HBO Teases 2024 Lineup with Kate Winslet, Jerrod Carmichael, and… Dragons
As SAG protestors set up outside HBO‘s Manhattan offices, the network’s CEO and chairman, Casey Bloys, was inside speaking to reporters about the network’s 2024 programming slate. Since the WGA and SAG strikes began in mid-2023, there has been continued speculation about what shows completed production, as well as where filming was able to continue. Now, as the new year creeps closer, fans are itching to know what they can expect to see next, and HBO has kindly provided a few answers.
During a press preview Thursday morning, Bloys confirmed “House of the Dragon” Season 2 would return in the summer of 2024. The series was able to continue filming during the SAG and WGA strikes due to its UK-based union contracts, though the extensive post-production work still means it will be nearly two years between when the first season premiered and the second season is released.
Among the many announcements about shows that were set to be released, Bloys confirmed another show that would not be moving forward at this time. A spinoff to Steven Soderbergh’s Cinemax original series “The Knick,” was developed with Andre Holland and Barry Jenkins, but there “are no plans at the moment to do that.”
“We did develop scripts that we didn’t feel strongly enough about committing to, so no plans at the moment to do that,” Bloys said. “One thing I’ve learned is never say never, but at the moment, there are no plans to, nothing on deck.”
Here are 14 more programs that Bloys announced for HBO and Max‘s 2024 slate, as well as a few tidbits on additional programming a bit further out.
“True Detective: Night Country” (premieres January 14)
Season 4 of HBO’s anthology policing series was originally scheduled for a 2023 release, but those bummed out by the delay won’t have to wait much longer. HBO dated the new season of “True Detective” a few months ago, and showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director Issa Lopez was on hand to add context to the new season.
“I had an idea for a modern western in the ice,” Lopez said, sitting on stage during a Q&A with Bloys. “My entire life I’ve been obsessed with murder mysteries,” she added, before citing “The Thing” as a major inspiration for the Alaskan setting of “Night Country.”
Season 4 marks the first iteration of “True Detective” not to be written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto. He’ll remain on board as an executive producer, along with original stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but the new creative team is led by Lopez, as well as fellow executive producers Mari Jo Winkler, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, and Mark Ceryak. Jodie Foster and Kali Reis headline the cast, which also includes Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star LaBlanc, and John Hawkes.
Lopez said she wanted the new story to “remind us what we loved about the show by doing the absolute opposite.” Watch the trailer for “True Detective” Season 4 here.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” Season 12 (Feburary 2024)
Larry David will return for a twelfth season of his landmark HBO comedy. As usual, plot details and casting are being kept under wraps, and Bloys could not confirm if David had decided Season 12 would be the series’ last. “We usually leave that decision up to Larry,” he said.
Speaking to IndieWire last year, “Curb” executive producer Jeff Schaffer said, “When you sign up to do a season of ‘Curb,’ you’re signing up to do the final season of ‘Curb.’ And I finally figured out why. It’s because when Larry does a season, he puts every idea that he really likes into that season. So at the end of the season, there’s this hole — there aren’t any ideas that he really likes — so how could he possibly do another season? He’s the only person on the planet who doesn’t think he’s going to come up with more good ideas.”
“Jerrod” (Spring 2024)
Bloys also shared a trailer for a new documentary series from Jerrod Carmichael, which will premiere on Max in the spring. The series focuses on the comedian, actor, and director in his off hours, as he dates, shops, and spends time with friends. The first-look footage put an emphasis on his family and how they’re reacting to Carmichael coming out as a gay man, while also involving the cameramen in the story itself.
“Jerrod” will be Carmichael’s first project since “Rothaniel” premiered in 2022, though he also co-stars in the upcoming film “Poor Things” and recently directed his first feature, “On the Count of Three,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.
“The Sympathizer” (Spring 2024)
It’s official: Park Chan-wook’s second (“Little Drummer Girl”) television series is set to premiere in time for the 2024 Emmys. Bloys confirmed “The Sympathizer” will be released in the spring, setting the stage for quite an awards run between the “Oldboy” director’s adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Kate Winslet’s royal black comedy, “The Regime” (more on that below).
“The Sympathizer” stars Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Ky Duyen, and Sandra Oh, while star and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. will play multiple roles in the ’70s era espionage thriller “about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.”
Watch the teaser trailer, released in April, here.
“The Jinx” Season 2 (Spring 2024)
Big news for John Mulaney: HBO announced that a second docuseries about convicted murderer Robert Durst is in the works. A follow up to potentially the buzziest season finale this side of “The Sopranos,” a trailer shown at the content presentation suggested that the second series would follow Durst’s trial but also look at potential accomplices, which so far hasn’t been documented, as well as jailhouse interviews with the always-wild Durst.
Read more on the project here.
“The Regime” (Spring 2024)
Kate Winslet and HBO are a dynamic combination, and we now have more details about the show (previously called “The Palace”), which is sure to be one of the buzziest miniseries of the year. It will tell the story within the walls of “a modern European regime as it begins to unravel” — both the regime and, duh, Winslet herself. From Will Tracy and Stephen Frears, it’ll co-star Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant.
Watch the previously released teaser trailer here.
“The Penguin” (Mid-to-Late 2024)
Bloys shared this would have aired in spring 2024 but is being pushed to summer because of the ongoing strikes. An IP win, Bloys called it “a good old-fashioned mob story” with Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” alongside Cristin Milioti, Michael Kelly, and more. Color us excited.
“Dune: The Prophecy” (Fall 2024)
Formerly under the working title “Dune: The Sisterhood,” Bloys announced the “Dune” spinoff series is expected to premiere on Max in the fall of 2024. It’s currently finishing shooting in Europe, and he “hopes” to have it ready to debut before the end of the year.
In February 2023, “Dune: The Prophecy” lost its director, Johan Renck, and one of its cast members, Shirley Henderson. Production began in November 2022, but was put on hold to find replacements.
“As ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ has entered a pre-scheduled hiatus, there are some creative changes being made to the production in an effort to create the best series possible and stay true to the source material,” an HBO Max spokesperson said at the time. “Johan Renck has completed his work on the series and a new director will be brought on; through mutual agreement, Johan is moving on to pursue other projects. Additionally, Shirley Henderson will be exiting the series and will no longer be playing Tula Harkonnen.”
“The Prophecy” is a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel “Dune.” It’s set 10,000 years before the events depicted in the 2021 film and follows the Harkonnen Sisters, a clan that battles forces threatening the future of mankind, and the establishment of the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.
Returning Shows (Spring 2024)
“Tokyo Vice” Season 2, “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School,” “Hacks” Season 3, and “Sex Lives of College Girls” Season 3 are all set to return in the spring for new installments. Coming in Summer 2024 are the fourth and final season of “My Brilliant Friend” as well as “Industry” Season 3 (which prompted many excited gasps in the room; that’s a media show through and through). HBO vets Kit Harington and Sarah Goldberg will join the cast of “Industry” in Season 3.
Pushed to 2025
“White Lotus” S3 and “It” prequel “Welcome to Derry” now won’t happen until 2025.
