HBO Max October 2026 highlights – New HBO drama War, horror films Obsession and Leviticus, and returning comedy Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage lead a packed month on HBO Max.
October also brings true-crime documentaries, stand-up comedy, supernatural favourites and an extensive Halloween-ready film selection. Every date below is for the Australian HBO Max service.
The strongest thread is variety. HBO Max moves from a prestige London legal fight to Australian supernatural horror, while Investigation Discovery adds several new true-crime stories. Weekly releases also give the month momentum beyond its film premieres.
War – 2 October
HBO and Sky Original War is a high-stakes legal drama from George Kay, the creator of Lupin and Hijack. Dominic West and Sienna Miller lead the eight-part series, with new episodes arriving weekly on the same day as the US.
The story takes place among London’s most powerful lawyers. Rival firms Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne go head-to-head in a headline-grabbing case. Their battle draws ambitious young lawyer Jonathan “Johnny” Warren, played by Archie Renaux, into a ruthless world shaped by ambition, betrayal and the cost of winning.
Season one centres on the explosive divorce of British technology entrepreneur Morgan Henderson, played by West, and international film star Carla Duval, played by Miller. Both firms are determined to secure victory for their clients, whatever it takes.
Obsession – 22 October
Writer-director Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession follows a hopeless romantic who breaks the mysterious One Wish Willow. He hopes the act will win his crush’s heart. Instead, he gets exactly what he wished for, with increasingly dark and sinister consequences.
The film became a surprise global box-office hit and one of 2026’s biggest horror successes. It arrives on HBO Max just over a week before Halloween.
Newlyweds – 24 October
Newlyweds is a mature romance starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly. A free-spirited woman and a reserved professor marry unexpectedly after a brief but passionate courtship.
The season runs for 13 episodes. HBO Max will release episodes weekly on the same day as the US.
Happiness season two – coming in October
Rebecca Gibney and Peter Hambleton return in Happiness. The second season sends rising Broadway director Charlie Summers back to his hometown of Tauranga after a scandalous secret changes his life.
Charlie soon clashes with his formidable mother, Gaye, and her fiercely proud amateur musical society. Small-town chaos and family tensions build around his larger-than-life personality, which threatens to steal the spotlight.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season three – 9 October
The Young Sheldon sequel returns for a 22-episode third season. Montana Jordan and Emily Osment star as Georgie and Mandy, who are raising their young family in Texas.
The comedy continues to follow the couple through adulthood, parenting and marriage. New episodes will arrive weekly on the same day as the US.
Leviticus – 30 October
Australian coming-of-age romantic supernatural horror film Leviticus closes the month. Adrian Chiarella writes and directs the story of two teenage boys who face a violent entity.
The creature takes the terrifying form of the person each boy desires most: the other. Their attempt to escape turns intimacy and fear into the centre of the film’s supernatural threat.
The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story – 12 October
This three-part HBO Original revisits a mysterious 1985 cold case murder in Louisiana. Reopening the case uncovers a haunting history of bloodshed and long-buried trauma.
Episodes will arrive weekly on HBO Max on the same day as the US.
Unmasking A Monster: Aileen Wuornos – 1 October
The three-part Investigation Discovery series explores the life and crimes of American serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Every episode will be available from 1 October, on the same day as the US.
Exclusive first-person accounts come from people who knew Wuornos. The series also uses digital replica technology to recreate Wuornos and key figures as they appeared at the time. Together, those elements offer a new perspective on one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
Kate Berlant: Parmesan – 17 October
Kate Berlant brings her new HBO Original comedy special to the platform on the same day as the US. Filmed at the historic Plaza Nightclub in Los Angeles, the performance moves between personal stories and stream-of-consciousness observations.
Berlant reflects on the moon, her destructive relationship with technology and the evolving nature of sexuality. The special also examines the contradictions of modern life and stand-up comedy itself.
The Serial Killer Connection – 8 October
Investigation Discovery’s three-part docuseries examines an unlikely bond created in the aftermath of serial killer Richard “Marc” Evonitz’s crimes.
Bonnie Lou married Evonitz when she was young. Decades later, she learned that her former husband had lived a horrifying double life. His crimes were exposed after Kara Robinson Chamberlain escaped captivity.
A social-media trend eventually connected the two women. Shared trauma then developed into a joint search for answers. Together, the ex-wife and survivor investigate Evonitz’s life and the possibility that the full extent of his crimes remains unknown.
A Killer Among Friends season two – 4 October
Jennifer Love Hewitt executive produces and narrates the second season of A Killer Among Friends. Six weekly episodes examine true-crime cases in which violence destroys close friendships.
Each story explores betrayal, deception and deadly secrets. The series asks what happens when seemingly unbreakable bonds unravel and trusted people hide the darkest truths in plain sight.
HBO Max October 2026 release schedule
The full currently announced Australian schedule is below. HBO Max notes that the list may not be comprehensive and is subject to change.
Coming during October
- Happiness season two
1 October
- Unmasking A Monster: Aileen Wuornos (ID)
- Ghost Adventures season 30 (TLC)
- When We Were Bullies (HBO Original)
2 October
- War (HBO Original)
- Strange: Junji Ito’s Strange Tales for Sleepless Nights (2026)
- Jack Osbourne’s Night of Terror (TLC)
3 October
- Trending Fear (TLC)
- Doctor Sleep (Warner Bros.)
- GET JIRO (Adult Swim)
4 October
- A Killer Among Friends season two (ID)
- The Dead Files season 11 (TLC)
5 October
- The Invisible Pilot (HBO Original)
- Adventure Time: Side Quests (Cartoon Network)
- Ghost Adventures: House Calls season three (TLC)
6 October
- Destination Fear season four (TLC)
- Dallas (2012), seasons one to three (Warner Bros.)
7 October
- Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel (HBO Original)
8 October
- The Serial Killer Connection (ID)
9 October
- Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season three (Warner Bros.)
- Rage season two (HBO Original)
10 October
- Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room season two (TLC)
- Freddy vs. Jason (Warner Bros.)
12 October
- The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story (HBO Original)
- ER: Caught on Camera (TLC)
- Moonshiners season 16 (Discovery)
13 October
- Miracle Workers seasons one to four (Warner Bros.)
15 October
- Corregidora: The Darkest Night in Mexican Soccer (HBO Original)
16 October
- Bill Maher: #Adulting (HBO Original)
17 October
- Kate Berlant: Parmesan (HBO Original)
- Little Shop of Horrors (Warner Bros.)
18 October
- Naked and Afraid Brazil season four (Discovery)
19 October
- Scavengers Reign (Max Original)
21 October
- Surviving the Jehovah’s Witnesses (HBO Original)
- The Last Woodsmen season three (Discovery)
22 October
- Obsession (2026)
- The Flores Massacre (HBO Original)
- Gold Rush season 17 (Discovery)
24 October
- Newlyweds (2026)
- Gift (2026)
- V For Vendetta (Warner Bros.)
26 October
- Lazarus (Adult Swim)
- Ghost Adventures: Devil Island (TLC)
28 October
- Kordell Stewart: Slash & Burn (HBO Original)
- Portobello (HBO Original)
29 October
- Cannibal Poet (HBO Original)
30 October
- Leviticus (2026)
For more TV Central HBO Max news, head here. Browse the service and its current Australian catalogue on the official HBO Max website.