WarnerMedia is working on a lower-priced, ad-supported version of its HBO Max streaming service.

As reported by Deadline, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced the news during a virtual appearance at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom conference. “It turns out that most people on this planet are not wealthy,” Kilar said. "If we can wake up and use price and be able to kind of invent and do things elegantly through advertising to reduce the price of the service, I think that’s a fantastic thing for fans.”

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Kilar refrained from revealing specific details about the pricing and launch date for the ad-supported iteration of HBO Max, saying it's on track to launch later this year. WarnerMedia's ad-free version of the streaming service currently costs $14.99 per month, as compared to $13.99 and $7.99 for monthly subscriptions to, respectively, Netflix and Disney+ in the U.S. The newly-launched Paramount+, which is a rebranded version of CBS All Access, is similarly offering a premium monthly subscription for $9.99 but has already announced its plans to debut a cheaper, ad-supported tier costing $4.99 per month this June.

WarnerMedia recently announced it's two years ahead of its initial subscriber goal projections for HBO Max thanks to the success of Dec. 2020's Wonder Woman 1984 and its distribution deal with Roku. Kilar acknowledged the company is hoping to further boost subscriber numbers by launching the ad-supported version of the streaming platform, while at the same admitting these commercials have to be incorporated in a "thoughtful" and "organic" manner, given HBO has long prided itself on staying "ad-free."

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As part of its ongoing bid to attract more subscribers to HBO Max, Warner Bros. will release all of its 2021 films in theaters and on HBO Max for 31 days simultaneously. That includes upcoming franchise titles like Godzilla vs. Kong, Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Suicide Squad, in addition to original projects like the James Wan horror movie Malignant. "We're still in experimentation mode," Kilgar said, noting it's possible "theatrical attendance [is] going to have a crazy resurgence" once the distribution of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine has led to herd immunity in the general public.

Depending on how the situation with moviegoing changes over the forthcoming months, Warner Bros. may end up giving some of its films scheduled for the latter half of 2020 an exclusive theatrical run, as opposed to continuing its hybrid approach. Among the likely candidates to release in theaters-only are Denis Villeneuve's Dune, after the director criticized Warner Bros.' HBO Max announcement in a personal essay published last year.

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Source: Deadline