Celebrations were in order on Wednesday night as top TV talent filed into London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to celebrate the launch of HBO Max in the UK and Ireland.
It’s music to the ears of the masses, too: finally, Britons will be able to watch it the housewhich has long been without a partner in the UK. Star Noah Wyle was in attendance at Wednesday’s event, a day after an on-stage conversation with HBO chief Casey Blues in the British capital. There, the duo discussed universal health care in the United States and the third season of the hit series.
Bloys was also in attendance at the one-night-only house party on HBO. He caught up with me Hollywood Reporter earlier in the week to address the still-unanswered questions about the new Paramount deal Harry Potter The series and that lunch with Ted Sarandos.
Talk about Harry PotterHBO held an exclusive preview of the highly anticipated trailer before the party. THR They were assembled in a screening room designed to look like a cupboard under the stairs and were given a first look at JK Rowling’s film adaptation starring Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who made their red carpet debut at the event. The trailer showed off all the main cast and also confirmed the show’s early release date – for more on that, head here.
Also in attendance were “HBO Family” Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King (Return); Steve Carell, Phil Dunster, and Charlie Clive (Rooster); Weil and Kathryn LaNasa (the house); True Whitaker and Jordan Firstman (I love Los Angeles), David Chase (The soprano), Sharon Horgan (youths), Marissa Abella (industry), Amy Lou Wood and Jason Isaacs (White lotus), Linda Cardellini and Joy Sunday (DTF St. Louis), Serene Saba (Harry Potter) and Peter Safran (Co-Chairman and CEO of DC Studios).
Lots of Dragon House and Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Talent was in attendance, including Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, James Norton, Fabian Frankel, Harry Collette, Tom Glenn Carney, Via Saban, Matthew Needham, Phoebe Campbell, Dexter Saul Ansell, Bertie Carville, Sean Thomas, and Sam Spruill.
It traded as DJ Lou Hayter spun vinyl at The Loft and Peter Dorelli served martinis on bar carts at The Liquor Cabinet. Guests helped themselves to a freezer stocked with Jell-O Shots and ice cream sandwiches in The Kitchen Raid, played pool, and toured an entire library of HBO Originals in The Smoking Room.
“I’m going to be very short, because no one’s going to listen to this,” Bloys joked onstage as his guests mingled. “One thing we have to say at HBO [is] We are only as good as the people who choose to work with us. So I would like to thank everyone here, everyone who worked on the series in the past, present and future, every actor, every creator, director, and crew member. We couldn’t do it without you. We stand on your shoulders, and we appreciate that incredibly. So I want to thank everyone.”
“It’s a big deal for us to be here,” he said. “We are proud to launch our business in the UK and Ireland, and to make our library and all our offerings available.” We can’t do without everyone in this room.
To close the evening in style, the HBO team sent 500 drones to fly between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge, bringing the capital’s skies to life in the world’s first drone show. The formation is assembled 394 feet above the river and depicts some of the world’s most iconic TV shows, sports and movies, including Harry Potter, Batman, Superman, game of thrones, Dragon Houseand White lotus.
