HOUSE OF THE DRAGON renewed for Season 2

In unsurprising news, HBO has renewed House of the Dragon for a second season. The news comes after the debut episode of the series scored 10 million viewers in the USA, making it HBO's biggest-ever premiere event. This is fully five times the audience that parent show Game of Thrones itself achieved back in 2011.

In the week since the show premiered, HBO have reported that the audience has doubled across repeat broadcasts, legal downloads and streaming via HBO Max, effectively bringing total viewership to not far off what Game of Thrones was achieving when it went off-air in 2019.

Season 2 of House of the Dragon is likely to start shooting early next year in the UK, for a likely early 2024 premiere on HBO. House of the Dragon is employing massive amounts of vfx and post-production which will likely prevent it from airing annually, as Game of Thrones managed to do for most of its run. However, House of the Dragon is envisaged as around a three-season project adapting just a few chapters from George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood. HBO has not ruled out developing House of the Dragon into a sort-of anthology series which could then jump back or forwards in time to another point in Targaryen history.

The news is also likely positive for the numerous other Game of Thrones spin-off shows currently in development. At the moment HBO is actively developing The Tales of Dunk & Egg with writer Steven Conrad, The Nine Voyages of the Sea Snake with Bruno Heller, The Ten Thousand Ships with Amanda Segel, Snow with producer-actor Kit Harington, and an animated show set in the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, but has not yet greenlit any of them.

Amazon are readying their own fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, to launch next Friday, whilst Netflix's The Sandman has enjoyed massive success, but apparently won't get a renewal decision for a few more weeks due to the show's high cost.

Disney in talks to acquire overseas streaming rights to DOCTOR WHO

Disney is in discussions with the BBC about picking up the overseas streaming rights to Doctor Who. The deal would not involve Disney creatively with the franchise in any way.

New Doctor Ncuti Gatwa and returning showrunner Russell T. Davies

At the moment, Doctor Who is wholly owned by the BBC and, apart from the 1996 TV movie (a one-off co-production with Fox), has been filmed inhouse by the corporation. For a series of specials airing in 2023 to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary, production is moving to an external, independent production company, Bad Wolf Studios. Bad Wolf is owned and run by former Doctor Who executives. Bad Wolf was also recently acquired by Sony, although that has no bearing on the rights situation: the BBC still owns Doctor Who and Bad Wolf are making the show for them on contract. This kind of independent production deal is commonplace in British television and is especially useful for BBC shows, as it allows profits be put back into the programme, whilst the profits from inhouse shows are sometime used to subsidise other, less successful programming. This approach has been problematic for Doctor Who, which like most BBC dramas has been on a tight budget squeeze ever since the 2008 financial crisis, ultimately leading to a reduction in the number of episodes filmed per season and growing chasms of time between seasons.

At the moment, the American rights to Doctor Who are held by HBO, who stream the show in America on HBO Max. Disney is bidding to acquire the streaming rights for the international market. If successful, this would allow Disney to add the show to their Disney+ service. Disney believes that Doctor Who, which has a strong adult-children crossover audience, would be a worthy addition to their franchises chasing the same audience, such as Marvel and Star Wars.

HBO and the BBC struck a deal in 2020 to host the show on HBO Max. Although no timescale was announced, rumours since they have suggested that the deal extends to Series 15. Next year's specials will be followed by Series 14, probably airing in early 2024, with a Series 15 likely to follow in 2025. As a result, if Disney's negotiations are successful it will still be several years before they bear fruit, unless they want to buy out HBO's deal early, which would be very expensive.

Disney would not have any creative say in Doctor Who's production, and Doctor Who would continue to air on the BBC and the iPlayer streaming service in the UK.

At least three specials for the 60th anniversary are currently shooting in the UK, and will see David Tennant return to the role of the Doctor as he re-teams with previous companions Donna (Catherine Tate) and Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) to face several new foes, including a flamboyant villain played by Neil Patrick Harris. Series 14, which sees Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa take over full-time as the next incarnation of the Doctor, is set to start shooting in the autumn. Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies is returning to helm and write the show with the new specials.

Before all of that, one single last episode from the current Jodie Whittaker era is set to air in October, and will see the Thirteenth Doctor join forces with former companions Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Tegan (Janet Fielding) to fight the Master (Sacha Dhawan). The episode will see the end of the Thirteenth Doctor's era.

