WarnerMedia Signs Steven Soderbergh to Overall Deal for HBO, HBO Max

The announcements from WarnerMedia’s TCA presentation include Steven Soderbergh being signed to a three-year deal to develop content for both HBO Max and HBO, which shall be exclusive in all forms of TV and a first-look for features.

Soderbergh’s first project with HBO Max is the feature Let Them All Talk, starring Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Meryl Streep (Big Little Lies, The Iron Lady, The Devil Wears Prada). The film will launch on HBO Max in 2020. Soderbergh has been making films with Warner Bros. Pictures since 2001 and remains a longtime collaborator with HBO.

Also announced, HBO Max has ordered eight episodes of The Event, an unscripted documentary series that gives viewers an unprecedented look behind the scenes of the events created by Wolfgang Puck Catering and legendary restaurateur Wolfgang Puck. From Renegade 83, each one-hour episode will follow various members of Puck’s team as they strive to amaze clients and surpass even the highest expectations.

HBO Max gave the green light to the three-part animated miniseries Aquaman: King of Atlantis, which will be executive produced by James Wan (Aquaman, the upcoming Malignant) through his Atomic Monster production company. Based on the classic DC character created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, each of the standalone episodes will have a unique storyline following the adventures of Aquaman as protector of the deep.

Also moving forward at HBO Max is Adam McKay’s (Succession, The Big Short) The Uninhabitable Earth. The anthology series from wiip is inspired by David Wallace-Wells’ global best-selling book and New York Magazine article of the same name. It will be comprised of standalone fictional stories covering a wide range of genres and possible futures that could result from the rapid warming of our planet. McKay, who recently closed a five-year overall TV deal with HBO and HBO Max, is attached to write and direct the first episode.

Meanwhile, Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency) has signed on to direct the first two episodes of HBO Max’s limited drama Americanah. Based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same name, Americanah is an epic story of a woman born in Nigeria who leaves for America and her extraordinary experiences with love, heartache, adversity and self-discovery. The ten-episode limited series will star Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Black Panther), and Danai Gurira (Black Panther, Eclipsed) will serve as showrunner and writer.