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It’s only been 4 months since HBO launched in Australia, and the streaming giant has gone from strength to strength. Here, in August, we’re getting some of the best fantasy movies of all time in the entire extended Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as the long-awaited second season of John Cena’s Peacemaker. Plus, you can look forward to a bevy of Shark Week related documentaries infesting the airways.
Here’s all the best stuff coming to HBO Max in August 2025.
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Full HBO Max Release Schedule – August 2025
Max brings together all the best content from across Warner Bros Discovery, HBO, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and more, so you can be sure you’ll get a wide variety of content each month. Here’s everything dropping on the platform in August 2025.
New Movies on Max in August 2025
| Title | Release Date |
| Final Destination Bloodlines | 1 August |
| The Final Destination | 1 August |
| Fatal Destination | 1 August |
| The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 2 August |
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | 2 August |
| The Bottle: The Battle of the Five Armies | 2 August |
| BS High | 4 August |
| Fake Famous | 5 August |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition | 9 August |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition | 9 August |
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition | 9 August |
| Gran Torino | 9 August |
| Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre | 9 August |
| King Richard | 16 August |
| Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut | 16 August |
| Magic Mike | 23 August |
| The Beekeeper | 23 August |
| Don’t Worry Darling | 30 August |
New TV Shows on Max in August 2025
| Title | Release Date |
| I’m Alan Partridge, Season 1 – 2 | 1 August |
| Alan Partridge’s Mid-Morning Matters, Season 1 – 2 | 1 August |
| This Time with Alan Partridge, Season 1 – 2 | 1 August |
| Kindig Customs, Season 10 | 2 August |
| The Playboy Murders, Season 3 | 2 August |
| A Killer Among Friends | 3 August |
| The Yogurt Shop Murders | 4 August |
| Expedition Bigfoot, Season 6 | 5 August |
| Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills | 6 August |
| Maritime Masters: Expedition Antarctica | 6 August |
| Faster with Newbern and Cotten, Season 3 | 7 August |
| Tom and Jerry Gokko: Food and Home | 8 August |
| People Magazine Presents: The Iconic Cases | 12 August |
| 911: Did the Killer Call? | 15 August |
| Dead Hot | 17 August |
| Mud Madness, Season 2 | 17 August |
| Botched Bariatrics | 17 August |
| American Monster: Abuse of Power | 17 August |
| Expedition X, Season 9 | 19 August |
| Celebrity IOU, Season 8 | 19 August |
| Animals on Drugs | 20 August |
| Welcome to Plathville, Season 7 | 21 August |
| Peacemaker, Season 2 | 22 August |
| 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Season 9 | 24 August |
| 90 Day Fiancé Pillow Talk: Happily Ever After?, Season 9 | 24 August |
| Alma’s Not Normal, Season 1 – 2 | 25 August |
| Supergirl, Season 6 | 25 August |
| Lady and the Dale | 26 August |
| Rubiales vs Hermoso: The World Cup Kiss | 28 August |
| Naked And Afraid: Last One Standing, Season 3 | 31 August |
New Specials on Max in August 2025
| Title | Release Date |
| Alan Partridge on Open Books with Martin Bryce | 1 August |
| Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life | 1 August |
| Marc Maron: Panicked | 2 August |
| Jackass Shark Week | 3 August |
| Jackass Shark Week 2.0 | 3 August |
| Impractical Jokers: Shark Week Spectacular | 3 August |
| Crikey! It’s Shark Week | 3 August |
| Tracy Morgan Presents: Sharks! with Tracy Morgan | 3 August |
| Great White Open Ocean | 3 August |
| Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek | 3 August |
| The Real Sharknado | 3 August |
| Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier | 3 August |
| Monster of Oz | 3 August |
| Shark Week | 10 August |
| Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus | 10 August |
| Dancing with Sharks | 10 August |
| Great White Reign of Terror | 10 August |
| Bull Shark Showdown | 11 August |
| In the Eye of the Storm: Shark Storm | 11 August |
| Jaws vs Mega Croc | 11 August |
| Alien Sharks: Death Down Under | 12 August |
| How to Survive a Shark Attack | 12 August |
| Black Mako of the Abyss | 12 August |
| Expedition Unknown: Shark Files | 13 August |
| Expedition X: Malpelo Monster Shark | 13 August |
| Caught! Sharks Strike Back | 14 August |
| Surviving Jaws | 14 August |
| Florida’s Death Beach | 15 August |
| Great White Assassins | 15 August |
| Battle For Shark Mountain | 16 August |
| Attack of the Devil Shark | 16 August |
New Movies on Max in August 2025
From original movies to cinematic milestones, Max has something for everyone. Here’s a quick look at some upcoming highlights.
Final Destination Bloodlines
Release Date: 1 August
Just when you thought those pesky teens had stopped dying in strange and inventive ways, Final Destination Bloodlines dropped to make you fear everyday objects once again. Here, we’re following a group of people who have landed on Death’s bad side after avoiding some major catastrophe, but its a little bit different this time.
See, main character Stefani (played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana) has somehow inherited premonitions of death’s design from her maternal grandmother, who is now on death’s door. Stefani must try to figure out how to keep her family alive, as well as how to outwit Death in the process.
