HBO Max Australia has officially acquired the rights to season two of “Heated Rivalry.”
Following a strong audience reaction to the first episodes of season one of the Canadian sensation, HBO Max USA, Latin America, Europe (excluding UK and Ireland, Spain and Turkey) and Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand. Philippines, Macau, Sri Lanka, Nepal) have now also secured rights for seasons one and two.
It was announced last week that “Heated Rivalry” has been renewed for a second season.
Produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment in association with Bell Media’s Crave, “Heated Rivalry” was created by award-winning writer-director Jacob Tierney (“Letterkenny,” “Shoresy”) and is based on Rachel Reid’s best-selling “Game Changers” book series.
The six-episode drama follows rival hockey stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) through an eight-year journey of ambition, rivalry, and forbidden love.
Per the official logline, the pair “are two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial and self-discovery.
“Over the next eight years, the pair chase glory on the ice while struggling to navigate their feelings off it. Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can’t ignore, Shane and Ilya must decide if there is room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile and as powerful as real love.”
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
Along with Williams and Storrie, the cast includes François Arnaud, Robbie G.K., Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Sophie Nélisse and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova.
“Heated Rivalry” debuted on Nov. 28 with two episodes, with additional episodes releasing weekly until the Season 1 finale on Dec. 26.
In a new Variety interview, Storrie opened up about the unexpected success of the series and more.
On working with an intimacy coordinator, the actor said, “I was less exposed than Hudson was, right? I’m fully clothed. I’m bossing him around. He takes his underwear off. What was I thinking? Let me actually think about that. I just remember, for 90% of that scene, the camera is on my face. I, as a person, move a lot, and so it takes me some energy sometimes to chill out and not move.
“In my mind, I’m like, ‘Don’t move, feed into the sexy tension of it all.’ Then once we get to the actual sex, to be honest with you, I know it’s not very glamorous, but a lot of those sexual scenes, it’s about making sure that you move in a way that we don’t see our cock socks. It’s literally like, ‘My hand is going to be here. Your leg is going to be here. I’m going to hide myself with this.’ And then it’s a constant game of like, ‘Oh, right. Yep, that’s great.’ ‘No, no. OK, now, we see it.’ ‘Oh, yep, no, no, that’s great. OK, keep going.’ It’s a lot of that.”