HBO Max launches in the UK tomorrow, and I can’t wait to subscribe

TV followers, the wait is sort of over. HBO Max lastly lands in the UK tomorrow, and it couldn’t be coming at a greater time. After ready years to subscribe, I and tens of millions of UK viewers will probably be ready to stream Oscar-winning movies One Battle After Another and Sinners from day one.

HBO Max’s UK launch has been six years in the making. The closing nation in Europe to get entry to the streaming service, HBO Max is dwelling to multi-award-winning reveals equivalent to Succession, The White Lotus, The Last of Us and Game of Thrones., and it’ll be the solely place the place you possibly can stream the high-stress medical drama The Pitt.

So how a lot will it value, what reveals and movies am I most enthusiastic about? And what’s going to occur to those that have already got a Sky bundle or a Now subscription? Here’s every thing you want to find out about HBO Max’s UK launch and how one can subscribe from tonight.

Read extra: HBO’s The Pitt begins streaming in the UK this week

HBO Max UK launch date

HBO Max will, in the end, launch in the UK and Ireland tomorrow on Thursday, 26 March 2026. The UK is the closing nation in Europe to get HBO Max, following the continent’s rollout, which began with the Nordics in 2021.

But what was the purpose for the delay? Sky has had a long-running unique take care of HBO for years. Signed in 2019, it gave Sky the unique first-run rights to HBO’s reveals in the UK and Ireland by way of Sky Atlantic.

HBO content material was due to this fact tied solely to Sky’s channels and apps, stopping HBO Max from launching in the UK whereas the settlement was energetic. If you wished to watch HBO reveals, your solely choice was to get a Sky bundle or subscribe to Now. The deal lastly expired in April 2025, and we’re lastly getting entry to HBO Max.

Read extra: All the Harry Potter films are coming to this UK streaming platform

How a lot will HBO Max value in the UK?

HBO Max has 4 leisure plans. The least expensive Basic plan prices £4.99 and contains adverts, however in order for you to watch Warner Bros’ newest theatrical releases, you’ll want to subscribe to the Standard tier or increased. You can even get a subscription only for TNT Sports.

What when you’re an present Sky or Now buyer?

If you already subscribe to Sky or Now, you gained’t all of the sudden lose entry to HBO reveals.

Now has confirmed that its £9.99 monthly Entertainment membership will probably be upgraded to embrace HBO Max with adverts at no further value from launch. That means present Now subscribers will probably be ready to entry HBO titles inside the Now app, with out taking out a separate HBO Max subscription. It will even be accessible ad-free with Now enhance or extremely enhance packages.

Sky can be together with the HBO Max ad-based tier as a part of its Sky Ultimate TV packages on Sky Stream, Sky Glass and Sky Q at no further value. If you don’t have already got Sky, the broadcaster has a brand new £24 monthly Ultimate TV bundle, which mixes Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max into one bundle.

That mentioned, when you’re something like me and are solely in HBO originals, don’t desire a wider TV bundle, or simply don’t need to be locked in to a long-term contract, subscribing immediately to HBO Max for £4.99 monthly will probably be the least expensive approach to watch HBO reveals in the UK. That’s the foremost purpose why I’ll be subscribing on day one.

Read extra: The streaming wars just went nuclear with Sky’s new £24 “super-bundle”

5 HBO Max reveals I can’t wait to watch in the UK

HBO’s whole catalogue will probably be accessible to stream on HBO Max, together with HBO originals, Max originals and Warner Bros Television field units, from Succession, The White Lotus, The Last of Us and Game of Thrones to Euphoria, Station Eleven, House of the Dragon, The Sopranos, The Wire, Veep and extra. Friends will even return to UK streaming, after leaving Netflix at the finish of final yr. But what reveals ought to you might have in your radar? These are the 5 reveals I’m most enthusiastic about.

1. ‘The Pitt’

If there’s one present I’ve been ready to watch, it’s The Pitt. It first aired greater than a yr in the past in the US and has picked up award after award at the Golden Globes and Emmys. Set in a struggling Pittsburgh hospital, the medical drama unfolds over a single 15-hour shift, with every episode masking one hour. It follows a workforce of medical doctors working beneath fixed stress.

