HBO Max's New Legal Thriller With Stellar Rotten Tomatoes Score Is A Streaming Sensation

Published Oct 4, 2026, 10:27 AM EDT

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019 and is now one of the leading contributors of the TV News team. Having written over 4000 news stories in that time , with his work cited in Buzzfeed and TV Insider, he's always bemoaning that there's too many shows and not enough time. You can contact him at: aalghamdi@hey.com.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

HBO Max's new legal thriller is quickly proving to be a sensation, and it's happening at a pivotal time. Paramount and Warner Bros. are merging under David Ellison's Skydance, which is already making significant changes to which executives run which divisions. More changes have been forecast in the longer term, including sizable job losses and shifts in the creative directions that may not be so easily predicted this early on.

At least for now, though, the streaming platforms for both Warner Bros. (HBO Max) and Paramount (Paramount+) are expected to operate as normal. That includes debuting the new eight-episode legal thriller War, led by Dominic West and Sienna Miller, about a wealthy and high-profile couple going through a nasty divorce. It's already racking up viewership.

War Enters HBO Max's Top 10 Charts Within Days

War is currently the #2 show on HBO Max in the U.S. within days of its October 1st premiere. It's just behind the DCU's Lanterns, which has been commanding viewership. The thriller series, which is created by George Kay of Netflix's Lupin, comes in ahead of a wide variety of genres at the moment, including talk shows, reality franchises, and a true crime documentary about Aileen Wuornos.

It's no surprise that audiences are taking to War, with its strong 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The story takes place in “the exclusive and cutthroat world of London’s legal elite,” according to the official press release, with a particular focus on two of the city’s law firms: Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne. Although both are fairly well-off, Cathcarts is clearly more prestigious.

The duo is on opposite sides of a divorce between a tech titan (played by West) and a Hollywood star (played by Miller). Even though both characters get spotlighted scenes in the premiere, the actual protagonist is arguably a young lawyer named Johnny Warren (played by Archie Renaux) because of a twist that will become clear by the end of the first episode.

HBO Max's Legal Thrillers Collection Grows Amid Paramount Merger

HBO Max is the streaming home to great legal thrillers, including Riz Ahmed in The Night Of, a starry cast in The Staircase, and Matthew Rhys in the two-season Perry Mason reboot. That will continue with War, which is already renewed for season 2, led by Marisa Tomei, with the focus turning to a defamation case.

It remains to be seen if Paramount will influence HBO Max with its more familiar action dramas or if HBO will maintain its reputation for prestige in the long run. For now, it's business as usual.

War streams Thursdays on HBO Max.

• 

  Dominic West

  Morgan Henderson

• 

  Carla Duval

• 

  Phoebe Fox

  Serena Byrne

• 

  James McArdle

  Nicholas Taylor