As we approach a new year HBO has been gradually firming up the schedule for what new programming we have to look forward to seeing. Such scheduling happens for the documentaries that air as well as series. An upcoming official press release will no doubt give us exact dates for the lineup for the first half of the year, but for now we here is our first look at what is ahead and in development.
- SLENDERMAN Coming in January
To start of the year we lock in a definite debut date for BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN. This documentary which already appeared at the SXSW Festival earlier this year is about to come to HBO. The exact premiere is slated for Monday, January 23rd at 10:00pm. HBOWatch will examine the meme phenomenon and the documentary in the month ahead. Here is our first look (the link is not broken) at the trailer:
- EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: NOS AMIS
You may not know much of the hardcore rock group Eagles of Death Metal but they warrant a documentary (title above) This was the American band that was performing at the Bataclan Theater in Paris France the day of the November 13, 2015 terrorist attack. The musicians have since returned to the site to play and the story of the events and the feelings they generated over it make up this documentary from Colin Hanks and Live Nation. We look for it in early 2017.
- Warren Buffett Gets a Documentary Treatment
A featu
re-length documentary on the 86-year-old billionaire investor and philanthropist is on the slate yet this winter. Stated Deadline – With unprecedented access to Warren Buffett’s day-to-day personal life, the film tells the improbable story of how an ambitious, humble, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska — who still lives in Omaha — became one of the richest, most respected men in the world. Told primarily in Buffett’s own words, the film features never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends. We will get schooled in BECOMING WARREN BUFFETT
- Erin Lee Carr Continues at HBO
Continuing with the popular true crime genre filmmaker Erin Lee Carr returns to HBO with MOMMIE DEAD AND DEAREST early next year. She was behind 2016’s THOUGHT CRIMES: THE CASE OF THE CANNIBAL COP and has since turned to another lurid crime case. She tells of the murder of one Dee Dee Blanchard who was stabbed to death. The convicted murderer is Gypsy Rose, the wheelchair-bound daughter of the deceased. But there is, naturally, more to the story and Carr captures it exclusively for HBO.
- The Muhammad Ali Project
From an H
BO Press Release, we learn that an untitled HBO Entertainment multi-part documentary about the life and career of Muhammad Ali from LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment and Antoine Fuqua’s Fuqua Films has started production and will debut on the network. The documentary will explore Ali’s greatest triumphs and comebacks, painting an intimate portrait of a man who, against all odds, dreamed and achieved the impossible, over and over again.
- The Elvis Presley Project
From another HBO Press Release, we have another American icon getting a thorough examination. An untitled HBO Entertainment documentary about the life and music of Elvis Presley from Sony Pictures Television completes production this month and will debut on the network. Directed by Emmy and Grammy winner Thom Zimny (HBO’s “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “The Ties That Bind”), the three-hour, two film presentation takes the audience on a comprehensive journey from Elvis’ childhood through the final 1976 Jungle Room recording sessions.
- THE DEFIANT ONES
Just who are these defiant fellows? They are Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre – one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton – and this documentary tells of their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture. A presser states – This revealing, compelling and often-gritty story takes place in recording studios, in humble homes and massive mansions, in criminal courts and in the highest corridors of corporate power and will artfully show how decades of defiance and determination helped this duo build a few empires, make a series of American Dreams come true and transform two American street kids from different tough neighborhoods into a global force to be reckoned with, here and now. The result is a master class in how to work your way up from the bottom to beyond your wildest dreams.
- UConn Huskies Docuseries
From an HBO Press release – HBO Sports, a trailblazer in sports reality programming, is teaming up again with IMG’s Original Content unit for an unscripted series chronicling the 2016-17 season of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive national championship. UCONN: THE MARCH TO MADNESS debuts WEDNESDAY, MARCH 
01 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) with a special hour-long edition, followed by half-hour episodes debuting on subsequent Wednesdays.
UCONN: THE MARCH TO MADNESS spotlights the players, coaches and support personnel, chronicling the hard work and high expectations game-by-game in the American Athletic Conference as they seek to continue their extraordinary run of berths in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Scheduled to run through the conclusion of the Huskies’ season, the show features exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, offering a unique look at the personalities who shape the powerhouse program headquartered in Storrs, Conn.
That is just a sampling of the diverse non-fiction fare coming our way in 2017. If there is an official presser about the exact lineup HBOWatch will get it to you. Keep a look out for these exciting documentaries on your HBO platform of choice and our reviews.
