HBO might have a streaming platform that can ever so slightly more temperamental to access than its bigger competitors like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, but you can't argue with the sheer quality of its shows. Barely a year goes by without one of the biggest streaming hits being an HBO production, after all – it has to be in the conversation when choosing the best streaming service overall.
So, with only around a month and a half left in 2024, it's seemingly time to look forward into 2025 a little, which is pretty exciting. HBO just uploaded a chunky trailer showcasing the shows it'll set loose next year, and there are some huge inclusions in there.
Things start off with Dune: Prophecy, which has already started but will finish its run just at the start of 2025 – and which will be hoping for an upturn in reviews once its arcs start to get further along. Fans are enjoying it, but some critics have been a little sneering so far.
Then we get a quick look at the next season of The White Lotus, one of the bigger breakout hits of recent years. It'll add Fallout's man-of-the-moment Walton Goggins to its cast and tell another mysterious and murderous story at a luxury resort. After that, a brief glimpse comes of the next season of The Righteous Gemstones, a show that's been going from strength to strength.
Hacks will also get another season, continuing its extremely buzzy run looking at the power dynamics of comedy writing rooms. That's proved fertile territory so far, with much more to come.
I'm probably most excited by a teaser midway through the trailer for Task, which I'd never heard of until this point. It's going to be a one-off limited series, starring Mark Ruffalo as a an FBI agent investigating a string of crimes by a surprising culprit, and has all the ingredients to be a classic.
After a quick look at The Gilded Age, which has become nice and popular without ever being quite as talked-about as something like Bridgerton, though, HBO queues up the real big guns. First up, there's It: Welcome to Derry, which promises to expand on the terrifying story of the movie (and book) with a detailed look at just how that killer clown came to be.
The trailer ends with a bang, reliably – The Last of Us, which millions of viewers are probably waiting for. Admittedly, even that's after a just seconds-long mention of A Knig of the Seven Kingdoms, making for a packed 2025 slate. One thing's completely clear, then: it might be a monster year for HBO if even a handful of the shows teased here turn out nicely.