Warner Brothers drop teasers for THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS

Warner Brothers has started the marketing cycle for their upcoming fourth Matrix movie, The Matrix Resurrections.

They've revamped the OG 1999 Matrix website, What is the Matrix?, and it now offers you a choice of red and blue pills. The pills take you to different teaser clips where a voice creepily identifies what time it is for you.

The Matrix Resurrections seemingly picks up twenty-odd years after the events of The Matrix Revolutions, which ended in a truce between the human rebels and the machine AIs after they joined forces to defeat Agent Smith, but something strange has clearly happened in the interim. Old characters are back, but with new names and limited or no memory of what happened to them the first time around. Some characters also seem to be back in new bodies, or with new faces. Early previews have hinted at a much stranger (and probably even more divisive) film than the soulless cash-in many were expecting.

A full trailer is expected on Thursday. The film itself will be released on 22 December this year in cinemas and, in the United States, on HBO Max.

The film sees the return of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss, Lambert Wilson, Daniel Bernhardt and Jada Pinkett Smith from the original trilogy, with new casting additions including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Yu Li Henwick, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt and Christina Ricci. The film is directed by Lana Wachowski (who co-directed the original trilogy) and co-written by Lana Wachowski with David Mitchell (yes, that one) and Aleksandar Hemon.

Confusion over plans to release DUNE to home streaming as well as cinema

Warner Brothers have potentially reignited a disagreement with Legendary Pictures over the release of their upcoming science fiction epic, Dune.

Dune was originally set for release in December 2020, but the COVID19 pandemic made that impossible and the release of the film was rolled back ten months to October 2021. However, Warner Brothers subsequently confirmed their plan to simultaneously release Dune, along with the entirety of their 2021 release slate, on streaming service HBO Max. This resulted in immediate pushback from Legendary, who threatened legal action should Warner Brothers attempt to proceed with that plan.

Nothing more was heard on the matter until yesterday, when Deadline reported that Dune will now debut at the Venice Film Festival in September, followed by a limited run in cinemas ahead of its streaming bow on 1 October. However, Warner Brothers have forcibly pushed back on that today, stating that Dune will hit cinemas and HBO Max on the same day.

The battle over Dune represents a second tussle between Legendary and Warner Brothers. In 2020, the two clashed over release plans for Godzilla vs. Kong. Netflix offered a $250 million deal to get exclusive streaming rights to the movie, which would automatically put the film into profit. However, Warner Brothers apparently vetoed the idea without consulting Legendary and then put the film onto HBO Max without consulting with their production partner. This resulted in far less money for Legendary than the Netflix deal, to the production company's fury.

The company is determined not to let the same happen with Dune. A major tentpole film for the production company, Legendary see Denis Villeneuve's Dune as a film with both big box office appeal (as a widescreen, SF epic with a top-tier cast of modern stars and cutting-edge effects) and a potential awards contender at next year's ceremonies. Dune is also more desperate than most films to make enough profit to justify a sequel: the movie only covers the first half of Frank Herbert's expansive, 500-page novel, with the rest contingent on the film doing well. There are also a further five novels in the canonical Dune sequence (as well as a plethora of prequels and sequels of lesser standing by other writers, which have a risible reputation among fans and critics alike). In the case of Dune, diluting the film's box office take by simultaneously releasing it for home streaming may be disastrous. The director has also voiced his opposition to the move.

The fact that, at least in the UK and US, the entire adult population should be vaccinated against COVID by October makes the argument for a home release less convincing.

Whether Legendary follows through on its threat to use legal action to stop Warner Brothers taking this move, or backs down (perhaps in the face of not wanting to make it so they cannot work together again in the future) remains to be seen.

Dune is currently slated for release, in one format or both, on 1 October 2021.

HBO renews George RR Martin development deal

HBO has renewed its exclusive development deal with George R.R. Martin, originally signed back in 2013.

The deal continues to give HBO the exclusive right to tap Martin for ideas for new TV shows and movies. These ideas may be based directly on Martin's own works (including further works in the Game of Thrones settings of Westeros and Essos) or on other authors' works which Martin recommends to them.

