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5 most anticipated HBO and Max shows of 2024

Dan Girolamo
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HBO remains the top streaming home for prestige television. The coveted Sunday night slots have produced numerous hits like Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Barry, and Succession. With the addition of the streaming service Max, viewers can also revisit HBO’s legacy shows, such as The Sopranos, The Wire, and Oz, or explore new originals like Hacks and Peacemaker.

HBO and Max are poised for a great 2024, thanks to the arrival of new and returning TV shows. Below, we selected five of the most anticipated shows coming in 2024. Our picks include the return of True Detective, a new series from Park Chan-wook, and the latest chapter in the Game of Thrones universe.

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True Detective: Night Country (2024)

Two women stand over ice and look.
HBO / Max

In 2014, True Detective season 1 became a runaway hit for HBO. Nic Pizzolatto’s crime series followed a pair of detectives pursuing a serial killer over a 17-year time frame. The series received nearly universal acclaim, with high praise for Pizzolatto’s writing and the two lead performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Unfortunately, seasons 2 and 3 failed to match the highs of season 1.

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After a five-year hiatus, True Detective returns for its fourth season, titled Night Country. Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster and former world champion boxer-turned-actress Kali Reis star as Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, respectively, two detectives tasked with investigating the disappearances of eight men from a research station during the long winter night in Alaska. Writer/director/producer Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid) takes over as showrunner, with Barry Jenkins signing on as an executive producer. Initial reviews for Night Country have been overwhelmingly positive, with many citing it as the show’s best iteration since season 1.

True Detective: Night Country premieres January 14 on HBO and Max.

The Regime (2024)

The Regime | Official Teaser | Max

When Kate Winslet stars in an HBO show, critical acclaim and Emmy Awards will soon follow. Winslet starred in 2011’s Mildred Pierce, leading to Emmy wins for herself and co-star Guy Pearce. In 2021, Winslet headlined Mare of Easttown, resulting in her second Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Winslet will attempt to collect her third Emmy with The Regime, the upcoming British drama series from Will Tracy (The Menu).

Previously known as The Palace, The Regime follows the downfall of an authoritarian regime over one year. Winslet stars as the Chancellor, the dictator of the fictional European country. The Regime‘s ensemble includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant. The political drama could potentially fill the void left by Succession.

The Regime premieres March 3 on HBO and Max.

The Sympathizer (2024)

Two men sit at a table next to each other in The Sympathizer.
HBO

It goes without saying that Park Chan-wook is a master filmmaker. The South Korean visionary is behind several influential films, including  Joint Security Area, Old Boy, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave. In 2024, Park Chan-wook returns to television for the first time in six years with The Sympathizer. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Sympathizer tells the story of the Captain (Hoa Xuande), a North Vietnamese spy sent to the U.S.to report on the South Vietnamese people living there. The Captain is asked to serve as an adviser on an American film about the Vietnam War, complicating his loyalties to the Viet Cong.

The Sympathizer‘s other main draw is the return of Robert Downey Jr. to television. Downey, the frontrunner to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his part in Oppenheimer, will play multiple antagonist roles in The Sympathizer.

The Sympathizer is expected to arrive in the first half of 2024 on HBO and Max.

House of the Dragon season 2 (2024)

Alicent and Rhaenyra clutch each other in House of the Dragon.
HBO

It’s not an HBO year without dragons. After the reviled eighth and final season of Game of Thrones, there were real concerns regarding returning to Westeros for spinoffs, as many questioned if the series could ever win back the trust of its fans. After the House of the Dragon season 1 pilot became the biggest premiere in HBO history, it was apparent that there’s still an appetite for dragons.

House of the Dragon is a prequel series set nearly 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones. The series depicts the Targaryen civil war known as the “Dance of the Dragons.” At the center of the conflict are Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and Queen Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), former friends-turned-rivals in a war of succession. The story will not end after season 2, as the series is expected to have four to five seasons.

House of the Dragon season 2 is expected to arrive in the summer of 2024 on HBO and Max.

The Penguin (2024)

The Penguin sitting at a table in the dark, his hands clasped together in a scene from the series.
Warner Bros. Discovery

It was a year to forget for DC as the DCEU came to a disastrous conclusion. All four 2023 movies either flopped or received negative reviews. The best thing DC has released in the past five years is 2022’s The Batman. Capitalizing on the success of that Caped Crusader reboot, DC is expanding Matt Reeves’ Batman shared universe with The Penguin.

The eight-episode series picks up one week after the events in The Batman and presents the rise of Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot within the criminal underworld of Gotham. The Penguin’s ensemble includes Cristin Milioti, Clancy Brown, Michael Zegen, Rhenzy Felix, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, Theo Rossi, and Carmen Ejogo. The Penguin will be under the DC Elseworlds brand in James Gunn’s new DC Universe.

The Penguin is expected to arrive in the fall of 2024 on Max.

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Dan Girolamo
Dan Girolamo
Entertainment Writer
Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout…
5 winter crime thrillers like True Detective: Night Country you should watch now
Jeffrey Wright holds a gun on the poster for Hold the Dark.

True Detective: Night Country is a cold season of television — literally. Set in the small remote town of Ennis, Alaska, the Issa López-created True Detective season is defined as much by its setting’s snow-covered ground as it is by its eternally dark sky. It stands in stark contrast to the first three seasons of True Detective, all of which take place in sun-soaked environments (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Los Angeles). That fact doesn’t just make True Detective: Night Country unique in its own HBO show's history, but also in the crime genre at large.

There simply haven’t been many high-profile, Hollywood-produced crime thrillers set in snowy regions. Consequently, Night Country’s story and setting combine to create the kind of viewing experience that remains fairly hard to come by. And anyone in the mood for more crime dramas like Night Country should check out the following five films.
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