2. ‘Euphoria’ season 3

It’s been 4 years since we final noticed Rue (and her messy, difficult life) on our screens, and the new season is lastly on the approach. The present catapulted the careers of its younger solid, together with Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi. With a five-year time soar, the third season follows the characters past highschool as they navigate maturity, with Rue coping with the fallout of her previous. HBO Max will probably be the solely place the place you possibly can watch the two earlier seasons.

3. ‘Rooster’

Who says HBO can’t do comedy? Available to stream at launch, with episodes dropping weekly, Rooster stars Steve Carell as a profitable creator who finally ends up instructing at a university to be nearer to his daughter, inevitably getting pulled into her private life. It’s already been a large hit in the US, changing into HBO’s most-watched comedy premiere in over a decade.

4. ‘Lanterns’

Coming to the platform in August, Lanterns is a part of DC’s rebooted universe and follows Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart as they examine a homicide on Earth. DC’s boss James Gunn is pitching it as a gritty detective-style collection in the vein of True Detective, moderately than a run-of-the-mill superhero story.

5. ‘Harry Potter’ TV collection

Probably the most extremely anticipated present coming to HBO Max, the Harry Potter TV collection is anticipated to premiere in 2027. The TV adaptation will reboot the books for a brand new technology, with every season set to cowl one instalment. Die-hard Harry Potter followers will seemingly say it’s too quickly for a reboot, however will inevitably watch it anyway.

5 movies I can’t wait to stream on HBO Max in the UK

If you’ve simply seen One Battle After Another and Sinners sweep the Oscars, you’ll be happy to hear you’ll have the option to watch each movies on HBO Max on day one, with a £5.99 Standard subscription. That’s as a result of they’re each Warner Bros productions. You’ll even have the whole Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movie collection at your fingertips, alongside different Warner Bros franchises. These are the 5 movies I’m excited to stream first.

1. ‘One Battle After Another’

One of the largest Oscar winners this yr, One Battle After Another took dwelling six Academy Awards, together with Best Picture and Best Director. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the surrealist movie follows a former revolutionary compelled out of hiding to shield his daughter from a harmful white supremacist officer.

2. ‘Sinners’

Sinners gained 4 Oscars, together with greatest actor for Michael B Jordan. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the southern gothic horror follows twin brothers who return to their hometown to open a bar, solely to discover themselves caught up in a rising supernatural menace that begins to take over the neighborhood. It’s considered one of the most talked-about movies of the yr.

3. ‘Marty Supreme’

Nominated for 9 Oscars, Marty Supreme stars Timothée Chalamet as a rising desk tennis prodigy as he navigates fame and the pressures that include it. Directed by Josh Safdie, it’s set to land on HBO Max in the US on 24 April, and I’m hoping it’ll be launched in the UK on the platform then too.

4. ‘The Bride’

Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Bride! is a gothic reimagining of the Frankenstein story, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. Set in Thirties Chicago, it follows the creation of a companion for Frankenstein’s monster, spiralling into darker and darker territory by the finish. Currently in cinemas, it’s anticipated to be launched on HBO Max in June.

5. ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’

Horror reboots are having a second. A brand new reboot of The Mummy is being launched in the cinema on 17 April and it’s going to be rather a lot scarier than the unique. Directed by Evil Dead Rise’s Lee Cronin, it follows a household whose younger daughter mysteriously disappears in the desert, solely to return years later. Except the completely happy reunion doesn’t prove to be so completely happy. It’s anticipated to launch on HBO Max in the autumn.

Will HBO Max embrace sport in the UK?

Indeed it’s going to, nevertheless it’ll be dealt with individually from the leisure plans. TNT Sports will transfer from Discovery+ to HBO Max. It’ll be the place you entry stay protection of the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Premiership Rugby, UFC, MotoGP and Grand Slam tennis.

TNT Sports will probably be accessible both as a standalone subscription or as an add-on to HBO Max leisure plans, moderately than being bundled in by default. In different phrases, you don’t have to pay for sport when you solely need TV and movies. The standalone subscription will value £30.99 monthly.

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