Kyle Mooney’s new Y2K movie, which opens in theaters this weekend, asks the question: What would have happened if Y2K was, in fact, a technological disaster?
Anyone over the age of 30 no doubt remembers all the hubbub around Y2K, aka the “Year 2000 Problem.” Basically, in the lead-up to the new millennium, a bunch of engineers had to quickly reprogram a bunch of computer software that referred to dates using only the last two digits of the year, meaning that the year 2000 would be indistinguishable from the year 1900. This obviously would have been very inconvenient and expensive for companies who relied on certain computer programs. It probably would not have ushered in a new apocalypse—as the people who started stocking up on groceries seemed to think—but it would have been annoying!
In the Y2K movie—which was directed by Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney, who also co-wrote with Evan Winter—the Year 2000 problem is re-imagined. Technology doesn’t just crash—it comes to life and starts attacking humanity. Now it’s up to a group of teens (played by Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, and Rachel Zegler) to survive this nightmare 1999 New Year’s Eve party. Read on for everything we know about where to watch the Y2K movie, and when to expect to see Y2K streaming on Max.
Y2K will only available to watch in a movie theater, when it opens in the U.S. in theaters on Friday, December 6. You can find a showing near you via Fandango. Y2K is not yet available to watch online or on streaming.
Y2K is not streaming on Netflix and likely will not be on Netflix any time soon, due to the fact that the film is an A24 release, and the 2023 deal between A24 and Warner Bros. Discovery, brings all A24’s previous and upcoming theatrical releases to the Warner Bros. streaming service Max. (Formerly known as HBO Max.) If you want to watch the 2024 Y2K movie at home, you’ll have to wait for the film to be available to buy or rent on digital platforms, or wait for it to stream on Max.
Y2K is not yet streaming on Max. Right now, the movie is only in theaters. That said, we do expect to see Y2K streaming on Max eventually—thanks to the A24 and Warner Bros. deal—but we’re not sure when.
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 Heretic, after the film has been released on digital and home media. One recent A24 title, MaXXXine, began streaming on Max about three-and-a-half months after its release in theaters, and about two-and-a-half months after its release on digital.
If Y2K follows a similar release strategy, you’ll see Y2K streaming on Max around late March 2025. That said, perhaps the movie will come to streaming sooner, to capitalize on awards season.
This is all speculation. If you want to watch Y2K right away, you can catch the movie in theaters.