House Of The Dragon Season 2 Set To Premiere Next Year, Last Of Us Season 2 Production Begins Soon
The ink on the new WGA deal with the studios is hardly even dry, but HBO is one prestigious network that's wasting absolutely no time at all to get the ball rolling once again on the 2024 television schedule. Or maybe they're just trying to change the narrative after the highly embarrassing story that recently made the rounds, alleging that the extraordinarily thin-skinned HBO boss Casey Bloys actually had his underlings create fake Twitter accounts to lash out at critics who dared to have less-than-glowing reactions to certain HBO shows. (Yeah, that actually happened.)
Either way, we're finally getting some concrete updates on several of their biggest small-screen properties currently ongoing. During a press event hosted in New York City, Bloys made a flurry of announcements regarding three of HBO's highest-profile headliners, from "House of the Dragon" to "The Last of Us" to "Euphoria." We'll take these one at a time.
The "Game of Thrones" spin-off wrapped up its debut season back in October of 2022, though it only adapted half of the story that originated from author George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood" novel. We now know that, according to Variety, the next season will officially debut sometime in "early summer" of 2024. The production was able to continue filming throughout the WGA strike, as scripts had been completed prior to the writers joining the picket lines. Likewise, the vast majority of the UK cast aren't part of SAG-AFTRA, meaning they were relatively unaffected by that ongoing strike, as well. Additionally, another planned spin-off series called "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight" (which was affected by the WGA strike) is now set to begin filming in the Spring of 2024 — provided the striking actors have reached a fair deal by then.
The Last of Us and Euphoria updates
Don't worry, video game fans and Zendaya enthusiasts, we didn't forget about you. Casey Bloys kept the production updates rolling throughout the press event, although any and all sneak peeks (including a trailer for "House of the Dragon" season 2") at the actual shows were limited to in-person exclusives. The nerve! In any case, there's a little bit of bad news for those hoping to see "The Last of Us" return for its highly-anticipated second season. Having caused production to be delayed as a result of the studios dragging negotiations out with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA leadership, season 2 of "The Last of Us" was nowhere to be seen on the network's presentation for 2024 offerings. That means that, according to another Variety report, fans will have to wait until 2025 to see the acclaimed series hit the airwaves again, with filming now scheduled to begin in "early 2024."
Finally, this one is for the drama-addicted Gen Z-ers out there. "Euphoria" continues to be the hit HBO series that can't stop and won't stop, from creator Sam Levinson. After two wildly provocative seasons under its belt, yet another Variety article indicates that season 3 will now debut sometime in 2025. Apparently, attendees were shown a sizzle reel that provided brief looks at a handful of shows that are scheduled for 2025, including this next season of "Euphoria," "The Last of Us" season 2, the third installment of "The White Lotus," and even the "It" prequel series, titled "Welcome to Derry." For those concerned that Levinson might be stretching himself a bit thin, remember that his widely-derided "The Idol" had been unceremoniously scrapped. Woof.
The next two years are HBO's world and we're just living in it, folks.