European telecommunications giant Sky announced this morning that it’s teaming up with HBO to produce new high-end dramas, according to Deadline. Sky already has a deal with HBO whereby it distributes HBO programs, including Game of Thrones, through its Sky Atlantic channel. According to Sky group chief executive Jeremy Darroch, “his is the next step in the development of our relationship with HBO.”
"HBO and Sky have for many years shared a common creative culture and a common vision for the development of high-quality drama. This new venture deepens that relationship and maintains our leadership position in world-class content, provides great opportunities for indies and gives our customers even more opportunity to enjoy brilliant story telling."
HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler is pretty psyched about it, too.
"Sky has been a great partner for us and this deal allows even deeper collaboration between our two great companies, which have a long tradition in creating superior content for our customers,” said Richard Plepler, chairman and CEO of HBO. “Together we represent the best in television, and, combined, we will raise the bar even higher in pay-TV programming."
The first projects under the new deal are already in development and are scheduled to air in 2018. Darroch expects it to produce two drama series each year. We don’t know what any of those series will be right now, but look out for more announcements in the coming weeks.
Moving into the realm of the imaginary, you have to wonder if there’s anything related to a Game of Thrones spinoff in the works under this new deal. Considering how popular the original show has become around the world, a spinoff or prequel would fit with the partnership’s goal to produce “engaging stories with international points of view and casting.”
But despite little hints that something’s coming, this is all just speculation at this point. It’ll be interesting to see what HBO and Sky roll out in the coming weeks.
h/t Variety