The Warner Bros. movie studio will make 10 films exclusively for its sister streaming service HBO Max to premiere in 2022, said WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar.
The move comes as HBO and its enhanced streaming platform, HBO Max, prepare to lose access to films and TV shows from rival studios that are now keeping more of their content in-house for their own streaming services.
Earlier this month, Comcast Corp.’s Universal Studios—which has an exclusive deal with HBO to carry its movies after their theatrical release—said that in the future its movies would go to NBCUniversal’s own Peacock streaming service within the first four months of hitting theaters.
Universal subsequently struck a deal giving Amazon.com Inc.’s streaming platforms access to its movies for 10 months after their four-month window on Peacock passes, an option Mr. Kilar said HBO wasn’t interested in.
Such deals for nonexclusive rights aren’t strategic for HBO and HBO Max, he said in an interview Thursday, adding that “us investing in our own organization is our best use of resources.”
