'Heated Rivalry' is filming two seasons at once, with a Christmas film planned
Seven Lights
“Heated Rivalry,” the hockey romance that became a surprise hit for the Canadian streamer Crave and for HBO in the United States, is filming its second and third seasons back-to-back, and a standalone Christmas film is also planned, Deadline reported. The Playlist and The A.V. Club carried the reports.
The success of creator Jacob Tierney’s series caught Crave, HBO and Mr. Tierney himself off guard, and he has worked to get a second season out quickly to meet the demand the first season created. The back-to-back production is intended to keep audiences supplied between seasons. The show has not been officially renewed for a third season.
Mr. Tierney has said the second season will run six episodes, but the current production appears to be larger. Deadline pointed to a Cameo video from series co-star Dylan Walsh, leaked in August, in which he told fans he believed the current run would comprise “twelve episodes.” Mr. Walsh later stopped making Cameo videos because, in his words, “a video went viral that got me in trouble.”
The film is to be shot in December, after the current production ends. It is being described as not featuring the series’ two leads, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who play the show’s central couple. The series draws on Rachel Reid’s hockey romance novels, which contain several other couples, and the reports suggest a holiday-themed film centered on other characters.
Vulture summarized the plans as three seasons and a movie. The A.V. Club cautioned that the film has not received an official green light and that the reports were not distributor announcements.
The first season, built around a romance between two professional hockey players, found its audience after launch and turned the show into one of Crave’s largest successes and a ratings performer for HBO.
Neither Crave nor HBO announced release dates for the new seasons or the film.