HBO Max to Debut Ethan Hawke’s The Last Movie Stars

The Last Movie Stars, a new six-part documentary directed by Ethan Hawke, is slated to premiere on HBO Max next month.

The docuseries celebrates the enigmatic personas, talent and love story of actors Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. From CNN Films, The Last Movie Stars will launch in its entirety on HBO Max on July 21.

Martin Scorsese serves as executive producer for The Last Movie Stars, which premiered at SXSW followed by Cannes in May, where it screened in the Cannes Classics section. In addition to Scorsese, Amy Entelis, executive VP for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, and Courtney Sexton, senior VP for CNN Films, are executive producers.

Central to The Last Movie Stars is a long-abandoned project that Newman commissioned from friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern, who interviewed Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Witte, Joanne Woodward and others for a planned memoir. Newman was also interviewed by Stern. They discussed his youth, his first marriage with Witte, his romance and life with Woodward, his personal demons and the loss of his son, Scott.

In addition to archival interviews with Woodward and Newman, such famous names as Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney, Sam Rockwell and others voice segments of the original transcribed interviews for The Last Movie Stars. Hawke also interviewed some of Newman’s daughters, Sally Field and Scorsese.

Hawke said: “It’s an honor to get to share Joanne and Paul’s inspiring life and love story with audiences this summer. I’m especially thrilled that a project we’ve poured so much heart and soul into now has its home at HBO Max, a platform known for celebrating and championing the documentary artform.”