The Shazam 2 HBO Max release date is almost here. With Shazam! Fury of the Gods having finally ended its theatrical run and is approaching its release on HBO Max. When can fans watch and stream Shazam 2 on the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer? Here’s what you need to know.
Matt Smith reveals that he just received his scripts for House of the Dragon season 2. The Game of Thrones prequel series adapted from George R.R. Martin's novel Fire & Blood was a roaring success when HBO aired it in 2022. Even though it takes place hundreds of years before Game of Thrones and the birth of Daenerys Targaryen, the first House of the Dragon episode remains the most-watched premiere in HBO history, even more than the premiere of HBO's other current juggernaut series, The Last of Us.
While speaking at the Middle East Film and Comic Con in Abu Dhabi (as shown on Reddit), Smith shared that he just received his season 2 scripts and that they came in late.
"I got all the scripts on Friday, actually. They're late, they're really late. It's always the way, isn't it? They always come in so late."
When HBO's House of the Dragon began its political game for King Viserys' Iron Throne, it wasn't surprising to see his more qualified brother Daemon angling for power along with Corlys Velaryon. As the war to take the Stepstones illustrated, they didn't think Viserys was strong or cutthroat enough to lead Westeros. Rhaenyra being deemed successor further complicated the matter because the other lords of the realm weren't totally sold on a woman ruling.
However, there was one other key player involved in this power struggle: Otto Hightower, the King's Hand. He was a lot more subtle, making moves so that his daughter Alicent would marry Viserys. While Season 1, Episode 4, "King of the Narrow Sea" involved Otto being punished for his scheming, he's not completey out of the picture yet.
Otto knew what he was doing when he had Alicent comfort the king following Queen Aemma's death. He hoped once Alicent was made queen, she'd bear male heirs and by extension the Hightower bloodline would sit on the throne. But he never made it obvious to his king that he wanted a bigger say in the ruling of Westeros -- until the over-ambitious Otto exposed Daemon and Rhaenyra's time at a brothel, sullying their name. While Viserys would banish Daemon for his betrayal and promise his daughter to Corlys' son Laenor, he took the information personally and fired Otto on Rhaenyra's insistence.
However, Otto still has Alicent and her son Aegon to use as trump cards. Sure, he might be excommunicated from the palace now, but Otto can continue to manipulate his daughter, reminding her that he was cast aside for reporting the truth and protecting the crown. By poisoning her against Rhaenyra, Otto can push Alicent to convince Viserys that Aegon should lead.
But the impending civil war is making Alicent more aware of what it takes to survive the royal court. She does have her husband's ear since she helped him through a tough time. So once she reminds Viserys that Rhaenyra and Corlys' clan -- both parties who have disobeyed the king -- are liabilities, the kingdom could end up in Hightower hands. It would simply be a different Hightower accomplishing the same goal.
Alicent would keep the strength of their Hightower bloodline going, fully cognizant of how the children she sires will be viewed by others eyeing the crown. While Littlefinger died at Arya Stark's hand and never got to see the fruit of his labor in Game of Thrones, Otto has a protective, mindful Alicent to do his dirty work -- which means that despite having no power himself, he's still very much a problem for Viserys and the rest of House of the Dragon's characters.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
Another highly anticipated title under the HBO Max banner is being scrapped, and it's yet another animation casualty. Driftwood, the first animated feature film by Aquaman: King of Atlantis co-creator Victor Courtright, has been canceled just over three months after it was given the green light. The film was part of a collaboration between HBO Max and Cartoon Network Studios to shine a light on burgeoning creatives in the animation industry.
Billed as an animated space opera for the whole family, the film would've followed Clover, a mouse-like creature in search of the fabled city of Driftwood which stands as the last bastion of freedom in a decaying society ruled over by an evil corporation. Aside from being a haven of free society, legend has it that the city hides the secret to sustainable fuel. Overlord Thorn, who leads the organization, is intent on destroying both Clover and Driftwood, thus removing the only hope of opposing their rule and ensuring society must rely on the organization's toxic fuel source. The film would've centered on Clover's battle to save all society from Thorn alongside a pair of new allies in Marigold and Caspia.
