HBO Max Raises Prices on All Plans

Effective immediately, the price of HBO Max is going up.

No matter which HBO Max plan you have – with ads, without ads, or the premium option – the price is increasing for everyone.

At first, the price change only impacts people signing up for the service. However, existing subscribers will also see a higher monthly bill later this year. They’ll receive a notice from the company before the change appears on their first bill on or after November 20, 2025.

Here are the new prices for each plan:

-HBO Max Basic With Ads: $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year (increase of $1 a month or $10 a year)

-HBO Max Standard: $18.49 per month or $184.99 per year (increase of $1.50 a month or $15 a year)

-HBO Max Premium: $22.99 per month or $229.99 per year (increase of $2 a month or $20 a year)

HBO Max, which briefly went by the name Max, first launched in late May 2020. The service has increased its prices twice since then, once in January 2023 and again in June 2024.

HBO Max offers a strong streaming library, featuring popular HBO series like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, and House of the Dragon, plus a wide range of movies from Warner Bros. and classic films from TCM. It’s also the primary streaming home for DC Comics content, including shows like Peacemaker. However, watching all of this without ads now costs at least $185 per year, which is a significant expense.

Warner Bros. Discovery, the company behind HBO Max, announced today that it’s considering selling itself after receiving unexpected offers. This marks a shift from their earlier plan to divide the company into two separate entities: one for content like Warner Bros. films, DC comics, and HBO, and another for their cable channels and other properties. The company was formed in 2022 through the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.

10 Great HBO Miniseries You Totally Forgot About

1. Generation Kill (2008)

Despite a strong cast, Generation Kill remains a surprisingly overlooked gem among HBO’s miniseries. Perhaps it’s because the actors didn’t achieve the same level of widespread fame as those from Band of Brothers and The Pacific – many well-known actors today got their start on those shows. Based on Evan Wright’s book about his experiences embedded with the U.S. Marines during the 2003 Iraq invasion, and created by the team behind The Wire (David Simon and Ed Burns), the series offers a realistic and largely unbiased look at the early months of the war. It features a young Alexander Skarsgård as the remarkably composed Staff Sergeant Brad “Iceman” Colbert. It’s a gripping, violent, and unflinching portrayal, and stands as one of the best pieces of media created about that period in recent decades.

2. Show Me a Hero (2015)

It’s hard to imagine now, but Oscar Isaac wasn’t always a household name. While building his career in the early 2000s with films like Drive, Inside Llewyn Davis, and A Most Violent Year, he also starred in the HBO miniseries Show Me a Hero. The series, based on Lisa Belkin’s book of the same name, tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the mayor of Yonkers, New York, and the conflict that arose when a white neighborhood resisted a new federally-funded public housing project. Written by David Simon and William F. Zorzi (a writer from The Wire), and directed by Academy Award winner Paul Haggis, the show received widespread critical praise but didn’t get the attention it deserved. It was celebrated both for Isaac’s performance and for its honest look at racism and inequality.

3. The Night Of (2016)

If you enjoy crime dramas, you probably remember The Night Of, the gripping miniseries starring Riz Ahmed as a college student accused of murder in New York City, and John Turturro as his cynical but sharp lawyer. The show, which is based on a British series called Criminal Justice, was in development for years, and at one point James Gandolfini and Robert De Niro were considered for Turturro’s role. The version that finally aired focused on the terrifying uncertainty of a suspect who can’t remember what happened, and that feeling of dread is present in every episode. Combined with outstanding performances from Ahmed, Turturro, and Michael Kenneth Williams (of The Wire), it’s truly one of the best crime shows ever made.

4.The Young Pope (2016)

HBO’s miniseries The Young Pope starts with an intriguing question: what if the pope was young? Though often quite absurd, the show is surprisingly captivating. It was so popular, in fact, that HBO created a follow-up series called The New Pope. Jude Law plays Lenny Belardo, a relatively young cardinal from New York, who unexpectedly becomes Pope Pius XIII. The series follows Pius XIII as he deals with the complex politics of the Vatican and tries to fundamentally change the Catholic Church. Despite his abrasive, arrogant personality, a hidden vulnerability lies beneath the surface, understood only by his confidante – a nun who raised him in an orphanage, played by Diane Keaton.

5. Mosaic (2018)

When many companies were experimenting with interactive TV, HBO created the murder mystery miniseries Mosaic, directed by Steven Soderbergh. The show stars Sharon Stone as Olivia Lake, a children’s book author who’s been murdered, and follows her sister and friends as they try to find the killer. Originally, viewers could watch Mosaic as a traditional TV series or use an app to investigate the case themselves by exploring different storylines and clues. (Unfortunately, the app and website are no longer available.) This interactive element reflected Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon’s intention to tell a story from multiple perspectives, blurring the lines between right and wrong.

6. Sharp Objects (2018)

Before becoming famous for Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn wrote Sharp Objects, a dark and atmospheric Southern gothic novel about a reporter investigating murders in her hometown. The HBO miniseries stars Amy Adams as Camille Preaker, a troubled alcoholic who returns to face her past and a difficult relationship with her mother (played by Patricia Clarkson). While solving the case, Camille also reconnects with her half-sister (Eliza Scanlen). The series is known for its dark tone, oppressive atmosphere, and the sweltering Missouri heat, and it was the last project directed by Jean-Marc Vallée before his death in 2021.

7. Watchmen (2019)

If a new adaptation of Watchmen was going to happen, the HBO series took a wonderfully wild approach. It imagines what the world of Watchmen would be like today if masked heroes still existed after the original story ended. Created by Damon Lindelof, known for Lost and The Leftovers, the show has the complex storytelling and unique atmosphere you’d expect from him. The story unfolds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a masked hero, played by Regina King, investigates the police chief’s murder. This investigation reveals connections between current events, historical white supremacist violence, and the original Watchmen characters and their past.

8. I May Destroy You (2020)

Michaela Coel, the creator of Chewing Gum, is the driving force behind I May Destroy You, a television show that perfectly embodies a singular artistic vision. Coel also stars as Arabella, a writer who becomes well-known through social media and her first book. Her life is turned upside down after she is sexually assaulted at a party, and the series follows her journey to understand what happened that night. Alongside this, we see Arabella’s friends – a group of primarily Black British actors – dealing with their own challenges in London.

9. We Are Who We Are (2020)

Luca Guadagnino is a highly acclaimed filmmaker, but his HBO series, We Are Who We Are, doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. The show is a thoughtful coming-of-age story about two 14-year-olds (Jack Dylan Grazer and Jordan Christine Seamón) navigating the complexities of teenage life—friendships, first crushes, and figuring out who they are—on an American military base in Italy in 2016. Rather than dramatic plot twists, the series excels at capturing quiet, intimate moments, making even the smallest experiences feel significant.

10. Irma Vep (2022)

HBO’s Irma Vep is a truly unique show, and one of the network’s most inventive. Directed by Olivier Assayas, it’s both a reimagining and a continuation of his earlier film with the same title. The show cleverly satirizes the trend of sequels and reboots, while simultaneously redefining what those concepts can be. Alicia Vikander stars as an American actress who chooses to work on a remake of a classic French silent film, rather than pursue big Hollywood productions. Like the original film, the series explores the blurring lines between the actress, the character she plays, and the film’s central mystery.

2025-10-21 17:57