HBO’s Casey Bloys on Emmys Success, ‘The Last of Us’ Future and an Early Summer Debut for ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2

HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys is celebrating another fruitful Emmys for the network and Max’s teams after taking home nine Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday evening.

The accolades included six wins for the final season of “Succession,” including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series for Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Matthew Macfadyen and Outstanding Writing and Directing for Jesse Armstrong and Mark Mylod for “Connors Wedding.” Additionally, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” scored two Emmys in the Scripted Variety Series category and “The White Lotus” star Jennifer Coolidge won Supporting Actress in a Drama.

The latest round of awards brings HBO and Max’s total Emmy wins to 31 this year, following 22 wins at the Creative Arts Emmys, including eight for Season 1 of “The Last of Us.”

“We had a great showing across the board,” Bloys told TheWrap in an interview on Tuesday.”I’m proud and enjoying the moment.”

When asked if HBO would ever return to the world of “Succession” with a spinoff, Bloys said it’s “highly unlikely” but ultimately up to creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong.

“If Jesse changed his mind and came to us and said, ‘I have the best idea, this is what I want to do,’ then we would have that conversation,” he said. “But I think he’s been pretty clear. It was an amazing show and I think it’ll go down in history as one of the best. I just don’t think he wants to go there again and I totally respect that and it makes sense. It’s really his choice and I look forward to what he’s going to do next.”

He noted that the network has had conversations with Armstrong about future collaborations after the creator signed an overall deal with HBO, but emphasized that neither party is in any hurry.

“He wants to take a break from the show, take some time to think about other things, read,” Bloys continued. “I think one of the worst things you can do is rush right into something new. I think he should take his time and see what he gets excited about.”

HBO and Max’s 2024 Slate

Looking ahead, Bloys said he feels good about the awards prospects of the 2024 content slate despite it being “a little bit compressed with the strike.”

It includes the latest season of “True Detective,” which is currently airing; the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” premiering Feb. 8, “The Regime” led by Kate Winslet premiering March 3, and “House of The Dragon” Season 2, which Bloys revealed to TheWrap will premiere in “early summer.”

Other upcoming titles in 2024 include “Hacks” Season 3, the Robert Downey Jr.-led Park Chan-wook series “The Sympathizer,” and “The Penguin” starring Colin Farrell. Of the “Batman” spinoff, Bloys said he’s seen half the episodes (“They’re fantastic,” he said) and the show has resumed production.

“I was also very pleased to see ‘The Gilded Age’ break through in the SAG Awards, so I’m hoping that cast and the show can get some recognition in the Emmys,” Bloys added of the Carrie Coon-fronted period drama.

Bloys also revealed that the “The Franchise,” a half-hour comedy series from Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci and Jon Brown, has been pushed back due to the strike and will likely not be included in the next Emmys slate — meaning it will debut after May 31.

“The Last of Us” Season 2 (and Beyond) and “The White Lotus” Season 3

Bloys also expressed excitement for upcoming seasons of “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus,” which both begin filming in February.

“I read five of the scripts and they’re great,” Bloys said of the Naughty Dog video game franchise’s adaptation. “Craig Mazin is an incredible writer and he and Neil Druckmann are back together and busy at work.”

When previously asked about Season 2 in August, Mazin told TheWrap that he and Druckmann would “adapt as we see fit” and that the story of the second game “contemplates more than just a Season 2.”

“We’re obviously working off of a fantastic story, one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. The first was one of the most acclaimed and then the second one came along and said hold my beer and it’s pretty intense,” he said at the time. “We are giving ourselves the space and freedom to do it the way we think it should be done best.”

Similar to his approach with Jesse Armstrong on “Succession,” Bloys said he would look to Mazin and Druckmann to dictate how many seasons the story of “The Last of Us” will take to tell.

“I’ll take as many as they want to give us but I want them to feel good about what they’re doing,” Bloys said. “I don’t think it ever works for the platform or network to say to the creator, ‘We need five seasons, we need six seasons.’ I think it’s much better when it comes from the organic place of the creator saying to us ‘This is what I feel like I need to tell the story’.”

As for “The White Lotus,” Bloys praised writer and director Mike White and teased that the upcoming cast would fill the gap left by Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya.

“I’m not worried about his ability to create iconic characters,” Bloys said. “From what I read in Season 3, he’s got a whole cast of new characters that people will fall in love with or love to hate, depending on how you approach it.”

More “Thrones,” “Euphoria” Season 3 and That “Harry Potter” Series

In addition to “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” based on George R.R. Martin’s “Dunk and Egg” books, was previously eyeing spring 2024 for a potential start of filming.

Bloys confirmed that the show remains on track to start filming this year, but noted that casting and writing is still in progress. As for other spinoffs related to “Game of Thrones,” he reiterated that nothing else has been officially greenlit but that there are a lot of projects in development.

“I think with a show like this, when somebody reads that something is in development, there becomes an expectation that that is being shot, which is not the case. So right now the only two things that are greenlit are ‘House of the Dragon,’ obviously, and ‘The Hedge Night.’ There are a lot of other projects in development but I don’t have anything imminent to report.”

Also in the pipeline is the third season of Sam Levinson’s “Euphoria.” When asked about the longevity of the show, Bloys said it depends on Levinson and the stories he wants to tell.

“We’ll see how it goes. He’s writing Season 3 right now, he’s in the thick of it. So I don’t know that he is laying out what the future looks like. It’s just getting Season 3 done,” Bloys said. “I haven’t had a specific conversation with him about is this the end or what does it look like.”

As for an update on the Harry Potter TV adaptation, Bloys said that the network is “moving along, having conversations” but offered no concrete update on timing for what is undoubtedly one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s most anticipated projects.

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