Filming has been underway on the second season of HBO Max’s ice hockey romance drama sensation “Heated Rivalry” for a while now, but it turns out there’s a lot more going on than expected.
In a major surprise, Deadline reports that the current shoot involves not one but two full six-episode seasons being shot back-to-back. That’s not all either.
The trade indicates that the current shoot will wrap around the end of November or beginning of December. After that, a standalone movie will film in December.
The movie, which is said to have a Christmas theme, is planned for a theatrical release next December.
Interestingly that film will NOT have Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams’ Ilya and Shane in it, rather it will center on the first season’s other couple Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.) with additional characters from the series also appearing.
Author Rachel Reid, whose Game Changers book series inspired the show, has penned a short story titled “Merry Christmas, Scott and Kip!” which depicts the duo’s first Christmas together.
Speculation has swirled of filming two seasons back-to-back after recurring guest star Dylan Walsh let slip in an interview they were shooting “12 [episodes] this time” and later added he’d done a video that went viral and got him in trouble.
Canadian streamer Crave has not confirmed the additional season or movie, only the second season which is slated to premiere Spring 2027.
The news comes as the first season is getting a very limited run in cinemas starting this weekend with the title looking to make a pretty solid $1.3 million opening weekend from a handful of locations showing two episodes that have been available for over a year on HBO Max.