Thanks to the mind behind it and the promising premise, interest in the film was relatively high. Given the success of King of Atlantis and his resume full of animation work and writing for ThunderCats Roar, Pickle & Peanut, and Mystery Science Theater 3000 among others, Courtright had more than proven himself capable as a creator. With the feature no longer in the works, and the general philosophy of HBO Max's restructuring, it's possible Invincible Fight Girl, the other collaborative effort of the streamer and Cartoon Network, may also be on the chopping block.
Driftwood seems to be another project lost with HBO Max's shift in philosophy following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and subsequent ascension of David Zaslav to CEO. Most of the cuts have been in the animation division, with over 30 titles being wiped off the platform in order to save on residuals. An official statement also notes the streamer is looking to move away from kids and family animation. As the cuts have unfolded, criticism against the company has continued to grow with the creator of Infinity Train the most recent to speak out against the unprofessionalism displayed by Warner Bros. Discovery for pulling shows suddenly and without any communication. In total, Zaslav is looking to cut around $3 billion in costs.
Following the announcement of Driftwood's cancelation, one production manager at Cartoon Network took to Twitter to express their disappointment that the film wouldn't be moving forward. Those sentiments were also shared by Warner Bros. Animation's Jen Hurler who lamented that Courtright's vision wouldn't be realized. The space adventure wasn't the only project to get the shaft this time around. A number of other promising projects, including Batman: Caped Crusader, were put to the sword in the latest round of cuts.
See the statements from Hurler and the production manager below.
Working on this was such a treat. The whole crew is amazing and we all were so excited to share this. Now, I’m just heartbroken that no one will see more than this poster https://t.co/Z4oDbvOyOb
— Finnjamin Button (@Dhubetter) August 22, 2022
This film was shaping up to be so fantastic and meaningful. I was so thrilled to have been a small part of such a gorgeous, original 2d animated film from a voice like Victor and a studio like CNS. Fucking sucks. https://t.co/Cn7eztc3pQ
— Jen Hurler (@AnimComplex) August 22, 2022
Adult Swim dropped the first trailer for Rick and Morty Season 6.
The brief trailer gives audiences a taste of what hijinks the pair will soon embark on, spotlighting a variety of messy, chaotic situations. Highlights include what appears to be a Die Hard-inspired episode, the destruction of Rick's space cruiser and the return of Space Beth who seems to be helping the family escape from danger. As can be expected, the upcoming season looks to be loaded with plenty of robots, intergalactic battles and inventive weaponry. While little is currently known about what Rick and Morty's sixth season entails, the show's official logline confirms that it will pick up right where Season 5 finished.
Although Game of Thrones was a blockbuster show with a huge budget and crew for every episode, they still couldn't avoid their share of bloopers. One of the most notorious mistakes the show ever made was in season 8 episode 4, "The Last of the Starks." During one scene, a Starbucks cup can be seen resting on the table in front of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), a fact that surfaced online more or less immediately after the premiere of the episode. This led to a cavalcade of memes and jokes about how the modern beverage made its way into the fantasy realm of Westeros.
THR had the opportunity to speak with co-showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik at the premiere of House of the Dragon, which took place last week. They joke about the Starbucks blooper, acknowledging that all shows have their own mistakes and that it only blew up because of the popularity of Game of Thrones. However, Condal admits they had a "a very heavily policed set" with "lots of Starbucks-hunting," prompting Sapochnik to joke that viewers can win a cup of coffee if they spot Starbucks cups that have been digitally painted out. Read their full quotes below:
Condal: [We had] a very heavily policed set — there was lots of Starbucks-hunting going on. We always joked around about it, that we were going to make Starbucks goblets so at least they fit in the scene.
Sapochnik: [We left coffee cups] everywhere we could so that later on we could paint them out digitally. See if you can see where the Starbucks cups were that we removed digitally after the fact, and if you can find one, there is a prize. A cup of coffee.
HBO debuted a new look at House of the Dragon.
The trailer focuses on the titular family which is slowly being torn apart by the Iron Throne. The video places special attention on Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) both of whom have desires to eventually take over the realm from King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine). Several new shots of the house's intimidating dragons were showcased, highlighting the devastating power that Game of Thrones fans know only too well.
