Theater Heaters
Some 650 movie houses will show all six episodes of the first season
Heated Rivalry, the wildly popular sports-themed gay romance series, will heat up movie houses around the United States this fall. Some 650 participating theaters will screen the first season’s full six-show arc in two-episode couplings from Nov. 6 – 30. Screenings are also planned in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.
The theater chain Regal, which operates 275 theaters, is leading the distribution of the series, which will also be available to watch at theaters run by AMC, Cinemark, and other chains. Regal will be offering $9.99 passes for two-episode pairings. In addition to showing the episodes, Regal is promising “welcome content,” such as interviews with the series’ cast and creators, and some theaters will offer Heated Rivalry–inspired cocktails with names like Summer in Montreal and Russians Don’t Blush. Full details about Regal’s screenings are on the chain’s website.
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When the show premiered on HBO Max last November, it became a runaway hit, propelling stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie to instant fame. The show is based on Rachel Reid’s bestsellers about two hockey players, one Canadian, one Russian, who indulge a private love affair. It won awards from GLAAD, the Webbies, the Queerties, and several Canadian associations. A second season is scheduled to premiere in 2027.
Last December, Jacob Tierney, who created the show, told Rolling Stone about how he fell in love with the books. “My first discovery was like, ‘Oh, my God, these books are so smutty,'” he said, adding that he first listened to audiobooks of the novels. “I’d be walking my dog and [thinking], ‘If you knew what was happening in my ears right now.’ But what stood out to me in retrospect is that [Heated Rivalry] accomplishes a different task than these books usually do. This is not about somebody coming out, it’s about two people figuring out they are allowed to be in love. And that zig where the other books zag really stuck with me.”