HBO Max Is Quietly Removing 'Max Originals' From Platform

Warner Bros. Discovery has been quietly removing content from HBO Max over the past few weeks — including films that were previously thought to be permanent titles on the streamer.

Over the course of a few weeks, six Warner Bros. movies have been removed: Moonshot, Superintelligence, The Witches, An American Pickle, Locked Down, and Charm City Kings. The removals of the films were first observed by users on Reddit, in a discussion of Warner Bros. decision to cancel Batgirl's release.

All of the films were labeled "Max Originals."

At the same time, the reboot of House Party, which had been scheduled to premiere July 28, was removed from HBO Max's release calendar altogether, according to Variety.

While it's not uncommon for streaming platforms to add or remove licensed content, each of these titles carried the "Max Original" branding and their removals were not pre-announced. Variety speculates that their removal could be a cost-cutting measure to remove streaming-content payment obligations for underperforming titles. Notably, Moonshot was dropped from the streamer just three months after its March 31 release.

The six films that were removed are still available to rent or purchase through video on demand services. Meanwhile, unreleased titles like the House Party remake and Batgirl could end up serving as a tax write-off for the company.

Primetimer has reached out to HBO Max for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.