‘Civil War’ Comes to Digital, But When Will ‘Civil War’ Stream on Max?

Civil War is coming to digital platforms this weekend, so if you missed this buzzy A24 film in theaters, you’ll now have a chance to watch it at home.

Directed by Alex Garland, the filmmaker behind Ex Machina and Annihilation, Civil War stars Kirsten Dunst as a war journalist reporting on the demise of the United States, amidst a modern American Civil War. If the premise alone doesn’t send a chill down your spine, watching the movie will do the job just fine.

Also starring Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman, Civil War was a hit at the box office. It set a record for A24 opening weekends, when it earned $25 million in the first three days in theaters. And it’s only the second A24 movie ever to earn over $100 million at the global box office. (A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once still holds the crown as the studio’s highest-grossing movie of all time.)

All that said, if you’re not willing to pay the “premium” on-demand fee to watch Civil War at home, we do expect Civil War to stream free on Max eventually. Read on to learn where to watch Civil War online, and when to expect Civil War to be streaming on Max.

Where to watch the Civil War movie on streaming:

Beginning on Friday, May 24, you will be able to purchase a digital copy of the A24 movie Civil War on platforms like Amazon Prime, Vudu, Apple TV, Google Play, and more. The price may vary depending on which platform you use to buy the film, but on Amazon, the film cost $24.99 to pre-order a digital copy.

Civil War is not currently available to stream on any subscription-based services, but the film will be coming to HBO’s Max shortly, thanks to the recent 2023 deal between A24 and Warner Bros. Discovery, which brings A24’s previous and upcoming theatrical releases to the streaming service Max, and will include Civil War.

When will Civil War be streaming on Max?

The Civil War HBO Max release date has not yet been announced, but we can make an educated guess as to when you can expect to see Civil War on Max. The A24 deal is a “Pay-1 deal,” which means A24 movies will start streaming on Max in the “Pay 1 window,” meaning that Max will be the first “TV channel” to pay for the rights to Civil War, after the film has been released on digital and home media.

The time period for this window, following the movie’s release in theaters, has shortened drastically in the last few years and varies by title. One recent A24 title, The Iron Claw, began streaming on Max, about five months after its release in theaters, and about three months after its release on digital. If Civil War follows a similar release strategy, you’ll see it on Max around late August or early September 2024.

That said, this A24 and Max deal is still new, and the release times have varied by title. If you want to watch Civil War on Max right away, you can buy or rent the film on digital platforms beginning tomorrow.