Martin has already been doing this for seven years, developing Nnedi Okorafor's novel Who Fears Death as a TV show (which is now moving forwards with Tessa Thompson producing and Aïda Mashaka Croal showrunning) and Roger Zelazny's novel Roadmarks (with Kalinda Vazquez showrunning). During this time HBO has considered a number of other projects proposed by Martin, including a potential adaptation of Martin's earlier novel Tuf Voyaging and a number of classic SFF novels (rumoured to be from the likes of Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress and Robert Heinlein). They also filmed a Game of Thrones spin-off pilot which did not move forwards, before greenlighting the series House of the Dragon, which is due to start shooting imminently.

As well as House of the Dragon, HBO are considering multiple spin-off shows based on Game of Thrones, including Nine Voyages (based on the life story of Corlys Velaryon), Ten Thousand Ships (based on Queen Nymeria's flight to Dorne) and Flea Bottom. They have also proposed series based on the Dunk and Egg novellas and on Robert Baratheon's rebellion, with some reports that one of these series will be adapted as an animated series rather than in live-action.

Martin will be named as a producer or executive producer on these projects, but will not be writing directly for any of them due to his commitment to finishing the next Song of Ice and Fire novel, The Winds of Winter. Martin reported in November making strong progress on the novel through last year, with a hope that the ending may be, if not imminent, then at least lurching unsteadily into distant view.

HBO developing numerous additional GAME OF THRONES spin-off projects

HBO has put three more Game of Thrones spin-off shows into development.

As is well-known, HBO developed six spin-off projects before the original show even finished, fielding ideas including a prequel set in the Valyrian Freehold before its collapse, before settling on a show about the rise of the White Walkers, set between four and five thousand years before the events of the original show and books. However, that project (The Longest Night) only made it to the pilot stage before a changing regime at HBO decided to drop it.

The new regime subsequently greenlit House of the Dragon, an epic story set just under 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and relating the events of the Dance of Dragons, a bloody civil war within House Targaryen, with both sides armed with dragons. That show is due to start shooting in the next few weeks.

It sounds like the prior plan was to see how House of the Dragon does before considering additional Westeros-set projects. However, the advent of American streaming service HBO Max, which has been slightly underperforming in terms of subscribers, has seen a desire to get more buzz-worthy shows on the screen and Warner Brothers have seen George R.R. Martin's novels, short stories and source material as a potential goldmine if they can exploit it correctly.

As a result, back in January it was reported that HBO were developing proposals on both the Dunk & Egg short story series and on Robert's Rebellion, despite Martin previously shooting down proposals for both ideas (Martin has a veto on any HBO project set in Westeros). It may be that HBO are developing these ideas to convince Martin of their merits.

The three new ideas announced in the last day or so are more like the original pitches, being prequels set earlier in the history of Westeros.

The first idea is a show with the working title Nine Voyages. This would be a naval-based show focused on Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, who is being played by British actor Steven Toussaint. The pitch seems to be for a show based around a much younger Corlys, who as a young man embarked on nine ambitious voyages around the world. These took him to fabled places such as Qarth, Yi Ti and Asshai-by-the-Shadow, the distant island of Ib, the Thousand Islands and the mysterious city of Nefer. He also undertook a voyage to find a "northern passage" around Westeros through the frozen Lands of Always Winter, to no avail.

There is plenty of material to be mined in such a show and there's an added bonus in that it re-teams HBO and producer Bruno Heller, with whom they had a fruitful collaboration on Rome (2005-07), the show that arguably paved the way for Game of Thrones. Although if I'm honest, I think I'd rather that Heller work on a "next generation" Rome series for HBO, perhaps the I, Claudius narrative that's been mooted a few times over the years (and which HBO held the rights to for a time in the early 2010s).

The second project may be a revival from the original six projects HBO developed a few years ago, with a story revolving around Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar. Nymeria was the warrior-queen of the Rhoynar who led her people in a grand exodus across the Summer Sea after her homeland was destroyed by the Valyrians. Eventually her people settled in Dorne, becoming the ancestors of House Martell and the Sand Snakes. It's possible that this was the show that Carly Wray was developing for HBO in 2017-18. This show has the working title Ten Thousand Ships.

