HBO Max has announced that it would like to make original DC Comics shows based outside of the U.S. This will be a significant addition to HBO Max’s upcoming DC rollout including the Peacemaker series, a spin-off of James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad movie, as well as the streaming platform’s DC Universe originals like Harley Quinn. With the recent news of Warner Bros. turning to HBO Max for same-day theatrical and digital releases in 2021, this marks a huge turning point for the future of the platform’s expansion.
HBO has been making a few original series throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia with shows like the Czech drama Wasteland, Taiwanese thriller The Teenage Psychic, and Brazilian mystery La Vida Secreta de las Parejas. However, as streaming platforms become the primary method for entertainment in a pandemic, fresh content must keep up with eager consumers. Head of HBO Max Global Andy Forssell has announced that the digital platform plans to roll out the HBO Max service in Europe and Latin America in 2021, so this likely calls for an expansion of content.
Deadline reports that at a virtual Web Summit conference, Chief Content Officer at HBO and HBO Max Casey Bloys revealed that the platform was exploring what DC-related content it could produce internationally. Perhaps to further expand the library of content that will be available to an international audience, Bloys sats:
“We’re also going to work to see DC content in other countries outside of the U.S….One of the things that we’re going to do with Max is that all of our international productions will eventually live on Max and we’re going to do a much better job of coordinating between all of the folks programming in Europe, Latin America and Asia so if there’s anything that we’re developing that has real cross-border appeal, we’ll be able to highlight that.”
Bloys recognizes a key localization element of bringing HBO Max overseas, emphasizing that “one of the big themes of bringing HBO Max together was breaking down the silos between HBO, Warner Bros., and TBS and TNT. I’d say one other silo was international.” To his point, many significant box office numbers come from target global markets like Asia, and this becomes particularly important as films look to release physically in countries outside of the U.S. that have managed to better handle the coronavirus.
Streaming platforms like Netflix have long toyed with producing original international dramas, though HBO Max’s decision to do so in a DC-related lens adds an interesting twist. DC Comics fan bases are already established, nationally and internationally, so speaking to these international audiences by creating original DC shows based internationally could help boost the platform’s global presence. Forssell adds that:
“We will and need to be a global service…In the second half of 2021, you’ll see us start to upgrade some of the existing direct to consumer HBO services in Europe to HBO Max, double the content, a lot more capabilities, so by the end of the year both of those regions will be very active. The plan is to be in 190 countries, it’s just how fast can we do that roll-out.”
The industry is adapting rapidly to a pandemic and even post-pandemic consumer entertainment experience. With digital streaming platforms becoming the new normal, it is likely that a lot of new content will appear on platforms like HBO Max. Even more exciting, though, is the platform’s interest in creating original international content rooted in DC Comics characters. Speaking to both its global audience and to current DC fans, this move will certainly achieve the scale and reach of HBO Max as it looks ahead in 2021.
Source: Deadline
Originally from https://screenrant.com/hbo-max-international-original-dc-comics-shows/