Q. I thought HBO Max was supposed to add a bunch of 4K movies by now. What’s up with that? Do they have any 4K at all? I can’t find it in my menu. — Charlie, Boston.
Charlie, HBO Max this Friday will premiere Tom and Jerry the same day it opens in theaters, and it will be available in 4K HDR as well as Dolby Atmos. This will be the fourth 4K title offered by HBO Max, following Wonder Woman 1984 (Christmas Day debut), The Little Things (which premiered on January 25) and Judas and the Black Messiah (which debuted February 12). All four were movies that premiered on HBO Max the same day they debuted in movie theaters.
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Jason Kilar, CEO of Warner Media, which runs HBO Max, said on Twitter on January 17 that “a lot more” 4K titles would be added soon after The Little Things.
“The Little Things (w Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto) arrives in 4K this month. Soon after that new release, expect a lot more 4K. We are in process on them….and will not stop,” Kilar told the TV Answer Man in response to a question about the service’s 4K plans.
However, almost five weeks after that statement, HBO Max has only added the two theatrical debuts in 4K. I asked Kilar today for an update and will report back here if he responds.
By the way, you can watch the last three HBO Max 4K titles (Wonder Woman 1984 is no longer available) on the following devices:
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Cube
Android TVs, including AT&T TV’s streaming device
Apple TV 4K
Google Chromecast Ultra and Chromecast with Google TV
Roku Ultra 4800x, Roku 4k TVs, Roku Premiere, and Roku Streaming Stick+
Xfinity X1 (Xi6) and Flex
And note that Roku’s episode description for a HBO Max title in 4K might not say it’s in 4K. But it’s a programming quirk; it is in 4K on Roku, too.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