The Hollywood Reporter has released the first part of its piece chronicling the behind-the-scenes story and development of the upcoming prequel series to HBO's highly successful Game of Thrones series exploring the history and the civil war of House Targaryen, House of the Dragon. This new article involved interviews with many members of the teams behind the upcoming series and its source material as it explores the history of the series, from its inception and pitches to discussing the pressure of having to step up and not only create what would have been HBO's first ever spin-off series, but also a series that is filling the hole left by something as huge as Game of Thrones. Two very interesting tidbits from this article, however, came when some of the people behind House of the Dragon made a few comparisons to Star Wars, both in reference to the characters of the upcoming series, but also in the series' importance to HBO.
The Reporter's piece opens with a conversation between the two House of the Dragon showrunners Ryan Condal, who also will serve as a writer on the series, and one of the series' directors Miguel Sapochnik about the naming of the dragons. Sapochnik made the suggestion that a few of the names be changed, to which Condal vehemently refused, solidifying the production's stance on being extremely loyal to the source material. Condal explains why taking this stance was so important, explaining both his love for the series by George R.R. Martin and the importance of the Targaryens in the history of the universe. He compares them to the Jedi of Star Wars, this group of people that, in the original trilogy prior to the prequels, were super powerful, yet the audience only got the smallest look at masters from the time of their height of power before the Empire. Similar to going back and showing the Jedi, Condal expresses how much people want to see House Targaryen:
“I’ve been a fan of these books for 20 years. I was a fan of Game of Thrones — I watched the pilot the night it aired on HBO and every episode after. You can’t follow Thrones, it’s the Beatles. I’m setting out as a fan to make the thing I want to see, and I’m happy with what we’ve achieved. The Targaryens are like the Jedi in Star Wars, where you heard about this time when they were plentiful and powerful and always wanted to see that. And now you get to.”
Robert Greenblatt, then chairman of HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia, also made reference to the space opera from a galaxy far, far, away, more specifically, the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. This was not a comparison made in terms of the series' plot, characters, or overall story, but rather in their importance to their respective streaming services. When House of the Dragon was first given the greenlight in 2019, it was ordered straight to series as HBO wanted a series that could serve as The Mandalorian equivalent for their then-upcoming streaming service, HBO Max.
HBO is treating Game of Thrones like the golden goose that it is. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the premium cable network is developing a new sequel series centered around the character Jon Snow. Star Kit Harington is attached to reprise the role, which he played for eight seasons on the wildly popular fantasy series, based on the novels by George R.R. Martin.
The sequel show means that there are now at least seven Game of Thrones spinoffs in various stages of development at HBO and HBO Max. House of the Dragon, a prequel series that chronicles the events leading up to the Targaryen civil war, will be the first out of the gate, with an August 21 release date looming. Other shows in development include Ten Thousand Ships with showrunner Amanda Segel, The Sea Snake from showrunner Bruno Heller, and The Tales of Dunk and Egg from showrunner Steve Conrad. Three animated series are also in the works, while one live-action prequel was denied a series order after a pilot was filmed.
Jon Snow remained a fan-favorite character throughout the series’ run. It was revealed in the Season 7 finale that his real name is Aegon Targaryen, which made him one of the rightful heirs to the Iron Throne. But the series finale showed Jon Snow leaving behind his old life at Castle Black, and subsequently journeying beyond the Wall with his wildling companions.
Jon Snow was killed off at the end of the fifth season, but was resurrected by the Red Witch Melisandre in Season 6. Harington often spoke about the physical and emotional challenges of playing the character, who became increasingly popular during the show’s eight-season run, and basically locked him down creatively for several years—to the point where he was forbidden from cutting his long hair to maintain continuity for GoT.
He tried branching out while the show was at its peak—Harington starred in director Paul W.S. Anderson’s ill-fated Pompeii picture, and voiced a character in How to Train Your Dragon 2; he also starred in director Xavier Dolan’s poorly received drama The Life & Death of John F. Donovan. But Harington’s first major post-Game of Thrones role came in the Marvel Cinematic Universe spectacle Eternals. The film underperformed at the box office, and is infamous for being the lowest-rated MCU movie critically, but it certainly left the door open for him to return as the Black Knight.
Although now, theoretically, Harington’s future might only involve Marvel movies and multiple seasons as Jon Snow. But that’s hardly a reason to complain. The show did, after all, earn him two Emmy nods and played Cupid for him and his wife Rose Leslie. As for Game of Thrones, one character-centric sequel could mean more character-centric sequels. If it worked for Marvel and Lucasfilm on streaming, there’s no reason it can’t for HBO as well.