HBO Chief On “Potter,” “Knight,” “IT,” “Rivalry”
Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, spoke with Deadline today to offer various updates on various HBO titles that have either just aired or are on the way in the next 2-3 years.
First up, the “Harry Potter” TV series has got a loose release window with Bloys saying: “I would say, to narrow it down to some extent, early 2027. And now you’re going to ask, does that mean January, February, March, April, that we’re not ready to say. I’ll say early 2027.”
The report says animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of “Primal” and “Samurai Jack” and director of “Hotel Transylvania,” is heading to HBO’s biggest franchise – “Game of Thrones” – with his name said to be attached to the animated Sea Snake project “Nine Voyages”.
Bloys confirms a second season of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is filming now and, much like “The Pitt,” the aim is to get back to putting out shows annually – something that can be done with these smaller-scale and cheaper-to-produce series.
He also confirms “House of the Dragon” will end with a fourth season, the number of episodes hasn’t been determined yet. Asked if both “Hacks” and “The Last of Us” will end with their upcoming seasons, he says: “It certainly seems that way, but on decisions like that, we will defer to the showrunners. So you can ask them.”
Asked where things stand with the “IT: Welcome to Derry” renewal, which seems to be in limbo. He says, “Let me say, not in limbo at all. Hardly. It was a huge success for us. And Andy [Muschietti] and Barbara [Muschietti] are hard at work trying to come up with an idea for a story they’d want to tell for another season. I would happily do it…they need to land on something they’re excited by creatively. We’ll be there.”
HBO’s coming off a successful few weeks following their breakout acquisition of Canadian gay hockey drama “Heated Rivalry,” which is averaging 9 million U.S. viewers and counting so far. That title is looking to be the #1 acquired scripted series launch in HBO Max history.
Asked if there are plans to come onboard as a co-producer, he says: “No, there is no reason. This is obviously a very successful creative collaboration between Jacob and Crave. I see no reason why we would be involved creatively… We’re very happy licensees.”
“The Pitt” returned earlier this month and is averaging 9.5 million U.S. viewers thus far, up 65% from the first season, while the just launched “A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms” is averaging over 8 million U.S. cross-platform viewers thus far – the network’s best debut behind only “The Last Of Us” and “House of the Dragon”.