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Jacob Tierney has talked before about how quickly he works when he’s producing a television show.
But it appears the executive producer, director and writer of the Heated Rivalry television series has been especially busy over the past year, because Deadline has reported the cast and crew are currently filming not one but two new seasons, according to sources.
Deadline’s report said Season 2 and Season 3 will each be six episodes long and are scheduled to wrap filming by early December.
Fans who have been “reheating” the first six episodes of Heated Rivalry will finally get to see how the story progresses in spring 2027, on Crave and HBO Max.
And according to Deadline, there is more queer hockey romance coming.
Its sources said a standalone Heated Rivalry movie will shoot next month, with a theatrical release planned for December 2027.
Filming for Season 2 at the very least is already underway, but Crave is staying tight-lipped about any new developments, telling CBC News it has no projects to confirm.
Francois Arnaud, left, plays Scott Hunter, the hockey player who publicly declares his love for Kip Grady, played by Robbie G.K., in the Heated Rivalry television series. (Crave)
Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie have each signed up for three seasons of the show, according to GQ.
Beloved characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov (played by Williams and Storrie, respectively) are not expected to be in the film, which Deadline said could be described “as a Christmas special or a holiday-themed episode.”
It just so happens that Rachel Reid, the Halifax-born author of the Game Changers series on which Heated Rivalry is based, has written a holiday-themed short story set in that world.
It’s called Merry Christmas, Scott and Kip, so that may offer some clues about the movie’s storyline.
Heated Rivalry in theatres
If the reporting is accurate, the movie hasn’t even started filming yet and Heated Rivalry is already generating impressive box office numbers.
This past weekend, fans in Britain, the U.S. and Canada poured into cinemas to watch back-to-back episodes of Season 1 together.
Cineplex would not reveal Canadian box office numbers to CBC News, but a representative said, “audience interest has been strong.”
In fact, demand has been so high, Cineplex said “episodes 5 and 6 of Heated Rivalry will also be available in 4DX for one day only at select locations on Nov. 16.”
That’s right, those are the theatres with the moving seats, wind and water effects.
But Variety is reporting the limited theatrical release has already generated $1.4 million US from 945 theatres.
Variety calls that an “impressive haul” considering the show can still be streamed at home online, and the ticket price was slightly cheaper than what research firm EntTelligence identifies as the average movie price.