The third project is the least-fleshed-out. The show has the working title Flea Bottom and will apparently be set in the poor district of the city of King's Landing, and will provide a "bottom-up" view of Westeros from the POV of the poorest and most destitute people in the kingdom. It's unclear what time period this would be set in, or if it would involve established characters (both Ser Davos Seaworth and Gendry were born in Flea Bottom and grew up there) or a whole new cast.

These are all development ideas at the moment, with HBO not having committed to anything so far. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Nine Voyages idea is the one most likely to move forwards.

A semi-HD version of BABYLON 5 has been released to streaming services

A high-definition version Babylon 5 has been released on HBO Max in the US today, until the title of "Babylon 5 Remastered." The international Amazon and iTunes version of the show have also been updated to the new format.

I previously reported last year that a "remastered" version of Babylon 5 had been released on some streaming services, although it was released in standard definition only and the only major change had been shifting the format back to the 4:3 (non-widescreen) image that the show had been originally broadcast in. This change in format was good news because it meant restoring the show's pioneering CGI to its original format. The show had originally had its live-action footage shot in and protected for widescreen, but the CG and composite (live action/effects combinations) shots were only created in 4:3. To overcome the problem, the show's previous widescreen releases (such as on DVD) had cropped the effects footage by zooming into the image until it filled the screen, resulting in a loss of image quality. However, the "remaster" in standard definition otherwise seemed a bit pointless.

Today's move significantly improves the live-action image quality, with that footage now in higher definition. Warner Brothers report that they rescanned the original film negatives to create HD live-action shots (complete with colour correction and removing damage and problems) and have improved the CG footage by reverting to the original 4:3 image and applying some up-resolution techniques. These techniques have limits - the CG and composites still look lower-resolution and somewhat blurrier than the live-action footage - but they do look moderately better than before. The biggest problem is the credits at the start of each episode which now look somewhat washed out. Also the title sequence was natively created in widescreen even in the 4:3 cut, making the titles look almost comically tiny in the centre of the screen, which is a shame but unavoidable without remaking them from scratch.

The result is, having watched one episode to completion (Season 3, Episode 10, Severed Dreams) and sampled scenes from several others (And Now For a Word, Intersections in Real Time), probably the best the show has looked to date. The live action scenes are much better and the CG, although definitely still blurrier than is ideal, is at least hugely improved over the DVDs and the previous streaming releases. The loss of the widescreen live-action footage is a shame, though, and I suspect will annoy some fans, even as the improvements to the effects shots will please many others.

The new HD-ish version of Babylon 5 is also apparently headed to Blu-Ray, with various news sites and international sellers claiming that a box set release could happen as early as March, although some sites have since changed their dates to December, suggesting a date is not fully fixed.

There are several problems with the remaster. The first is that whatever technique they used to re-scan the original footage was clearly not on a par with the excellent Star Trek: The Next Generation remaster undertaken in 2012-15. The live-action footage from that remaster looks like it was shot yesterday, the footage in Babylon 5 does...not. It's still a big improvement on what we've seen before, but it's clearly not in that league. There are still artifacts particularly in dark scenes where pixilation is clearly occurring, probably not helped by the bitrate most streaming services use; these issues may not be present on a Blu-Ray transfer.

The pilot episode, The Gathering, has also not bee remastered; the original film footage was either lost completely or badly damaged in flooding in the studio (one rumour back in the day was that the film had also been nibbled on by rats), so it is presented in standard definition.

More concerningly, there are about three minutes of material missing from Season 1, Episode 20, Babylon Squared and around two minutes missing from Season 4, Episode 1, The Hour of the Wolf. Hopefully this will be fixed soon and will not be on the Blu-Ray release.

It is clear, unfortunately but understandably given Babylon 5's relative obscurity, that Warner Brothers are not prepared to spend the ~$20 million or more it would cost to completely remaster the show properly, that is do a high-quality scan of all of the film footage and then re-render the CGI at native HD resolution in widescreen (although one fan has recently recreated some scenes using the original CG models and scene data files at a much lower cost, with impressive results).

It looks like this might be the best we're ever going to see the show looking. If so, it's a reasonable compromise and will make attracting new viewers a bit more palatable.

HBO Max reportedly planning a continuation of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

According to Kevin Smith and other sources, HBO Max are planning a continuation of the classic Batman: The Animated Series.

