We know that the Coming Soon in 2018 video clip has already dropped but we haven’t really looked hard at it yet, you know, frame by frame. We really should do that as 2018 is already underway. Be warned, and you have been a number of times, that GAME OF THRONES is nowhere in sight for the new year, but there is plenty to keep you going. Plenty. We aren’t the only ones who think so. Naturally, HBO CEO Richard Plepler loves what HBO is doing. He states –
“The line at our door is huge. Whether it’s five prequel ideas from different artists on Thrones. Whether it’s Succession, Jesse Armstrong’s fantastic show about the media business. Or the next season of True Detective, the next season of Big Little Lies, whether it’s Lovecraft Country, Misha Green’s extraordinary script, which is a kind of horror genre film set in the 1950s, or Watchmen, Damon Lindelof’s new idea loosely based on the movie but with Damon’s extraordinary take. I’m not concerned about it at all, because the enormity of talent that wants to work at HBO is larger today than ever. So the thing that’s so exciting, if you’re in our chairs, is that you see that line forming. That’s what gives us the confidence to know that the next great show and the next great idea is waiting out there.”
“If you look at viewership, 79 percent of consumers are watching movies on their linear channels; and somewhere around 72 percent across all platforms. Movies continue to be incredibly popular. Even people who have seen a movie in a theater are watching it a second time or even a third time on HBO. That’s a big additive piece of our offering. We’re starting to market our movie advantage more aggressively than we have in the past, just to remind the consumer how many great movies are on HBO in addition to the library. You can go back and watch The Wire. You can go back and watch The Sopranos. You can go back and watch Sex and the City. If you missed Big Little Lies, go back and watch it. If you missed True Detective, go back and watch it. Catch up, get familiar with the product and the show. Come back to the next season or the next offering. On Demand is a tremendous advantage. It came to HBO first. All of our streaming services add to the beauty. For consumers, it’s a huge advantage for variable options.”
Here is the promised clip now with a strong hint of what Plepler want us all to get excited about in the year ahead.
It starts with two THE DUECE characters; Vincent Martino tries to look ahead at his future and Eileen “Candy” Merrell is riveted to flickering film images (THE DEUCE returns for Season Two in 2018). Just like Candy, we take in images too. The next ones we see are a quick sampling of what 2017 offered us. It gave us the wrath of dragons and the union of royalty from GAME OF THRONES, one of the defensive VICE PRINCIPALS, an embattled Man In Black and an empowered Maeve from WESTWORLD. Also seen is a grouchy Larry David from CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, the ribald & raucous Selina Meyer from VEEP and THE DEFIANT ONES.
Then the new images arrive and we don’t blink as they play out. SUCCESSION, about a big-time media company, is shown first with the characters of patriarch mogul Logan Roy and his heir Kendall Roy getting serious. Then the character Greg Bishop leads us in glimpses of members of his special family in HERE AND NOW. Then mixing in is a hint of returning favorites like NYC’s crazed mice of ANIMALS., tech geek Richard Hendricks from SILICON VALLEY and that party girl Issa Dee from INSECURE.
But, there is more. HBO FILMS: PATERNO starring Al Pacino is on the way in 2018. As is VICE Season Six and HBO BOXING. Coming to the screen quite soon is LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER, The Guy and HIGH MAINTENANCE and REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER (his new season is already underway). Slipping in there also is ROOM 104 forthcoming with Season Two. 
No chance to take a breather as the clip moves into showing us the new series BARRY coming our way. That is followed by shots reminding us that REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL isn’t slowing down, nor are HBO Documentary Films like ELVIS PRESLEY: THE SEARCHER or Spenser Strasmore in BALLERS or Frances & Robert in DIVORCE. All aspects of HBO’s programming as something new. There is another season of CRASHING with Pete, more documentaries, like 
ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER, for example, and the HBO Sports Documentary: ANDRE THE GIANT. At this point you are thinking that there is a lot ahead, but the clip hasn’t wrapped up yet as it gives us 2 DOPE QUEENS onstage, HBO Films: NOTES FROM THE FIELD also onstage and HBO Films FAHRENHEIT 451 to blaze across the screen. That is equally as exciting as the limited series SHARP OBJECTS and the penultimate dramatic series of the year WESTWORLD. Do you dare to defy Delores?
Get ready for 2018 with HBO and HBOWatch. To help you keep track of what upcoming check out our Schedule Page and enjoy HBO with us.
