser with author J.K. Rowling executive producing. The series, which will stream worldwide on Max, will be a faithful take on her classic Harry Potter books with a new cast.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A “Harry Potter” TV series is officially moving forward at HBO Max. The announcement was made during Warner Bros. Discovery’s presentation to press and investors on April 12, during which it was announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ are officially being combined into a new service dubbed simply Max. News of a show based on the megahit J.K. Rowling book series first leaked on April 3, but details have now been confirmed. Each season of the show will be based on one of the books in the franchise, with Warner Bros. Discovery describing the show as a “decade-long series.” It will feature an entirely new cast from the films.