How Long Before It Streams? Windows, Explained

Warner Bros. films reach HBO Max about 11 weeks after cinemas, A24's about 17. Here is how the windows work and how to time your wait.

By Andrew Lovesey October 22, 2026 5 min read

Photo: A24

Trailer: Supergirl. Cast, where to watch and more on the title page.

If you skipped The Death of Robin Hood in cinemas this summer, your wait ended on Friday 16 October, when the A24 film starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer began streaming on HBO Max. On Friday 23 October, Olivia Wilde’s The Invite follows. Both arrive roughly four months after their cinema openings, which raises the question every viewer asks at the box office now: how long until this streams?

The honest answer is that it depends on who made the film and who has the streaming rights. The useful answer is that, at least for one large pipeline into US streaming, the companies’ own published dates reveal a pattern you can plan around.

The three windows

A film’s life after release moves through a series of windows, each one a period when it is available in one place before the next opens.

Theatrical. The film plays only in cinemas.
Rental and purchase. Often called premium video on demand, this is when the film appears to rent or buy on stores such as Apple TV, Prime Video and Fandango at Home, usually at a higher price at first.
Subscription streaming. The film lands on a streaming service at no extra cost to subscribers. In the industry, the first subscription service to get a film is known as the “Pay-1” window.

Every studio sets its own gaps between those stages, and they can vary film by film. What follows uses only dates the studios and HBO Max have published.

Warner Bros.: about 11 weeks to HBO Max

Warner Bros. Discovery owns both the studio and HBO Max, and its press releases announce each film’s streaming debut. Set those dates against the studio’s own release listings and a consistent rhythm appears:

Mortal Kombat II (New Line): in cinemas 8 May, according to Warner Bros.; on HBO Max 24 July. That is 77 days, exactly 11 weeks.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (Warner Bros. Pictures): in cinemas 17 April, per the studio’s publicity site; on HBO Max 3 July. Also 77 days.
Supergirl (DC Studios): Warner Bros. lists a 26 June release; on HBO Max 10 September. That is 76 days.
Evil Dead Burn (New Line and Warner Bros. Pictures): in cinemas 10 July; on HBO Max 2 October. That is 84 days, or 12 weeks.

In each case, HBO’s linear channel then airs the film the following night. Warner Bros.’ own film pages now list these titles to rent or buy digitally as well, and in the typical sequence that rental window opens inside those 11 or so weeks, before the subscription debut.

A24: about 17 weeks to HBO Max

A24 is not owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, but in January HBO Max announced it had renewed a multi-year deal making it the exclusive US home of A24 films in the Pay-1 window, plus a library of dozens of older titles. The release did not say how long after cinema release the films would arrive, but the 2026 slate shows the gap is longer than for Warner Bros.’ own films:

The Death of Robin Hood: in US cinemas 19 June; on HBO Max 16 October. That is 119 days, or 17 weeks.
The Invite: opened in limited US release 26 June and widened on 10 July; on HBO Max 23 October. That is 17 weeks from its first opening.

HBO Max has also scheduled A24’s The Drama (31 July) and Backrooms (25 September) this year; WBD’s releases for those films did not give cinema dates. HBO Max says half of A24’s Pay-1 titles in 2025 ranked in its top 10 movies in their first two weeks on the service, which helps explain why the platform announces each arrival separately.

Why the gaps differ

A studio that owns its streaming service can choose to move a film across faster, because the subscribers it gains are its own. An independent distributor such as A24 sells its Pay-1 rights to a partner, and the longer a film stays in cinemas and on rental first, the more revenue those earlier windows can collect. None of these dates is a law: windows are set by contracts between studios, cinemas and streamers, and they change when those contracts do.

These patterns also apply to the US. Pay-1 rights are sold territory by territory, so the same film can land on a different service, on a different date, in Canada, the UK, Australia or New Zealand.

What it means for you

Do the maths on Fridays. For a Warner Bros. or New Line release in the US, count about 11 to 12 weeks from opening day to find a likely HBO Max date. For an A24 film, count about 17 weeks.
Rental comes first. If you cannot wait, the film will usually be available to rent or buy weeks before it reaches a subscription service.
Watch the press rooms, not the rumours. HBO Max confirms each film’s streaming date in its own press releases. This year it announced A24 titles three to five weeks ahead, but Warner Bros.’ own films often only a week before they arrive.
Check your market. Outside the US, the subscription home and date can be entirely different, so look up the film on your local services before assuming it is coming to HBO Max.