On Wednesday evening in London, the chief of HBO and HBO Max, Casey Bloys, unveiled the programmer's latest slate, accompanied by a host of stars. The much-awaited news for Euphoria fans was the announcement of the show's season 3 launch in April (with the exact date to be determined). Bloys then introduced executive producer, writer, and director Sam Levinson to the stage. As for the plot details, Zendaya's Rue is set to explore innovative ways to pay off her debt, while Sharon Stone will play a showrunner. Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo, and the rest of the cast face intriguing new challenges, as hinted by Bloys in his teases for the new season.
Levinson expressed his "great excitement" about the success of Euphoria's cast, especially in movies since the first season. He described the new season as "being out of the safety net of school," which signifies a higher stakes for the characters.
Joining Bloys in London were The Comeback creators Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow, along with Industry co-creators and writers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, and star Marisa Abela. Kay promised that season 4 would be "the most entertaining season we have made."
The upcoming series A Night of the Seven Kingdoms, set in the Game of Thrones universe, also stole the spotlight. Co-creator and showrunner Ira Parker shared that protagonist Ser Duncan "Dunk" the Tall is "from the ass-end, shit hole end of Westeros," leading to some humor. Parker described it as "a gritty, miserable, and muddy" show that feels like an on-ramp to the GoT universe, also for audiences who may not have watched the original. He quipped that the lower budget is more in line with Dunk's upbringing than the other shows in the same universe.
Parker praised star Peter Claffey as a "leader" and a great person to have around and called Dexter Sol Ansell the greatest child actor ever.
The final guests on the London stage were The Comeback creator, writer, and star Lisa Kudrow and creator, writer, and director Michael Patrick King. They shared that the return of the show will center on AI. "It's very grounded in real life," King said. "This may be happening, for all we know, somewhere right now." Kudrow added: "It's based on what we heard could be potential problems."
Bloys also explained that Max originals used to be somewhat "nebulous" but are now about "more cost-efficient, yet elevated" fare. He touted recent audience hits such as Task, which has 12.6 million viewers per episode, and The Chair Company. He also mentioned that IT: Welcome to Derry's audience performance ranks only behind House of the Dragon and The Last of Us.
Asked about the bidding process for Warner Bros. Discovery, Bloys said he has not felt any impact. "It's business as usual for us," he said. International local productions are vital to their success and can break out at any moment, he emphasized.
Bloys also showed trailers for Rooster, Lanterns, and House of the Dragon season 3 and mentioned other in-the-works series such as an untitled Sharon Horgan comedy, which was first unveiled in February. The event in London's Soho came after HBO Max, the streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), earlier in the day unveiled the latest steps in its international expansion with market launches in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein on January 13th. WBD also noted that the service would launch in the U.K. and Ireland in early 2026, completing its European roll-out. Additionally, on Wednesday mid-day, HBO Max head of originals Sarah Aubrey spoke at the Content London conference about upcoming Harry Potter series and unveiled the renewal of the Spanish local original Furia (Rage) as part of their focus on growing their development slate.
