The service, owned by AT&T Inc, will initially
be available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain, and
Andorra from Oct. 26, followed by 21 more countries over the
next year, up from its previous plans to launch in 14 countries.
Subscribers will be able to watch upcoming Warner Bros. movies -
such as "King Richard" starring Will Smith and Keanu Reeves'
"The Matrix Resurrections" - on HBO Max 45 days after theatrical
release. Subscribers in the Nordics will be able to watch the
movies from this year, and others from next year.
"We are lowering prices in the Nordic region by about 20%, and
maintaining the price in Spain," HBO Max's EMEA General Manager
Christina Sulebakk told Reuters on Tuesday.
In Sweden, monthly subscriptions will drop to 89 crowns ($10.20)
from the current 109 crowns for HBO Nordic, she said.
HBO Max, launched in the United States last year, will replace
regional networks such as HBO Nordic and bring in more content
from Warner Bros., HBO, DC and Cartoon Network.
Alongside original shows such as "Game of Thrones," "The
Sopranos," "Succession," and "Sex and the City," it will offer
upcoming international original shows such as Denmark's
"Kamikaze," Spain's "Todo lo Otro" Romania's "Ruxx," Hungary's
"The Informant," and Poland's "Still Here".
Monthly plans for both Netflix and Disney Plus start at 89
crowns. However, a discounted annual HBO Max plan will cost 699
crowns, less than the 890 crowns charged by Disney Plus.
Apple TV+ costs 59 crowns per month and regional rival NENT's
Viaplay starts from 129 crowns.
While HBO Max has several plans across various price points in
the United States and Latin America, Europe will have only one
plan. The top-end U.S. plan costs $14.99 per month.
"It's the full flavour ... we are not introducing a basic tier,
and we are not introducing an advertising funded model either,"
Sulebakk said.
($1 = 8.7238 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, European Technology & Telecoms
Correspondent, based in Stockholm; Editing by Mark Potter)
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