The Whole ‘Lord of the Rings’ Saga
Release Date: 1 August, 9 August
Clocking in at over 20 hours of high-fantasy goodness, watching the combined Hobbit and Lord of the Rings saga is an absolute mammoth undertaking. Collective wisdom would have you simply watch the original trilogy (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of the King) and ignore the prequel series, but if you’re a big Tolkien fan you’d be better served enjoying both series for what they are.
Yes, the Hobbit films are a bit more whimsical and kid friendly, but that doesn’t necessarily make them bad — it just makes them different.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Release Date: 16 August
Years before we had ‘release the Snyder Cut’, we had ‘release the Donner Cut’. Kind of. See, back in 1979, after nineteen months of filming Superman II, the film’s director Richard Donner was dropped from the project. The version of the movie that eventually made it to theatrical screens was reshot and edited by Richard Lester, and while it was good, people always wondered what Donner had been cooking.
Well, more than 20 years later, Donner was able to edit and release his own version of the classic, with additional scenes that had been cut from the ‘original’. Superman fans liked it, with some considering it the definitive version of the famous movie.
Best New TV Shows on Max in August 2025
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills
Release Date: 6 August
Season 19 of the influential Hard Knocks documentary series, which follows a particular NFL team through its pre-season training camp. This time, we’re following the Buffalo Bills as they head into the 2025 season with 2024’s most valuable player, quarterbrack Josh Allen and a real shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at year’s end.
Through this season of Hard Knocks, we’ll be able to see how the team prepares for the next season, as well as how it deals with Allen’s new found fame.
Peacemaker, Season 2
Release Date: 22 August
Peacemaker is a confusing one. Originally part of the ‘DC Extended Universe’, it’s now been merged into DC’s new cinematic universe kicked off with 2025’s successful Superman reboot. Peacemaker, played by John Cena, will be a bit less of an asshole in season 2, according to showrunner James Gunn, and will be diving into the age-old comic-book tradition of alternate universes.
So, honestly, anything can happen. Enjoy!
New Events and Documentaries on Max
Max is usually home to a slew of gripping documentaries and docuseries, but this month that’s on overdrive. You see, Discovery has Shark Week, and HBO has Discovery, which means that over the course of the month the streaming service is dropping 28 different Shark-themed shows and/or one-offs. Rather than detail them all, here’s a few of the craziest on the list.
Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus
After a 20-foot great white shark breaches in New Zealand, a hunt begins to track down the massive beast, nicknamed Colossus.
Alien Sharks: Death Down Under
A US biologist travels down under to study a number of rare and strange Australian sharks, such as the wobbegong family, as well as the venomous Ghost Shark. He also injects shark poison into his own body, so look out for that.
Expedition Unknown: Shark Files
In this series, presenter Josh Gates investigates conspiracies, as well as stranger-than-fiction stories, involving involving everyone’s favourite apex ocean predator species.
Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek
In a stroke of genius, the people behind Expedition Unknown realised the best way to boldly go where no man has gone before was to put William Shatner into shark-infested waters. I’m looking forward to Shark Trek: The Next Generation with Patrick Stewart next year.
Things to Consider for Max
With a catalogue of shows, movies and lifestyle documentaries to envy, Max has some top-tier programming, but you’ll also be paying on the high end to access it. You’ll be able to download shows for offline viewing if you pay for one of the ‘ad free’ tiers, and can view content in up to 4K resolution if you pay up for Max’s Premium tier.
Compared to some of the other services out there, though, Max’s newer content might feel a bit thin if you’re not all that keen on HBO’s shows, but there are plenty of classics to fall back on.
How Much Does Max Cost in Australia?
Max subscriptions start at $11.99 per month (with ads) in Australia.
The ad-free Max Premium subscription is priced at $21.99 per month, and this is comparable with Netflix Premium ($25.99/month) as it offers the ability to stream on four devices at once, stream in 4K UHD, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, and HDR 10 on select titles. Finally, you can make 100 downloads to watch when internet access isn’t possible.
Here’s how Max compares to other streaming services available in Australia:
| Service | Monthly Price | Trial Period | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max | $11.99 (w/ ads) – $21.99 (Premium) | None | Movies & TV |
| Netflix | $7.99/month — ad-supported, limited features. $18.99/month — two streams, HD quality. $25.99/month — four streams, Ultra HD. | None | Movies & TV |
| Prime Video | $9.99 | 30-day free trial | Movies & TV |
| Apple TV+ | $12.99 | 7-day free trial | Movies & TV |
| Disney+ | $15.99 – $20.99 | None | Movies & TV |
| Kayo Sports | $25 – $40 | 7-day free trial | Sports |
| Hayu | $7.99 | 7-day free trial | Reality TV |
| Britbox | $9.99 | 7-day free trial | British Movies & TV |
| Paramount+ | $6.99 | 7-day free trial | Movies & TV |
| BINGE | $10 (Basic) – $22 (Premium) | 7-day free trial | Movies & TV |
| Stan | $12 (Basic) – $22 (Premium) | None | Movies & TV |
| DocPlay | $8.99 | 14-day free trial | Documentaries |
Streaming Services Price Comparison Australia | Man of Many
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