when diverse Last month, HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys revealed that he was changing the line between what was an “HBO show” and what was a “Max show,” with an asterisk attached. Warner Bros. IP’s big-budget Max projects — like the “Harry Potter” TV show, the “It” prequel “Welcome to Derry” series and the “Green Lantern” spinoff series — would move under the HBO umbrella, but those coming before 2025 would not.
That was the problem, much to Bloys’ chagrin: The two shows that premiered this fall and that inspired Bloys to change his mind, “The Penguin” and “Dune: Prophecy,” couldn’t make the switch under contract. Both shows had already been sold to international outlets as Max Originals, and such complex deals are difficult to unpack and review.
“The Penguin would obviously be a good fit as an HBO original,” Bloys said at the time. “Unfortunately, the process of licensing it internationally has already begun.”
Well, after some cunning negotiations, the HBO team has now found a way to rebrand “The Penguin” and “Dune: Prophecy” as HBO Originals as well. Both series will now air on HBO and stream on Max.
Bloys was keen to move Warner Bros.’s big-budget, high-profile series from Max to HBO after seeing early cuts of “The Penguin.” He thought those clips looked as good or better than anything from HBO, and deserved the shine of an HBO Original.
“We ended up with shows of this size and scope that felt great, with great narratives and talent to work with,” Bloys said at the time. “The idea of a prequel started to seem unnecessary. Why are we doing this? Let’s call them what they are: HBO shows.”
As for the films “Penguin” and “Dune: The Prophecy”, they are now ready.
The news also comes as HBO prepares for a major presence for “The Penguin” at San Diego Comic-Con, including recreating Gotham’s Iceberg Lounge, placing a Gotham Ice truck in front of the San Diego Convention Center and partnering with local businesses to provide giveaways. Additionally, the Hall H panel will feature “The Penguin” cast and executive producers, and will feature the official trailer for the series.
According to the plot of the movie “Dune: Prophecy”, “From the vast ‘Dune’ universe, created by acclaimed author Frank Herbert, and 10,000 years before the rise of Paul Atreides, ‘Dune: Prophecy’ follows two Harkonnen sisters as they battle forces that threaten the future of humanity, and create the legendary sect that would come to be known as the Bene Gesserit.”
Dune: Prophecy stars Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah Sophie Posnina, Josh Huston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anoka, Faulyn Cunningham, Edward Davis, Eve Hinds, Chris Mason, and Shalom Bruin-Franklin.
Set directly after the events of the 2022 film The Batman, The Penguin is an eight-episode series starring Colin Farrell as the title character, who rises to power in Gotham’s underworld to become one of the most notorious villains in the Batman universe.
Joining Farrell are Cristin Milioti, Michael Zegen, Clancy Brown, Rehnzi Velez, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, Carmen Ejogo, Francois Chau and David H. Holmes.
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