When Does The Suicide Squad Leave HBO Max? - Collider

This month brought the highly anticipated release of writer/director James Gunn’s DC Comics adaptation The Suicide Squad, but in a matter of weeks the film will only be available in theaters. As with every new Warner Bros. release in 2021, The Suicide Squad was released in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max on the same day. But as part of that day-and-date release, these new releases are only streaming on HBO Max for one month, at which point they leave the streaming service and become theatrical exclusives.

So when does The Suicide Squad leave HBO Max? The departure date is officially set for September 5th, at which point the only way you can watch the movie will be in a movie theater. Down the road, the film will get a traditionally Digital, 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release, and then a few months later it’ll be back on HBO Max and streaming for a much longer period of time.

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Why is the film leaving HBO Max only to later return? The second time The Suicide Squad hits HBO Max, it will be as part of Warner Bros.’ longstanding arrangement with HBO (and by extension HBO Max) through which their new releases make their premium cable debuts on HBO. Now that HBO Max has launched, that means when those movies hit this so-called “pay one window” on HBO, they’re also available to stream on HBO Max. In fact, just this month Godzilla vs. Kong returns to HBO Max and airs on HBO five months after it was first released in theaters and on HBO Max.

Image via Warner Bros.

All of this to say, if you’ve been delaying watching The Suicide Squad on HBO Max, you’re running out of time. The film is a wholly original spin on these characters and this particular comic from the mind of Gunn, who wrote and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. With The Suicide Squad, he’s crafted a violent, hilarious, and very R-rated superhero movie that is extremely different from his Marvel movies – although it still has that tinge of emotion that makes Gunn’s films so impactful.

So yes, I can personally highly recommend watching The Suicide Squad – it’s one of the best movies of the year. And if you intend on doing so via HBO Max, you need to hurry. Or else your next chance to watch it on the streaming service won’t be until January 2022.

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