Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: green lantern, hbo max, J.J. Abrams, peacemaker, warner bros discovery

Green Lantern, Penguin, "Harry Potter" Series & More HBO Max Updates

Published Thu, 10 Nov 2022 17:06:12 -0600

Earlier today, HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey addressed in an interview how important Warner Bros. Discovery IPs were as an essential part of the streamer's future while also praising the hiring of James Gunn and Peter Safran to lead DC Studios. Now, we've got more to pass along from Aubrey regarding a number of those IPs, as well as some familiar creative folks. Aubrey discusses the streamer's current programming relationship with J.J. Abrams, the importance of Green Lantern, where Penguin fits on The Batman timeline, Gunn possibly having more Peacemaker universe plans in play, the upcoming It film franchise prequel series Welcome to Derry; and the possibility of a "Harry Potter" streaming series.

J.J. Abrams Still Has an HBO Max Series on The Way: "We have the TV series 'Duster,' that's on the runway with him, and that is going to be – knock wood – up and running very soon. I'm very bullish about that, and it's one that J.J. has been intimately involved with, and that's a really fun process to be a part of. People want to grab onto stories, and development comes together and doesn't come together all the time. That's actually a very normal part of our jobs, and more often than not, it doesn't, honestly. So I think to draw a circle around one or two shows and make an overall judgment is a little inaccurate. I'm very excited about the work that we have at Max with J.J."

"Green Lantern" Is Going to Be Big: "We remain very excited by the opportunity to make a big four-quadrant space opera with Greg [Berlanti} and Sarah for HBO Max."

Aubrey on Where "Penguin" Fits on Matt Reeves' "The Batman" Timeline & Its Focus: "'Penguin' will sit immediately after the end of 'The Batman' and temporally before the events of the second movie. The show will come out in between the two movies. Now beyond that, it's fun for the audience to know that it will be a bridge between the two, but the actual release date, I'm not at liberty to say," Aubrey explained. "The goal of this is to show what Oz's life is like, and that's very much in the streets of Gotham, trying to get up and over as only the Penguin can. As a hustler and a strategist with his own ambitions. It is a great example of having the time over eight episodes to tell a longer-arc character story with a lot of delicious twists and turns and new characters. It's very much going to be about Gotham at that street level because he's not flying around like Batman does. We are all embracing that as a very specific experience for audiences to have."

Aubrey Isn't Saying "A Single Word" About Gunn's "Peacemaker" Universe, But It's "Really Exciting for Me": "I absolutely cannot say a single word about any of this. I will tell you one of the great pleasures of my job is getting a peek inside of James Gunn's brain, and it is a wild and inventive place. I can say with certainty whatever is coming from him in that neck of the woods is going to be really exciting for me."

"Welcome to Derry" Sounds Promising: "We have been working with Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Caine, Andy Muschietti, and Barbara Muschietti very closely… They're so deep into this mythology, and they have such a firm handle on the storytelling around these characters and also the demented scares that they're putting into things. Sometimes I'm, like, 'What's wrong with you?' Just all the wild ways they think up to terrify us. You'll be hearing more concretely about that development very soon… Andy is very involved in every bit of this, so that is the real recipe for success and for delighting fans."

There Isn't a "Harry Potter" Series in Development… Yet: "There's nothing like a 'Harry Potter' fan, in terms of their endless appetite for storytelling and new ways of interacting with these characters. So whether it's the reunion or live events or games, we're very much in the business of creating new content for those fans and thinking [about] what to do next. We don't have a series in active development right now. But we are very much in that business because fans are just clamoring for more storytelling."

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