Batman: The Animated Series aired between 1992 and 1995, producing 85 episodes and spawning a number of spin-off shows and series set in the same continuity. The series is one of the most highly-acclaimed animated and superhero TV series of all time and has recently reached new audiences through a HD remaster and appearing on streaming services.

The show drew on Tim Burton's live-action movies Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) for artistic inspiration, although it also charted its own course with unique characterisations for Bruce Wayne/Batman, Robin and Joker. The vocal performances by Kevin Conroy (Batman), Mark Hamill (Joker) and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) have also become regarded as iconic, if not definitive. The show is also highly notable for its additions to the Batman mythos, most infamously the character of Harley Quinn who was introduced in the animated series before migrating to the comic a year later. Renee Montoya, Lock-Up and Simon Trent are other characters originated on the series to play a role in other versions of the mythos later on.

The Animated Series version of the mythos directly inspired the storylines and characterisation in the Arkham series of video games, which also starred Conroy, Hamill and (in the first game, at least) Sorkin.

Smith indicates that Bruce Timm, the original showrunner and co-creator, is involved in the new series. It's unclear if writer Paul Dini is also on board, or if the original vocal cast will return; Hamill, at least, has said that his version of Joker has been retired (although he's also been tempted out of retirement in the past).

If the continuation is confirmed, it is unclear if it would be a reboot in the same art style or if it would continue the storylines from where the animated show left off. This might be complicated by the sheer number of other series which have followed on from The Animated Series (including a contemporary Superman series and the SF-tinged Batman Beyond).

HBO Max has not yet formally confirmed the news.

BABYLON 5 joins HBO Max in the US on 26 January

Classic science fiction series Babylon 5 will join HBO Max in the USA on 26 January.

The show has bounced around several different streamers in the last few years, most recently finding a home on Amazon Prime before being pulled a year ago. It's unclear if this version of the show will be the somewhat-nominally "remastered" version that's been cropping up on paid services recently, but it seems likely.

I have a recommended viewing order here for those planning to jump on the show for the first time.

Warners to simultaneously release 2021 films on HBO Max

Warner Brothers have revealed plans to simultaneously release their 2021 slate of movies on HBO Max as well as in cinemas.

The news comes as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to batter cinema release schedules and threaten the future of several major cinema chains. Even with vaccination programmes now starting, it appears that some studios have doubts over the long-term viability of cinemas and want to make sure that they have alternate release plans in place for their films.

The following films will air on HBO Max simultaneously in 4K and HD with their cinema release, where HBO Max is available. The films will be available for one month after their initial release date:

• Mortal Kombat (15 January 2021)
• The Little Things (29 January 2021)
• Tom & Jerry (5 March 2021)
• The Many Saints of Newark (12 March 2021)
• Reminiscence (16 April 2021)
• Godzilla vs. Kong (21 May 2021)
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (4 June 2021)
• In the Heights (18 June 2021)
• Space Jam: A New Legacy (16 July 2021)
• The Suicide Squad (7 August 2021)
• Dune (1 October 2021)
• King Richard (19 November 2021)
• The Matrix 4 (22 December 2021)
• Cry Macho (unconfirmed)
• Judas and the Black Messiah (unconfirmed)
• Malignant (unconfirmed)
• Those Who Wish Me Dead (unconfirmed)

In territories where HBO Max is not available, the situation is less clear. In the UK HBO has an exclusive release contract with Sky Television until 2024, leading to the possibility of the films being released over Sky streaming services instead. This is already the plan with Wonder Woman 1984, which is being released on Sky one month after its US cinema release on Christmas Day.

BABYLON 5 to leave Amazon Prime next week

Babylon 5, one of the greatest SF shows of all time, is leaving its current streaming home on Amazon next week.

Babylon 5 has not had a regular streaming home, being bounced from service to service for several years. It landed on Amazon Prime in June 2018, but after eighteen months it will leave the service on 31 January. Where it will land next is unclear, but it's long-term home will likely be Warner Media's new streaming platform, HBO Max, which is due to launch in May this year.

If you haven't checked out Babylon 5 yet, it may be too late to do so unless you can cram 110 episodes into seven days. The show remains available on DVD.